health

The most common variety of phobia involves social situations. Social
phobia is a persistent fear of humiliation or embarrassment in social
settings. Closely related to social phobia is agoraphobia (literally “fear
of the market place”), which is a fear of being in locations or situations
from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing. People suffering
from agoraphobia believe that they may suddenly develop a panic
attack. To cope, people with agoraphobia avoid crowds or situations
they find threatening. When they cannot do so, they are often filled
with anxiety.
Other specific phobias such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders) or
hydrophobia (fear of water) can cause people to avoid specific situations
in which they might confront what frightens them.