http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/overcoming-phobias-info.

html

http://www.hypnotherapy-services.com/hypnosis/fears-a-phobias/what-causes-
them?start=1

http://www.phobias-help.com/phobia_statistics.html

http://anxiety.stjoes.ca/specificP.htm

http://phobias.about.com/od/symptomsanddiagnosis/tp/phobiasymptoms.htm

History: Famous people who either presently suffer or have once suffered from specific phobias
include:

• Aretha Franklin (singer), Whoopi Goldberg (actress), Billy Bob Thornton (actor) and
Muhammad Ali (boxing champion) all suffered from Aviophobia – a fear of flying
• Natalie Wood (actress) was hydrophobic - a fear of water
• Tennis star Andre Agassi suffers from arachnophobia – fear of spiders
• Author Anne Rice has stated that she suffers from ahluophobia – fear of the dark
• Adolf Hitler was claustrophobic – fear of enclosed spaces
• Napoleon Bonaparte (emperor of France), suffered from ailurophobia - fear of cats
• Composer Fredric-Francois Chopin had a fear of being buried alive (Taphephobia) as did
Hans Christian Anderson

Psychoanalysts believe that phobias develop as a result of deeply buried early traumas, which
were hidden and repressed by the subconscious mind. Due to the traumas’ very powerful
emotional content they still influenced the conscious mind, presenting them in a disguised form,
recognised as the phobia.

Freud provided the main case study illustration in 1909, of a small child called Little Hans who
had a phobia of horses. Little Hans was the son of a colleague, and who had developed a phobia
of horses. The boy’s father was well acquainted with Freud’s theories, and wrote to Freud about
him, and questioned him closely about his fears for the child. They concluded that the phobia
was a disguised expression of the child’s Oedipal conflict.

In this particular case with Little Hans, horses represented his large, powerful father, whom the
child unconsciously feared as being in competition for his mother’s affections. Since he could
not express his fear directly, it had become manifest in his phobia of horses.

There were some other details that went undetected at the time of Freud’s reckoning, which
pointed to a different cause, but these were only considered years later. The child had been out
walking with his nurse when he became terrified as an overloaded horse collapsed and died
nearby, making loud noises as its hoofs struck the cobblestones. Rather than the phobia being
representative of the child’s Oedipal conflict it was more likely to be attributed to inappropriate
learning which was associated with the trauma of the horse dying in such close proximity
(Wolpe & Rachman, 1960).

Main causes of phobias include:

Direct Experience - This is when a person develops a phobia after a particularly bad experience.
A child that is bitten by a dog may develop a phobia of dogs, or an individual that was trapped in
an elevator for hours may develop claustrophobia.

A False Alarm - This occurs when a person has an unexpected feeling of panic or a panic attack
during a certain situation. The individual then associates this alarm response with that particular
situation. For example, many people with a phobia of driving haven’t been in a car accident, but
have experienced a panic attack while driving.

Observing Others - In some cases it is simply enough to watch or even hear someone else’s
awful experience. A phobia of doctors can develop after a child hears another child’s anguished
screams coming from the doctor’s office. Phobias may also develop when children observe the
behavior of a phobic parent.

Being Told - Sometimes just being warned repeatedly about a certain danger can cause a phobia.
A child who has a fretful parent who continually warns of the danger of snakes may develop a
phobia of snakes, despite never having seen one in real life.

symptoms: People with Phobias develop “safe places” (usually their own home), but it may also
include any other frequented areas where they feel psychologically safe and secure. In addition,
they often develop “safe people” with whom they feel totally comfortable and can depend on
should something happen.

When agoraphobics leave these people or places of safety, they often experience symptoms of
extreme anxiety or a panic attack. This results in obsessive avoidance behavior (they may only
want to shop at a particular shopping mall and will drive to the next suburb to do so) and in
extreme cases Agoraphobics live a life of recluse, seldom stepping out their front door.

• Statistics: Phobia statistics indicate that approximately 1 in 23 people suffer

from phobias. That’s nearly 4.25% of the population. There are
roughly 11.5 million sufferers in the US and 2.5 million in the UK.

• Approximately 19.1 million American adults aged between 18 and 54 (13.3%

of people in this age group) in a given year have an anxiety disorder.
 • 5.2 million Americans (aged 18 to 54) or 3.7% of people in this age group
have social phobia.

• Approximately 3.2 million Americans have agoraphobia...according to the

latest specific phobia statistics

• Almost 6.2 million US citizens have some sort of specific phobia.

• All three types of phobia, social, agoraphobia and specific are likely to effect
between 5 and 10 people in every 100.

• Females are more prone to irrational fears than males. Phobia statistics
suggest that roughly twice as many women as men suffer from panic
disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and
specific phobia though about equal numbers of women and men have
obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia.

• In England in 2002-3, there were 310 hospital consultant episodes for phobic
anxiety disorders. 94% required hospital admission. 40% were for men, 60%
for women.

Only about 20% of specific phobias disappear on their own for an adult.

Phobia Stats
Phobias, like fear of dogs, fear of water, fear of flying, etc are exceedingly common in society.
Approximately 3.2 million Americans have agoraphobia…according to the latest specific phobia
statistics.

More interesting statistics on phobias:

• Females are more prone to irrational fears than males. Phobia statistics suggest that
roughly twice as many women as men suffer from panic disorder, post traumatic stress
disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and specific phobia though about equal numbers of
women and men have obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia.
• Almost 6.2 million US citizens have some sort of specific phobia.
• All three types of phobia, social, agoraphobia and specific are likely to effect between 5
and 10 people in every 100.
• Approximately 5.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 3.7 percent of people
in this age group in a given year, have social phobia. Social phobia typically begins in
childhood or adolescence.
• Phobia statistics indicate that approximately 1 in 23 people suffer from phobias. That’s
nearly 4.25% of the population. There are roughly 11.5 million sufferers in the US and
2.5 million in the UK.