Specific Phobia

Specific phobia refers to a deep fear of something that is perceived as dangerous by the individual suffering from that phobia. For instance, many people are afraid of elevators and escalators. They all are said to have escalator phobia or elevator phobia.

Some common specific phobias include closed-in places, escalators, heights, tunnels, highway driving, stray dogs and much more. Such extreme fears generally do not have any rational basis. Even mere thought of facing that object of fear causes panic attack or severe anxiety to the concerned individual.

Specific phobia is a kind of anxiety disorder. People with specific phobias have extreme fear of an object or a situation. But as a matter of fact, the object or the situation will not be as dangerous as perceived by these people. Specific phobias often develop in childhood or adolescence, so the child is not mentally equipped to distinguish between a real danger and perceived danger.

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