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This page is about phobic anxiety disorders as a class. Research etc on specific phobias should go on the appropiate page off of the links below(if they have no ICD10 number) or off the ICD10 page if they have a number.




Clinical phobiasEdit

Psychologists and psychiatrists classify most phobias into three categories[1][2] and, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), such phobias are considered to be sub-types of anxiety disorder. The three categories are:

  • Social phobia- fears involving other people or social situations such as performance anxiety or fears of embarrassment by scrutiny of others, such as eating in public. Overcoming social phobia is often very difficult without the help of therapy or support groups. Social phobia may be further subdivided into


Main article: Phobias - History of the disorder.
Main article: Phobias - Theoretical approaches.
Main article: Phobias - Epidemiology.
Main article: Phobias - Risk factors.
Main article: Phobias - Etiology.
Main article: Phobias - Diagnosis & evaluation.
Main article: Phobias - Comorbidity.
Main article: Phobias - Treatment.
Main article: Phobias - Prognosis.
Main article: Phobias - Service user page.
Main article: Phobias - Carer page.

Non-clinical uses of the termEdit

Main article: -phobia

A number of neologisms have appeared with the suffix -phobia, in which "phobia" is understood as a negative attitude towards certain categories of people or other things, used in an analogy with the medical usage of the term. Usually these kinds of "phobias" are described as fear, dislike, disapproval, prejudice, hatred, discrimination, or hostility towards the object of the "phobia". Often this attitude is based on prejudices and is a particular case of general xenophobia.

A fear or hatred is not always considered a phobia in the clinical sense because it is believed to be only a symptom of other psychological problems, or the result of ignorance, or of political or social beliefs. In other words, unlike clinical phobias, which are usually qualified with the word "irrational", phobias of attitude usually have roots in social relations.

Below are some of these neologisms:

See also List of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms.

Hydrophobia and photophobiaEdit

The term hydrophobia, or fear of water, is usually not a psychological condition at all, but another term for the disease rabies, referring to a common symptom. Likewise, photophobia is a physical complaint. Aversion to light due to inflamed eyes or excessively dilated pupils does not necessarily indicate photophobia.

See alsoEdit


  1. AllPsych Journal | Phobias: Causes and Treatments
  2. NIMH - The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America

Key textsEdit




^  Kessler et. al., (2005). Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, Archive of General Psychiatry, Volume 20.

  • Curtis GC, Magee WJ, Eaton WW, Wittchen HU,

Kessler RC. Specific fears and phobias. Epidemiology and classification. Br J Psychiatry 1998;173:212–17.

Additional materialEdit



External links Edit


Phobias - Academic support materials


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