The Classification of Phobic Disorders

Abstract

History of term ‘phobia’The term ‘phobia’ derives from the Greek word ‘phobos’ meaning panic-fear and terror, and from the deity of the same name who provoked fear and panic in one's enemies. Although morbid fears have been described by doctors from Hippocrates onwards, the word phobia has only been used on its own since the beginning of the 19th century, and it gradually gained acceptance during that century in the same sense as today, viz. an intense fear which is out of proportion to the apparent stimulus. Such fear cannot be explained or reasoned away and leads to avoidance of the feared situation where possible.