Most of us are afraid of something.
As children, it might have been being afraid of the dark or the monsters under the bed.
But what are the three most common phobias that people have? Fear of spiders This isn't just due to horror movies like Arachnophobia.
An awful lot of people are afraid of spiders.
Since some spiders are poisonous, this isn't a phobia without foundation.
But a lot of people expand their fear to take in spiders of every shape and size.
Even ones that basically just exist to keep the local fly population under control.
Trying to rationalize a spider phobia isn't easy.
For some people, it's the (literally) spidery legs.
For others, it's the cobwebs they spin that get in your face or hair.
One fun way to help at least reduce your fear of spiders is to imagine that the hairy creature you're looking at has been attacked by a local vandal and is now covered with graffiti.
For lots of people, these psychedelic spiders aren't as scary as the regular ones.
Fear of heights Again, at a lot of levels, this is a perfectly rational fear to have.
But it depends on where the fear stems from and how it manifests itself.
In a lot of buildings, the elevators are deliberately made mainly of glass.
Partly this could be a security thing but more likely it's because the architect thought it would be a good idea, ignoring the fact that a phobia of heights is very commonplace.
This leaves you with the option of taking the stairs or clinging on for grim death to the side of the elevator that's got the doors on it.
Fear of heights can make itself known in other ways - the other common outbreak is flying.
Because - by definition - planes fly high in the air, people can translate that to a fear of heights.
Ignoring the fact that the plane is a self contained, pressurized, cabin.
Specialist help like hypnosis can help you to reduce or even overcome your fear of heights, whether it's combined with flying or not.
Social Phobia Just under one in 25 adults suffer from this, making it one of the most popular phobias to suffer from.
This can range from a mild fear of social events - the people who stand in the kitchen at parties, drinking alcohol like it's going out of fashion are probably a good example of this - right the way through to avoiding social events where you're almost bound to meet other people.
You'll know that you suffer from social phobia is you're always thinking up an excuse not to attend an event or even somewhere there's likely to be a crowd of people.
If that describes you, it's worth breaking down your social phobia into little bits and chipping away at those parts one at a time.
Fear is actually a scaredy cat.
It's scared of being found out and then thrown out.
So if you're unfortunate enough to suffer from one of these common fears, confront it and watch it start to cower in the corner.
As children, it might have been being afraid of the dark or the monsters under the bed.
But what are the three most common phobias that people have? Fear of spiders This isn't just due to horror movies like Arachnophobia.
An awful lot of people are afraid of spiders.
Since some spiders are poisonous, this isn't a phobia without foundation.
But a lot of people expand their fear to take in spiders of every shape and size.
Even ones that basically just exist to keep the local fly population under control.
Trying to rationalize a spider phobia isn't easy.
For some people, it's the (literally) spidery legs.
For others, it's the cobwebs they spin that get in your face or hair.
One fun way to help at least reduce your fear of spiders is to imagine that the hairy creature you're looking at has been attacked by a local vandal and is now covered with graffiti.
For lots of people, these psychedelic spiders aren't as scary as the regular ones.
Fear of heights Again, at a lot of levels, this is a perfectly rational fear to have.
But it depends on where the fear stems from and how it manifests itself.
In a lot of buildings, the elevators are deliberately made mainly of glass.
Partly this could be a security thing but more likely it's because the architect thought it would be a good idea, ignoring the fact that a phobia of heights is very commonplace.
This leaves you with the option of taking the stairs or clinging on for grim death to the side of the elevator that's got the doors on it.
Fear of heights can make itself known in other ways - the other common outbreak is flying.
Because - by definition - planes fly high in the air, people can translate that to a fear of heights.
Ignoring the fact that the plane is a self contained, pressurized, cabin.
Specialist help like hypnosis can help you to reduce or even overcome your fear of heights, whether it's combined with flying or not.
Social Phobia Just under one in 25 adults suffer from this, making it one of the most popular phobias to suffer from.
This can range from a mild fear of social events - the people who stand in the kitchen at parties, drinking alcohol like it's going out of fashion are probably a good example of this - right the way through to avoiding social events where you're almost bound to meet other people.
You'll know that you suffer from social phobia is you're always thinking up an excuse not to attend an event or even somewhere there's likely to be a crowd of people.
If that describes you, it's worth breaking down your social phobia into little bits and chipping away at those parts one at a time.
Fear is actually a scaredy cat.
It's scared of being found out and then thrown out.
So if you're unfortunate enough to suffer from one of these common fears, confront it and watch it start to cower in the corner.