Agorophobia is the fear that one will embarass himself in a public place, causing him to be singled out. It also comes with a fear that there will be no escape from this place. This prevents a person from leaving the security of his home. Severe panic attacks often occur with agoraphobia, and these attacks can happen anytime. This adds to the fear of public embarassment, the fear that one will have an attack in a public place. People with agoraphobia are often extremely depressed. 75% of those treated for the disorder remembered a specific event preceding the onset of agoraphobia. 38% of those reported a traumatic event, and 23% reported the death of a loved one. The panic attacks associated with agoraphobia usually occur while standing in a line, being away from home, or being involved in a heated argument.

In social phobias, the individual will avoid a social situation in which he or she feels will cause them to be scrutinized. They are afraid of performing various acts in public that they have no problem doing in private, such as eating, writing, or even urinating. These phobias usually begin in the adolescent years, and 12% last a lifetime. Social phobics usually see all reactions from others as negative, and therefore cannot take criticism.

A specific phobia is the fear of a certain object or situation. These are the fears we immediately associate with phobias, such as the fear of thunder (brontophobia), the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), and the fear of fire (pyrophobia). There is some organization of these phobias, as the DSM-VI states. These are the five groups:

1. Animal
2. Natural environment
3. Blood/injections or injury
4. Situational
5. Other

For a list of phobias, click HERE