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Most Common Phobias

Name the 10 most common phobias in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Guess either the "phobia" or what the person is afraid of
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 4, 2019
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First submittedFebruary 14, 2014
Times taken77,067
Average score50.0%
Rating4.21
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#
Fear of
Phobia
1
Public speaking
Glossophobia
2
Death
Necrophobia
3
Spiders
Arachnophobia
4
Darkness
Myctophobia
5
Heights
Acrophobia
#
Fear of
Phobia
6
People / social situations
Sociophobia
7
Flying
Aerophobia
8
Confined spaces
Claustrophobia
9
Open spaces
Agoraphobia
10
Thunder and lightning
Brontophobia
+2
Level 20
Nov 20, 2015
Please accept 'airplanes' or 'aeroplanes' for flying.
+5
Level 66
Oct 11, 2019
So if you see a picture of a plane you freak out?
+1
Level 63
Dec 30, 2022
Yes
+2
Level 51
Aug 28, 2016
I would have thought 'Homophobia' or 'Xenophobia' would have been one there.
+4
Level 22
Aug 28, 2016
People don't normally have homophobia. They're not scared of homosexuals, they're oppressive of them.
+4
Level 57
Aug 28, 2016
Surely trumpophobia must be on the list by now! I certainly am suffering from it.
+2
Level 60
Sep 10, 2016
It really is sad that so many people are afraid of someone who loves America. The country really has been fundamentally transformed.
+3
Level 69
Sep 14, 2016
Let me give you a list of other people who "love(d) America": David Duke, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Scott Roeder, Jim David Adkisson, Paul Jennings Hill, Steven L. Anderson, James Manning, Dylann Roof, Eric Rudolph. Feel free to Google any of them with whom you are not familiar.
+1
Level 60
Sep 20, 2016
@samiamco Hey! Well, I'm certainly no fan of Donald Trump, but personally, I'm afraid of logical fallacies, and you're REALLY terrifying me with that red herring :)
+2
Level 66
Oct 11, 2019
Hitler loved germany, just a little too much... anything to make the country the greatest place that it was destined to be..
+5
Level 89
Apr 21, 2020
Trump himself doesn't scare me. The people who think he's the second coming of God or Jesus Christ, they scare me.

Or better yet, the fact that a large portion of the country are willing to support him no matter what is probably the scariest thing of all.

+2
Level 66
Apr 21, 2020
Yea in many cases scary people throughout history themselves aren't scary. It is scary that they are allowed to be put in a position of power and remain there.

In middleschool they showed us the movie "the Wave" that has definitely left an impression

+5
Level 78
Dec 21, 2021
So, with the benefit of hindsight: one Capitol riot, several shootings, attempted insurrection, hundreds of thousands of covid deaths, two impeachment trials, and some highly questionable ethics later, how's your ex doing? The fellow who took over does not seem like a vast improvement, but at least he is not instructing his countryfolk to inject bleach. Love from Europe (and trust me, we know all about despots here).
+1
Level 54
Aug 20, 2021
Here we are 5 years later and his successor is nothing short of the United States biggest nightmare, I guess you should have checked your hatred and used your noggin.
+1
Level 63
Dec 30, 2022
I would make it a bit bigger what about politicianfobia
+1
Level 43
Aug 28, 2016
I was expecting clowns to feature! I'm glad homophobia wasn't there. It's not a phobia like flying or spiders, it just makes you an intolerant asshole.
+3
Level 56
Aug 28, 2016
Thunder and lightning, it's getting exciting.

Lights up the skyline to show where you are.

+1
Level 68
Aug 28, 2016
I love thunder and lightning.
+2
Level 68
Aug 28, 2016
I know a person with a phobia of vomiting. For real.
+2
Level 70
Aug 28, 2016
How is anatidaephobia not here?
+1
Level 60
Sep 10, 2016
Haha nice. Gary Larson truly was a strange individual. Also, what about lyttlelongdogophobia?
+1
Level 50
Mar 6, 2024
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
+1
Level 52
Aug 28, 2016
I just thought of my mother in law, she has almost all of them and then some. I don't think she is afraid of death or spiders though.
+1
Level 67
Aug 28, 2016
They clearly must have lost the records from The Deep South...
+2
Level 77
Aug 28, 2016
I would have thought "fear of commitment" would have made the list from all the comments I hear from single people.
+1
Level 48
Aug 28, 2016
I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of widths. (No one else has brought up Steven Wright.)
+1
Level 37
Oct 23, 2016
Accept astrophobia for Brontophobia, it's the most common name
+3
Level 75
Jan 29, 2017
I'd never heard of brontophobia. I would have guessed it is a fear of dinosaurs, but after thinking about it I remember the name brontosaurus means "thunder lizard". If I'd had another ten minutes I might have gotten it. :)
+1
Level 65
Apr 21, 2020
I second the astraphobia suggestion. It is more commonly known as astraphobia rather than brontophobia.
+1
Level 75
Apr 21, 2020
I also typed astraphobia, and didn't try thunder or lightning because I had never heard it called something else.
+1
Level 57
Dec 15, 2016
Suprised Monophobia, the fear of being alone isn't on here.
+1
Level 56
Jan 29, 2017
Please consider Spider, Height etc singular terms.
+2
Level 34
Jan 29, 2017
0/10 lets go boys
+2
Level 48
Mar 6, 2017
Agoraphobia isn't technically 'fear of open spaces'. It is 'fear of being trapped in a public places where escape is difficult or impossible without embarrassment'. But feel free to leave it as open spaces as it's what most people know it as. Just wanted to put it in the comments for people to see
+1
Level 63
May 19, 2017
Shouldn't close quarters be accepted for confined spaces.
+2
Level 80
Jul 13, 2017
i don't see FOMO on this list anywhere? clear sign of an error. but thunder and lightning very very frightening
+1
Level 69
Jul 18, 2017
I see my phobia didn't make the list.

