What are the most common phobias?

 On the occasion of this week of fear, let's dive together, readers, into the fascinating world of phobias with a little challenge. Will you be able to watch this video to the end?

There are countless phobias in the world whose distribution varies according to age, gender, experience, culture, and even time: there is no doubt that the fear of contracting a disease (nosophobia) will have taken a few steps ahead in the ranking this year.

It is therefore difficult to establish with certainty the most widespread phobias in the world. While tornado phobia (lilapsophobia) is naturally very represented in the United States (32% of the population in 2019), it is rather the phobia of snakes (ophiophobia) that prevails in India. Nevertheless, some trends seem to be emerging.

Fear and phobia: two very different things

Let's start by defining the subject of this article. A phobia is an irrational and sometimes disabling fear of an object or situation that does not present a direct danger, manifesting itself over a period of more than 6 months. It is in this to be distinguished from fear, which is most often a natural and necessary survival reflex. It's fear that gives you an extra dose of energy to escape when you come face to face with a viper.

On the other hand, it is the phobia that makes you blemak and close your eyes when you see the same animal on a screen, or when you are put in your hands an objectively harmless snake. There are three categories of phobias: social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobias -- which focus on a particular object or situation.

An anthology of phobias

Phobias manifest themselves in many forms, and while there are more than a hundred words to distinguish them, not all of them have their own name. Some are so specific that they probably only affect a handful of people. You, the readers, may have irrational fears that are impossible for you to put into words. For my part, I have two: that of intrusion into my home (which is not exactly scoundrelphobia -- fear of burglars or criminals), and that of not being able to take a full breath in some places (which is not exactly pnigophobia -- fear of being suffocated -- or claustrophobia -- fear of confined spaces).

Here is an anthology of some little-known phobias, a good opportunity to review your Latin or Greek classes: acarophobia (fear of itching), cathisophobia (fear of sitting), genuphobia (fear of the knee or the act of kneeling), koumpounophobia (fear of clothing buttons), ostraconophobia (fear of sea molluscs), pogonophobia (fear of beards), xanthophobia (fear of the color yellow) and more recently,  ecophobia, named in 1996 to designate fear (not so unreasonable) and the deep feeling of powerlessness in the face of climate change.

Classification of phobias

But then, what are the most common phobias? A 1998 study gathering a sample of 8,098 subjects offers the following ranking:

1. Acrophobia: fear of emptiness;

2. Aerophobia: fear of flying;

3. Arachnophobia: fear of spiders;

4. Astraphobia: fear of lightning and thunderstorms;

5. Autophobia: fear of being alone;

6. Claustrophobia: fear of confined spaces;

7. Hematophobia: fear of blood;

8. Aquaphobia: fear of water and drowning;

9. Ophiophobia: fear of snakes;

10. Zoophobia: fear of animals.

To each his fears

Remember that, even if these can be found almost everywhere on the globe, these phobias are not representative of each society or community. It's a safe bet that in Niger, the poorest country in the world, few people have the luxury of worrying about their phobia of flying and that the phobia of losing a loved one is much more important.

Less than 10 years after the publication of this study, the world had already changed so much that it was discovered that there could be homophobia (the fear of not having your mobile phone with you or of no longer having a battery). Today, it is coronaphobia that is emerging.

Finally, Dena Rabinowitz, a specialist in cognitive-behavioral therapies, told Business Insider: "I think the most important thing I'd like us to remember about our phobias is that a lot of people have them. They are quite normal. And there is a way to get help. It is quite easy to cure phobias. Most people can be cured of their phobia in a few sessions. If your phobia interferes with your life or causes you distress, find a behavioral therapist and you can work to overcome it."