1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Phobias

Specific Phobia

By Lisa Fritscher, About.com

Updated: March 30, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Steven Gans, MD

Definition: A marked, persistent fear of a clearly discernable, circumscribed object or situation. Adult sufferers recognize that the fear is out of proportion to reality.

Specific phobias are grouped into five major categories: animal type, natural environment type, situational type, blood-injected-injury type and "other" type. A person may suffer more than one specific phobia simultaneously.

Source:

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Also Known As: Simple Phobia; Single Phobia

Explore Phobias

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Phobias
  4. Glossary
  5. Phobias - Definition of Specific Phobia

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.