Why do people have phobias? livescience com

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Joe Phelan
September 26, 2022
Why do people have phobias?
livescience.com/why-people-have-phobias
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Are some people more prone to developing phobias, and are these extreme aversions
permanent? (Image credit: Jasmin Merdan via Getty Images)
Most people can think of something that's especially terrifying to them. Maybe they're scared
of spiders — up to 15% of Americans have arachnophobia — or they have a fear of flying,
which some studies suggest affects around 1 in 5 people.
But why do we experience fears and phobias?
First, it's important to note the difference between a phobia and a reasonable reaction to
something that is fundamentally dangerous or unpredictable.
"A phobia is a fear of a particular situation or object that is out of proportion to the objective
reality and interferes with a person's life," Ron Rapee, a professor of psychology and founding
director of the Centre for Emotional Health at Macquarie University in Australia, told Live
Science in an email. "Most phobias show essentially the same characteristics, and differ only
in the particular focus of the fear. 
Related: What is the 'call of the void'?
"Common characteristics include avoidance of the feared situation or object; worried or
negative thoughts; and physical symptoms when faced with the fear, such as increased
heart rate, pupil dilation, and increased respiratory rate," Rapee said.
Most people will be cautious and wary upon encountering dangerous situations or objects,
but sometimes these "realistic" fears can move beyond what most people would see as
"commensurate with the reality of the situation," Rapee explained. This is when people's
reactions to such scenarios tend to be labeled excessive or irrational. 
A debilitating aversion to water is, according to Rapee, an example of a sensible, entirely
rational "precaution" that can transform, for one reason or another, into a full-blown phobia.
And it's possible that some of the most common phobias, such as a fear of heights
(acrophobia), actually arose due to evolutionary pressures.
"In most cases, phobias are found in relation to realistic and evolutionarily sensible objects
and situations," Rapee said. "For example, one almost never sees a phobia of electric wires
or sockets (even though these can kill you), but it is common to see phobias of storms or
snakes or spiders — in other words, things that could kill us in ancient times."
However, it's still unclear why fear or caution evolves into a phobia for some, but not all.
"A common theory is that phobias are 'learned' at key developmental periods, (usually) earlier
in life (most phobias first emerge in childhood)," Rapee said. "This learning may come from a
bad experience (e.g., being bitten by a dog), but this is probably the exception, since most
people with phobias can't report specific traumatic experiences." 

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The psychodynamic theory, first contemplated by Sigmund Freud, suggests that many
behaviors and fears can be linked to experiences in childhood. In particularly traumatic
cases, the memory of these early-life events can be repressed, the theory claims, and could
end up manifesting in phobias later in life. However, some experts, such as Dr. Joel Paris, a
professor of psychiatry at McGill University in Canada, have suggested "the absence of solid
and persuasive evidence for the theory" means that, while repressed memories may play a
role in the development of phobias for some people, it's unlikely to be the case for the
majority.
Fear of water itself is called aquaphobia, whereas fear of the open water and it's
vastness (or emptiness) is called thalassophobia. (Image credit: Enes Evren via
Getty Images)
In fact, a person doesn't have to have a negative experience to develop a phobia; they could
see someone else have a bad experience, or be told or shown repeatedly that something is
dangerous. In other words, a parent frequently warning a child about the dangerous ocean,
or a person watching movies such as "Jaws" and "Titanic," which showcase the sea as
menacing and lethal, could conceivably catalyze the development of thalassophobia, a fear
of large bodies of water.