Individuals with scopophobia generally exhibit symptoms in social situations when attention is brought upon them like public speaking. Several other triggers exist to cause social anxiety. Some examples include: Being introduced to new people, being teased and/or criticized, embarrassing easily, and even answering a cell phone call in public.

Often scopophobia will result in symptoms common with other anxiety disorders. The symptoms of scopophobia include an irrational feelings of panic, feelings of terror, feelings of dread, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, nausea, dry mouth, trembling, anxiety and avoidance. Other symptoms related to scopophobia may be hyperventilation, muscle tension, dizziness, uncontrollable shaking or trembling, excessive eye watering and redness of the eyes.

The "DSM-IV-TR" provides the following criteria for the diagnosis of a specific phobia:

The book "Phobias" defines a panic attack as "a sudden terror lasting at least a few minutes with typical manifestations of intense fear". These manifestations may include palpitations, sweating, trembling, difficulty breathing, the urge to escape, faintness or dizziness, dry mouth, nausea and/or several other symptoms. As with other specific phobias, patients suffering from cynophobia may display a wide range of these reactions when confronted with a live dog or even when thinking about or presented with an image (static or filmed) of a dog. Furthermore, classic avoidance behavior is also common and may include staying away from areas where dogs might be (i.e., a park), crossing the street to avoid a dog, or avoiding the homes of friends and/or family who own a dog.

Claustrophobia is typically thought to have two key symptoms: fear of restriction and fear of suffocation. A typical claustrophobic will fear restriction in at least one, if not several, of the following areas: small rooms, locked rooms, MRI or CAT scan apparatus, cars, airplanes, trains, tunnels, underwater caves, cellars, elevators and caves. Additionally, the fear of restriction can cause some claustrophobia to fear trivial matters such as sitting in a haircutter's chair or waiting in line at a grocery store simply out of a fear of confinement to a single space. Another possible site for claustrophobic attacks is a dentist's chair, particularly during dental surgery; in that scenario, the fear is not of pain, but of being confined.

Often, when confined to an area, claustrophobics begin to fear suffocation, believing that there may be a lack of air in the area to which they are confined.

Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape, and being closed into a small space. It is typically classified as an anxiety disorder and often times results in a rather severe panic attack. It is also confused sometimes with Cleithrophobia (the fear of being trapped).

People with a fear of driving may experience trembling, sweating, accelerated pulse, loss of sense of reality, and thoughts of losing control while driving, even in situations that are reasonably safe. This fear will cause many to avoid driving, create excuses to not drive, or even refuse to get a driver's license for years.

Those with associated post-traumatic stress disorder may experience intrusive thoughts or dreams of the original accident—both when driving and not—lack of emotional responsiveness and irritability.

The following symptoms can be exhibited when a person suffering from equinophobia either thinks of a horse or is physically near one:

- Feeling of terror

- Anxiety (even if the horse is calm)

- Trembling

- Panic

- Palpitations

- Shortness of breath

- Sudden increase in pulse rate

- Nausea

- Crying

Sufferers of equinophobia may also fear other hoofed animals such as donkeys, mules, and ponies.

A fear of receiving calls may range from fear of the action or thought of answering the phone to fear of its actual ringing. The ringing can generate a string of anxieties, characterized by thoughts associated with having to speak, perform and converse. Sufferers may perceive the other end as threatening or intimidating. Anxiety may be triggered by concerns that the caller may bear bad or upsetting news, or be a prank caller.

Fear of making calls may be associated with concerns about finding an appropriate time to call, in fear of being a nuisance. A sufferer calling a household or office in which they know several people, may be concerned at the prospect of failing to recognize the voice of the person who answers, with resultant embarrassment. Some sufferers may be anxious about having to "perform" in front of a real or perceived audience at their end of the line: this is a particular problem for those required to use a phone in the workplace.

Fear of using the phone in any context (for either making or receiving calls) may be associated with anxiety about poor sound quality, and concerns that one or other party will not understand what has been said, resulting either in misunderstandings, or in the need for repetition, further explanation, or other potentially awkward forms of negotiation. These fears are often linked to the absence of body language over a phone line, and the individual fearing a loss of their sense of control. Sufferers typically report fear that they might fail to respond appropriately in the conversation, or find themselves with nothing to say, leading to embarrassing silence, stammering, or stuttering. Past experiences, such as receiving traumatic news, or enduring an unpleasant and angry call, may also play a part in creating fear.

Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia, phone phobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, "fear of telephones". It is considered to be a type of social phobia or social anxiety. It may be compared to glossophobia, in that both arise from having to engage with an audience, and the associated fear of being criticized, judged or made a fool of.

As is common with other fears and phobias, there is a wide spectrum of severity of the fear of phone conversations and corresponding difficulties. In 1993 it was reported that about 2.5 million people in Great Britain have telephone phobia.

The term "telephone apprehension" refers to a lower degree of telephone phobia, in which sufferers experience anxiety about the use of telephones, but to a less severe degree than that of an actual phobia.

Sufferers may have no problem communicating face to face, but have difficulty doing so over the telephone.

Mental and emotional symptoms of lilapsophobia include

- Obsessive thoughts

- Difficulty thinking

- Feeling of unreality or being detached

- Fear of losing control or going crazy

- Anticipatory anxiety

- Terror

- Desire to flee or hide

Physical symptoms of lilapsophobia include

- Dizziness, shaking, palpitations, lightheaded, or faint

- Shortness of breath

- Accelerated heartbeat

- Chest pain or discomfort

- Shaking

- Feeling of choking

- Sweating

- Nausea

- Numbness or tingling sensations

Many lilapsophobes also suffer autophobia, fear of being alone. Sufferers often make arrangements with people they know to help soothe the fear.

Cynophobia (from the "kýōn" "dog" and "phóbos" "fear") is the fear of dogs. Cynophobia is classified as a specific phobia, under the subtype "animal phobias". According to Dr. Timothy O. Rentz of the Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety Disorders at the University of Texas, animal phobias are among the most common of the specific phobias and 36% of patients who seek treatment report being afraid of dogs or cats. Although snakes and spiders are more common animal phobias, cynophobia is especially debilitating because of the high prevalence of dogs (for example, there are an estimated 25 million stray dogs in India, and an estimated 62 million pet dogs in the United States) and the general ignorance of dog owners to the phobia. The "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ("DSM-IV-TR") reports that only 12% to 30% of those suffering from a specific phobia will seek treatment.

Spectrophobia (from Latin: "spectrum", n. specio, an appearance, form, image of a thing; an apparition, spectre) or catoptrophobia (from Greek κάτοπτρον "kátoptron", "mirror") is a kind of specific phobia involving a morbid fear of mirrors. This phobia is distinct from eisoptrophobia, which is the fear of one's own reflection.

A childhood phobia is an exaggerated, intense fear “that is out of proportion to any real fear” found in children. It is often characterized by a preoccupation with a particular object, class of objects, or situation that one fears. A phobic reaction is twofold—the first part being the “intense irrational fear’ and the second part being “avoidance.”

Children during their developmental stages experience fears. Fear is a natural part of self-preservation. Fears allow children to act with the necessary cautions to stay safe. According to Child and Adolescent Mental Health, “such fears vary in frequency, intensity, and duration; they tend to be mild, age-specific, and transitory.” Fears can be a result of misperceptions. When a child perceives a threatening situation, his or her body experiences a fight or flight reaction. Children placed in new situations with unfamiliar objects are more likely to experience such reactions. These fears should be passing, a result of childhood development.

A childhood fear develops into a childhood phobia when it begins to interfere with daily living. “Acute states of fear can elicit counterproductive physiological reactions such as trembling, profuse perspiration, faint feelings, weakness in joints and muscles, nausea, diarrhea, and disturbances in motor coordination” It is not uncommon for frightened or anxious children to regress in a phase of development. For example, a kindergartener might begin to baby talk or wet the bed when faced with a threatening or particularly frightening situation. Childhood phobias exist in many different varieties and intensities and have a wide range from tolerable to incapacitating.

Anticipatory anxiety of being out of control and overwhelmed can prevent a person from planning to travel by air. The thought of an upcoming flight can cause great distress, particularly when compelled to travel by air. The most extreme manifestations can include panic attacks or vomiting at the mere sight or mention of an aircraft or air travel.

