Research

A phobia is a unrelenting fear of a situation, activity, or thing that causes one to want to avoid it. Phobias afflict more than 6 million people in america. The average age of developing a phobia is the age of 10. Women tend to be  twice as likely to suffer from a phobia compared to men. Some of the most common phobias are fear of heights called aerophobia, fear of speaking out in public is called social phobia.

One way that phobias connect to everybody that has it is fear. Fear overwhelms the people that have phobias. They are afraid to face their fear due to their phobia. The phobia makes that person feel helplessness since they try anything to avoid the situation. Phobias can also cause depression in a persons life. That person could feel embarrassed about their issue. It also adds stress to that persons life.

Some of the common phobias are coulrophobia, claustrophobia, aerophobia, zoophobia and arachnophobia. Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. Many people are afraid of clowns and don't like seeing them or even been near them. Claustrophobia is the fear of small places. People with this phobia don't feel comfortable in crowded areas. Aerophobia is the fear of flying. Many people with this phobia don't like flying because their afraid of it.

Phobia can affect a persons life in a big way. It could cause that person to have panic attacks and lead to alcoholism or alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse could lead to failures wit the liver and also cause problems within that persons family. It not only effects the person but also the people around them. Panic attacks lead to sweating, muscle tensions and other problems to the body.

Phobias can be caused due to past life experiences. For example if a kid is afraid of spiders and people tease him throughout his life that could lead to a phobia later on in the long run. That person could carry that fear with them for the rest of their life. Researchers are trying to figure out if phobias can be inherited by the parents.