Belonephobia: fear of sharp objects.

In my case... needles!

Great quiz!

+1
Level 68
Dec 22, 2021
I tried that one! My phobia (more of a harmless aversion really) is of dangly jewellery (kosmemophobia).
+1
Level 63
Feb 8, 2018
Maybe accept embarrassment for Social Situations?
+3
Level 48
Feb 21, 2018
IT IS NYCTOPHOBIA (from GreeK 'Nycta' ) not Myctophobia
+1
Level 60
Apr 21, 2020
Yes, but in some places, it is known as Myctophobia. I guess that form is more common in the US, and that's why it is that way in this quiz. But I too think that the answer should be Nyctophobia, even though both work.
+1
Level 88
Apr 9, 2018
How about Trypophobia (Fear of holes in your skin or having a beehive like structured skin)? Studies show that over 60% percent of the people has this phobia. Google if you doubt if you are one of them.
+4
Level 48
Apr 26, 2019
A lot of that is just gross-out pictures. True trypophobia is fear of otherwise ordinary things with holes. The lotus is a classic example. Not gory pictures of human skin and stuff.
+1
Level 66
Apr 21, 2020
or a cheesegrater or garlicpress.
+1
Level 68
Feb 16, 2019
could you have planes be accepted for flying?
+1
Level 66
Oct 11, 2019
Do you think the wings are scary or is it the wheels? or maybe all those little windows?
+1
Level 48
Apr 26, 2019
Darkness? Was this a survey of 4 year olds?
+2
Level 79
Apr 15, 2020
No it wasn't, 'GeoDude'.
+1
Level 66
Oct 11, 2019
I doubt this list comes anywhere close to reality. Not even gonna discuss the order. But some are definitely missing, rats/mice, snakes, dentist, bees/wasps, insects in general, clowns, dogs, blood. (I cant tell you the times I hear people about those things..basicly on a daily basis..)
+1
Level 79
Apr 15, 2020
Also just because people don't talk about their fear of something (that often) doesn't mean they don't have it. And the word is basically*.
+1
Level 78
Apr 21, 2020
I think there is a difference between common fear and phobias like those listed here. People who are afraid of spiders may shrink back if they see them, while people with arachnophobia go out of their way to avoid spiders, so much that it may affect their everyday lives.
+1
Level 77
Dec 31, 2019
WHAT ARE HALF OF THESE? Where's the fear of needles/ injections.
+1
Level 45
Feb 18, 2020
I personally am terrified of the KoolAid man (koolphobia)
+2
Level 45
Feb 24, 2020
Can aerophobia accept airplanes or planes for flying?
+2
Level 79
Apr 15, 2020
Yes please! I was thinking of this phobia but tried 'plane'!
+2
Level 90
Apr 21, 2020
People shouldn't be afraid of flying - that's what planes are supposed to do. They should be afraid of crashing.
+1
Level 66
Apr 21, 2020
haha
+1
Level 67
Apr 21, 2020
Hard to believe more people are afraid of thunder than are afraid of dogs or needles. I personally have such an intense fear of the dentist that I have to get doped up before going. Don't know whether fear of dental work is in the top ten, but I suspect many people have it.
+2
Level 89
Apr 21, 2020
Would it be reasonable to assume the number of people who suffer from #6 have increased in the last couple months? Or am I just overthinking things?
+2
Level ∞
Apr 21, 2020
When someone says "Am I just overthinking things" the answer is almost always yes.
+2
Level 89
Apr 21, 2020
Good to know
+2
Level 48
Apr 21, 2020
I put 'closed' spaces instead of confined spaces, as that's how I've always heard it referred as... Could this be counted?

...I do realise later I could've just put the start of the phobia, too, but I thought it wasn't there because closed spaces didn't work.

