Natural environment type – Including fear of water (aquaphobia), heights (acrophobia), lightning and thunderstorms (astraphobia), or aging (gerascophobia). Situational type – Including the fear of small confined spaces (claustrophobia), or the dark (nyctophobia). Blood/injection/injury type – Including fear of medical procedures, including needles and injections (trypanophobia), fear of blood (hemophobia) and fear of getting injured (traumatophobia). Other – Situations which can lead to choking or vomiting, and childrens fears of loud sounds or costumed characters.Although the avoidance resulting from specific phobia is comparable to other anxiety disorders, differential diagnosis is done through examining underlying causes for the behavior. Agoraphobia is also considered distinct from specific phobia, along with substance use disorders, and avoidant personality disorder. The occurrence of panic attacks is not itself a symptom of specific phobias and falls under the criteria of panic disorder. Treatment
There are a variety of treatment options available for specific phobias, most of which focus on psychosocial interventions. Different psychological treatments have varying levels of effects depending on the specific phobia being addressed. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a short term, skills-focused therapy that aims to help people diffuse unhelpful emotional responses by helping people consider them differently or change their behavior. CBT represents the gold standard and first line of therapy in specific phobias. CBT is effective in treating specific phobias primarily through exposure and cognitive strategies to overcome a persons anxiety. Computer-assisted treatment programs, self-help manuals, and delivery by a trained practitioner are all methods of accessing CBT.
There is an additional peak in incidence, reaching nearly 1% per year, during old age in both men and women, possibly reflective of newly occurring physical conditions or adverse life events. The development of phobias varies with subtypes, with animal and blood injection phobias typically beginning in childhood (ages 5–12), whereas development of situational specific phobias (i.e., fear of flying) usually occurs in late adolescence and early adulthood.In the US, the lifetime prevalence rate is 12.5% and a one-year prevalence rate of 9.1%. An estimated 12.5% of U.S. adults experience specific phobia at some time in their lives and the prevalence is approximately double in females compared to males. An estimated 19.3% of adolescents experience specific phobia, but the difference between males and females is not as pronounced. See also
List of phobias
Phobia

References
External links
Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders – Specific phobias