Phobias are particular fears that are out of proportion to real dangers.

It’s possible to develop a phobia to almost any situation or thing, but the most common include:

Social Phobia

This is anxiety about how you are seen and judged by other people or fear of being humiliated in social situations or at times when you are on show, speaking or performing in public

Agoraphobia

Fear of leaving home; going into shops, crowds and public places or travelling alone in trains, buses or planes.

Specificphobias

Fears attached to specific things, such as fear of heights, spiders, mice, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), needles, thunder, darkness, flying, dentistry, using public toilets, eating certain foods or the sight of blood or injury.

People with a phobia will try to avoid the object or situation they fear. For example, someone with agoraphobia may find it very difficult to leave their house at all.

The symptoms of your anxiety – such as a racing heart or feeling faint – may be frightening in themselves and these are often associated with secondary fears of dying, losing control, or ‘going mad’.