Phobias

Significant fears are commonly experienced throughout development, across all age groups and cultures. Fears also may be related to age with developmental patterns observed throughout early childhood and adolescence. For example, toddlers may be fearful of specific noises or separation from caregivers, and older children begin to experience increased fear toward other learned fearful stimuli or objects (e.g., scary movies or animals). Older adolescents may experience increased fear of stimuli and events relevant to their daily lives, such as school or social situations. Most fears resolve over time, do not require specific interventions, and do not result in functional limitations, but those that do result in limitations can be extremely distressing. These excessive fears are commonly referred to as phobias. Phobias represent a commonly occurring ...