The top ten phobias are not universally agreed upon but these would seem to be those which appear in most lists of what at this time are the top ten phobias.
Claustrophobia or a fear of being enclosed or "boxed in" is one of the basic most common fears. Most people know of and can recall situations which they found oppressive that they had to get out of and away from. Claustrophobia can happen in very crowded places, or as a result of being physically confined. Opposite to claustrophobia is the feeling of being stressed by being out in open spaces and this is called agoraphobia.
Bed Guard Rail
Agoraphobics often develop techniques so that they can feel safe when going out because otherwise they would be virtually imprisoned in their homes.
Some people have a fear of being very high up compared with their surroundings (acrophobia). They experience vertigo, and feel as though they might fall. Often having a rail or security guard is enough to stop these feelings as a person feels secure with something to hold on to. A most common fear today is a fear of flying. Therapy is available for people who find that they need to fly for work related or personal reasons.
Some people have a fear of storms and it is worse when thunder and lightning is involved. Even being in the safety of their own home fails to make people feel comfortable and many will hide in, if not under, the bed.
A fear of storms will often have a story behind if as to why the person feels afraid, often it will relate to having been very frightened in the past. Another fear which can make a person very uncomfortable is the fear of being robbed or having your home invaded. Sometimes people will spend hours checking and rechecking the locks on their doors, and that all of their windows are locked and sometimes remain awake during the night in fear that every sound could be intruders.
A fear of public speaking is very commonly experienced and many books have been written on the subject of techniques to get past nervousness so that you can make a public speech. It can sometimes be just as hard to speak in front of people you know as speak to a group of strangers. Related to the fear of speaking to a group is social phobia which makes a person feel nervous in a variety of social situations. People with this phobia may avoid going out at all for social purposes or find the process so embarrassing that they will leave early. They may even have difficulties with going out for shopping, to make a hairdressing appointment, and some can find that even dealing with people in a workplace situation is too anxiety provoking for them
High on most lists of the top ten phobias is the fear of spiders (arachnophobia), and most will agree that there is something creepy and threatening about spiders, particularly when they are in the house or hiding in garden settings. Another of the top ten fears is said to be that of snakes. Some people have little chance of encountering a real live snake, but they even feel that they cannot bear to look at a picture of one in a book - many people have an intense fear of reptiles generally and cannot bear to touch or be near them.
Having a phobia today is recognized as being something which can be treated, either with medications or by having some kind of therapy which enables you to meet your fears and work out strategies for coping with the problem. Phobias are related to having anxiety in certain areas, and very often talking about the phobia, and the emotions that you have and associate with it can lead to a cure. If the anxiety is reduced, generally the object of the phobia starts to look less threatening and perhaps eventually no longer be associated with fear anymore.