+1
Level 56
Apr 21, 2020
Idiot! I thought you had to give the "proper" word. I was thinking afterwards, "how did so many people know myctophobia?"
+2
Level 41
Apr 21, 2020
I'm surprised trypophobia (fear of small holes) isn't on here. There are a lot of people that have that fear (including some famous celebrities), including me haha
+1
Level 74
Apr 21, 2020
I'd believe that a lot of people would describe it more as a kind of repugnance than a phobia.
+1
Level 65
Apr 21, 2020
Should accept "space" for "spaces" since they're not only afraid of multiple spaces.
+1
Level 66
Apr 21, 2020
Anataediphobia
+1
Level 43
Jun 5, 2020
What have ducks ever done to you?
+1
Level 61
Apr 21, 2020
i have suffered from brontophobia since i was 5.
+1
Level 60
Apr 21, 2020
Well where is xenophobia ? :D

To be more constructive I think Aerophobia is more the fear of air or wind than the fear of flying (which is pretty close to Aviophobia).

+1
Level 37
Apr 21, 2020
Thought fear of failure (atychiphobia) would be near the top. I tried it several times.
+2
Level 63
Apr 22, 2020
Can you accept planes for flying?
+1
Level 76
Apr 22, 2020
Can you accept Astraphobia for Brontophobia?
+3
Level 75
Apr 22, 2020
Judging by the repetitiveness of these comments, "Fear of reading comment sections before commenting" must be no.1
+1
Level 50
Jun 5, 2020
Being a debater myself, I have heard the saying "What others fear more than death we do for fun" but I never knew that was literally the truth
+1
Level 43
Jun 5, 2020
Any other severe melissophobiacs out there?
+1
Level 64
Jan 29, 2021
WHERE IS hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?
+1
Level 51
Jan 29, 2021
Here are the phobias I have from this quiz:

Necrophobia, Arachnophobia, Myctophobia, Acrophobia, Aerophobia and Agoraphobia

+1
Level 84
Mar 17, 2021
I was surprised when "planes" and "airplanes" wasn't on the list. Apparently I needed to specify "flying".
+1
Level 39
Oct 28, 2021
I'm Suprised Cynophobia Isn't On The List
+1
Level 62
Dec 21, 2021
I got fear of death and spiders.

Tried fear of:

clowns

drowning

dogs

gay people

being alone

germs

the number 13

home invasion

governmental overreach

aliens

I tried to come up with what I thought people would say and thought surely...! And when I saw the answers like public speaking, I remembered that as a left-handed extrovert, my brain works a little differently. Yay...I guess?? LOL.

+2
Level 82
Dec 21, 2021
I'm sure that realistically intimacy should also make the top 10. Much more present in many people's lives than a fear of spiders...
+1
Level 44
Dec 21, 2021
Taxes?
+1
Level 56
Dec 21, 2021
OhmyGodphobia : The fear of Mcdonalds being closed
+1
Level 48
Dec 21, 2021
Damn got the last one (actually #1) with one second left on the clock. Interesting quiz!
+1
Level 53
Dec 21, 2021
I somehow got the fear of thunders but I didn't get the fear of open spaces :D
+2
Level 83
Dec 21, 2021
Come on, "closed spaces" doesn't work but "open spaces" does?
+1
Level 66
Dec 21, 2021
I'm actually surprised that trypophobia (16% of people) isn't on here.
+1
Level 71
Dec 21, 2021
I'm surprised not many people have mentioned thalassophobia (fear of deep bodies of water and, by extension, drowning) yet. I thought that would be pretty common.
+1
Level 67
Dec 21, 2021
I used to think that claustrophobia was the fear of Santa Claus, because you know, “he sees you when you’re sleeping”.
+1
Level 74
Dec 21, 2021
What's the term for the anxiety of not being able to pay for healthcare, or not wanting to leave your family in shedloads of medical debt so you just choose not to receive healthcare. Or the threat of bankruptcy (due to said medical debt).

Surely more common in the good 'ol USA than spider fear.

+2
Level 82
Dec 23, 2021
Wow, I suffer from every one of these phobias. l must be a coward.
+3
Level 78
Jul 25, 2022
Scared of closed and open spaces? Do you live in a medium-sized room?
+2
Level 78
Jul 25, 2022
I wonder what the methodology on this is... were people just asked what they were most afraid of? Where they asked if they were afraid of a list of things? Is it only diagnoses in a clinical setting?
+1
Level 29
Jan 25, 2023
I thought that fear of the dark was Nyxophobia
+1
Level 29
Jan 25, 2023
*Nyctophobia
+2
Level 88
Feb 17, 2023
Would you accept talking in public?
+1
Level 49
Mar 18, 2023
i have two of these t.t
+2
Level 49
Mar 18, 2023
nyctophobia not myctophobia
+1
Level 60
Oct 6, 2023
Please accept "closed spaces" / "enclosed spaces" for claustrophobia / confined spaces"