There are four (4) main types of Phobias, which is why we now refer to Phobias as "Specific Phobias": Animal Type (spiders, snakes, dogs, etc.); Natural Environment Type (heights, water, storms, darkness), Blood-Injection-Injury Type (sight of blood, receiving an injection, seeing needles), and Situational Type (bridges, tunnels, flying, driving, enclosed places).  Note that it is very easy to confuse "Situational Type", with another type of phobia, such as a fear of heights (Natural Environment Type), or another Anxiety Disorder such as Panic Disorder, when working with someone who states that they have a "fear of flying", for example. In other words, the question becomes...is the person suffering from Panic Attacks, a fear of heights, claustrophobia, or some other condition? Thus, the need for a very thorough assessment. In general, the most common phobias involve animals and heights, with a mean age of onset typically around the age of 16 years.  It should also be kept in mind that the term, "Agoraphobia", used to be classified as a type of Phobia.  However, this term is now better associated with a diagnosis of "Panic Disorder with Agoraphobic Avoidance". That is, those who suffer from a diagnosis of Panic Disorder may ALSO display avoidance of specific environmental situations such as movie theaters, sporting events, etc. Their avoidance of these situations is not because they are "phobic" of movie theaters, etc., but is instead because of their fear of having a Panic Attack while in these particular environmental settings.

As was mentioned above, once an individual comes into contact with a feared object or situation, the most common reaction involves a Panic Attack.  Although the symptoms of a Panic Attack are primarily physical in nature, they also include cognitive components, that is, specific thought patterns associated with these attacks. The primary physical symptoms of a Panic Attack would include: rapid heart rate, a feeling of suffocation, a feeling of choking, chest pain, sweating, nausea or abdominal distress, chills or hot flashes, dizziness, and a feeling of disorientation or detachment from one's body. Not all of these symptoms need to occur during a Panic Attack. Some attacks include only a handful of these symptoms, and a person may experience different physical sensations from one attack to another.  In addition to these physical sensations, Panic Attacks also involves thoughts related to the attacks themselves, such as persistent concerns about having additional attacks in the near future, and thoughts about the possible consequences of the attacks themselves (e.g., experiencing heart failure, loosing all control and "going crazy"). These anxiety attacks represent the basic emotion of terror, or "false alarms" firing off at times when there is no true emergency at hand.

What is the difference between normal anxiety concerning interacting (or the thought of encountering) with a trigger (e.g., a dog), and having a phobic reaction? Normal anxiety would involve simple feeling worried about the need to go over to a neighbor's house for dinner, knowing that the person owns a dog. Having an animal phobia (in this case, regarding dogs), would result in avoidance behavior such as turning down the invitation to have dinner at your neighbor's home. In addition, should avoidance become impossible, and the person found themselves in contact with the neighbor's dog, it is very possible that a Panic Attack would occur.