There are many fears and phobias that people have. Some of them are based on a real danger, while others are purely in the mind. They can be irrational or completely rational. They can be related to a person's environment, to a physical trait, to a situation, or even to specific people.
Some common fears are: fear of the dark, fear of snakes (ophidiophobia), fear of death (thanatophobia .:. Also known has death anxiety), and fear of flying (pteromerhanophobia).
There are many different types of phobias. They can be arranged into several categories. The most common one is social phobia, which includes specific situations like public speaking or eating in front of others. Agoraphobia is a type where an individual has severe anxiety about being away from a safe place or not having access to help if needed; agora comes from Greek meaning "open space."
Claustrophobia is an irrational discomfort with small spaces. Social anxiety disorder is related to worry about embarrassing oneself in social situations. There are also other specific phobias, such as fear of dogs (cynophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), or birds (ornithophobia).
Phobias can be dangerous because they interfere with living a normal life. They can make it difficult to participate in social functions and interfere with the individual's job performance if their phobia involves other people. In some cases, an individual may need to take time off from work as part of the treatment for their phobia.
One way that someone can overcome a fear is by gradually exposing themselves to what they're afraid of until they learn that there's nothing to worry about. With rational fears, this works well since you gradually expose yourself to something that presents a rational danger until you realize that it isn't something to be afraid of.
This type of therapy can also be used for irrational fears as well, but may not work so well. The idea is that you would gradually expose yourself to what you're afraid of until your fear subsides. For example, if someone is afraid of snakes and they decide to seek treatment for their phobia, the therapist might start by having them look at a picture of a snake and then move on to looking at a live non-poisonous snake and eventually handle one.
Overcoming fears or phobias takes time and patience and often requires help from other people such as counselors or therapists. In some cases, medication may also help with treating these conditions.
In many cases, though, you can take steps on your own to approach what you're afraid of and realize that it isn't as bad as you think. For example, if you have a phobia of public speaking, you can first start by looking at pictures of crowds of people until you feel more comfortable with them. Then, try looking at videos of people talking in front of large groups of people and eventually moving on to actually giving speeches or presentations.
Another thing that helps is just realizing that the fear itself isn't really dangerous and that even if something bad does happen–such as fainting while giving a speech – whatever consequences follow will be minor compared to the consequences suffered by someone who didn't overcome their fears and had the same things (e.g., not getting a job or losing friends).
I have that kind of phobia before, whenever I am standing in front of the crowd, my knees are shaking terribly, sometimes if I would speak, I am choked with my saliva, but I have overcome it already.