Top Ten Most Common Phobias In The World

Top Ten Most Common Phobias In The World

A phobia is an irrational or obsessive fear about something real or imaginary. A person who suffers from a phobia often finds it unbearable but others may find it hilarious, fascinating or bizarre.

Scared girl
Get ready to be entertained, terrified and amazed with today's listicle. So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy reading the top 10 common phobias that cause irrational fear in people.

10. Trypophobia


Trypophobia is the irrational and extreme fear of holes. 'Normal' people see this fear as irrational but this is not so for Trypophobe. The mere sight of holes will cause panic in them. Trypophobes tend to  avoid things like corals, sponges, honeycombs and things that have holes in them as they find them disgusting and gross.


9. Aerophobia


This is the strange fear of traveling in a airplane. Aerophobia affects roughly 6.5% of the world's population. The common symptoms associated with this fear is trembling, disorientation and rapid heartbeats.

Airplane nervous

Aerophobia affects the personal and professional life of its sufferers as air travel is extremely difficult for them. Just thinking about flying in a plane would send shock waves down their spine.


8. Mysophobia


This is another strange fear that has made it to the list of common phobias in the world. Mysophobia also known as germophobia is the extreme fear of germs and dirt. It causes people to engage in extreme cleanliness, compulsory washing of the hands and excessive bathing.

Isolation is the main symptom of this phobia. This phobia can also cause sufferers to avoid physical contact like hugging or shaking of hands simply because they are afraid of contamination or infection. Another telltale sign is preoccupation with disease outbreaks. Michael Jackson is believed to have suffered from this phobia.

7. Claustrophobia


Claustrophobia is the fear of small or restricted places. This phobia usually restricts mobility as sufferers avoid enclosed spaces like elevators or a crowded train. 5 to 7% of the world suffer from claustrophobia.


6. Astraphobia

A thunderstorm
Also known as Brontophobia, is the unreasonable fear of thunder and lightning. Thunderstorms happen in many parts of the world and to a astraphobic person, it is overly scary. Most of the sufferers of this are children but astraphobia can persist well into adulthood. But they are actually not alone, wild animals also have an extreme fear of thunder and lightning.


5. Cynophobia


The extreme fear of dogs otherwise known as cynophobia is one of the most common animal phobias in the world. It is often caused by unpleasant or traumatic experiences such as being bitten by a dog during childhood. While you find dogs adorable, cynophobes do think otherwise. Over 70% of cynophobes are women although men also suffer from it.

Cynophobia is not just the fear of dogs, it's a so unreasonable fear that could make a person unable to walk down a street that they know a dog lives on.


4. Acrophobia


This is the irrational fear of heights or the fear of falling even when he's not really that high up. People who suffer from this phobia may go great lengths to avoid high places like towers, bridges, hills and tall buildings.

Fear of heights

They usually feel dizzy and nauseated everytime they think of a trip that involves a height. If they eventually go up that height, the fear could interfere with their ability to descend on their own.

It's so irrational that the phobics may catch a fright by just looking down the window of their third floor hotel room! (that's if they were unlucky to get one).


3. Necrophobia


Necrophobia is the extreme fear of death and anything related to it. Necrophobics are uneasy if they have to attend a funeral or see a coffin and may try to avoid it.
The mere thought of death is able to destabilize them.


2. Ophidiophobia


Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. It is the second most common animal phobia. It affects over 30% of the human population and it is attributed to evolutionary causes, personal experiences, or cultural influences. Anyway, the fear of snakes is essential for survival as many snakes are venomous and can kill.

However, it may interest you to know that in a study of 35 snake-fearful participants, researchers found that only 3 of these individuals had ever been bitten by a snake. In fact, the majority of the participants had little or no direct experiences with snakes in any capacity.


1. Arachnophobia


Arachnophobia is the extreme fear of spiders and other arachnids (like scorpions).
Many humans all around the world suffer from Arachnophobia but it is more prevalent in the United States. About 30% of the sufferers of Arachnophobia live in the US alone. This phobia is related to Ophidiophobia in some ways. It is also borne out of the natural human response to survive.

Arachnophobics go great lengths to ensure their homes are free from spiders. Also, this phobia is common in women than men.

A spider

So why are so many people terrified of arachnids? According to Very Mind, while there are an estimated 35,000 different spider species, only around a dozen pose any type of real threat to humans. One of the most common explanations for this and similar animal phobias is that such creatures once posed a considerable threat to our ancestors who lacked the medical know-how and technological tools to address injuries from animals and insects. As a result, evolution contributed to a predisposition to fear these creatures.

What do you fear? Share your phobias with other visitors here and read about their stories or phobias.
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