What is a phobia?
Phobias are persistent and intense fears of a particular:
object
person (like a doctor or clown)
situation
activity
If you have a phobia, you may experience severe anxiety and panic attacks when you’re:
exposed to the object or situation you’re fearful of
thinking about the thing you’re afraid of
anticipating an encounter with the item you’re scared of
I’ve got acrophobia. I remember a few situations as a kid where I got panic attacks from seemingly mundane things. Nowadays I can avoid most things that’d trigger it, but I can’t use ladders and stairs are always something I have to take at a slower pace.