Phobia

"According to the American Psychiatric Association, a phobia is an uncontrollable, irrational, and persistent fear of a specific object, situation, or activity." [1]

List of the top ten phobias:

1. Arachnophobia \- Fear of spiders
2. Social Phobia \- Fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations
3. Aerophobia \- Fear of flying
4. Agoraphobia \- Intense fear and avoidance of any place or situation where escape might be difficult or help unavailable in the event of developing sudden panic-like symptoms
5. Claustrophobia \- Fear of being trapped in small confined spaces
6. Acrophobia \- Fear of heights
7. Emetophobia \- Fear of vomit
8. Carcinophobia \- Fear of cancer
9. Brontophobia \- Fear of thunderstorms
10. Necrophobia \- Fear of death or dead things [2]

Triskadekaphobia is a superstitious fear of the number 13. The most popular cultural expression of this fear is the conception that Fridays occurring on the 13th day of a month (Friday the 13th) are considered bad luck. Of interest is that mathematically, Friday is the most common weekday in the Gregorian calendar on which the 13th can occur.

Since medieval times, association of bad luck with the number has been associated to the fact 13 people attended the Last Supper of Jesus.

## See also[edit]

* Conservaphobia
* Christianophobia
* Hoplophobia

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Phobias, Ohio State University Medical Center
2. ↑ phobia-fear-release.com