Building on Freud's concept of the eye as an erogenous zone, psychoanalysts have linked scopophobia to a (repressed) fear of looking, as well as to an inhibition of exhibitionism. Freud also referred to scopophobia as a "dread of the evil eye" and "the function of observing and criticizing the self" during his research into the "eye" and "transformed I's."

In some explanations, the equation of being looked at with a feeling of being criticized or despised reveals shame as a motivating force behind scopophobia. In the self-consciousness of adolescence, with its increasing awareness of the Other as constitutive of the looking glass self, shame may exacerbate feelings of erythrophobia and scopophobia.

Acrophobia (from the , "ákron", meaning "peak, summit, edge" and , "phóbos", "fear") is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share both similar causes and options for treatment.

Most people experience a degree of natural fear when exposed to heights, known as the fear of falling. On the other hand, those who have little fear of such exposure are said to have a head for heights. A head for heights is advantageous for those hiking or climbing in mountainous terrain and also in certain jobs e.g. steeplejacks or wind turbine mechanics.

Acrophobia sufferers can experience a panic attack in high places and become too agitated to get themselves down safely. Approximately 2–5% of the general population suffers from acrophobia, with twice as many women affected as men.

Driving phobia, also called vehophobia or a fear of driving, can be severe enough to be considered an intense, persistent fear or phobia. It is often great enough that people will avoid driving at all costs, and instead find someone to drive them or use public transportation, regardless of how inconvenient or expensive.

A fear of driving may escalate to a phobia during difficult driving situations, such as freeway driving or congested traffic.

The fear of trains is anxiety and fear associated with trains, railways, and railway travel.

The distinction between “normal” fears and phobias, a phobia (as defined by the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)):

- An irrepressible persistent fear of an object, activity or situation esp. when the subject is exposed to unfamiliar people or possible criticism. In children, subject needs to be able to show a capacity for normal social reactions for their developmental stage, and when reactions occur they should happen among their peer group as well as with adults.

- Any exposure to the object or situation cause some form of unrestrained anxiety. In children this may be revealed by tantrums, crying, hysteria, or freezing.

- The fear reaction is excessive and unwarranted. NOTE: Adults who suffer from anxiety disorders usually accept that their fear reaction was disproportionate to the situation; however, children may not have the cognitive abilities to make this realization depending on age and maturity.

- The situation is avoided or endured with large amounts of stress and anxiety.

- The fear reaction interferes with a normal routine e.g. if a fear of elevators cause a person to avoid taller buildings.

- The duration is at least 6 months.

- The origin of the fear reaction is not directly caused by the physiological effects of a drug or substance or origin of anxiety is not better classified by another disorder e.g. Separation Anxiety Disorder.

- If another mental or medical condition is present, it is unrelated to the origin of the fear reaction.

Myrmecophobia is the inexplicable fear of ants. It is a type of specific phobia. It is common for those who suffer from myrmecophobia to also have a wider fear of insects in general. Such a condition is known as entomophobia. This fear can manifest itself in several ways, such as a fear of ants contaminating a person's food supply, or fear of a home invasion by large numbers of ants.

The term "myrmecophobia" comes from the Greek , "myrmex", meaning "ant" and , "phóbos", "fear".

Most phobias are classified into three categories and, according to the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition" (DSM-V), such phobias are considered to be sub-types of anxiety disorder. The categories are:

1. Specific phobias: Fear of particular objects or social situations that immediately results in anxiety and can sometimes lead to panic attacks. Specific phobia may be further subdivided into five categories: animal type, natural environment type, situational type, blood-injection-injury type, and other.

2. Agoraphobia: a generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area, and of possible panic attacks that might follow. It may also be caused by various specific phobias such as fear of open spaces, social embarrassment (social agoraphobia), fear of contamination (fear of germs, possibly complicated by obsessive-compulsive disorder) or PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) related to a trauma that occurred out of doors.

3. Social phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder, is when the situation is feared as the person is worried about others judging them.

Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Some individuals can simply avoid the subject of their fear and suffer relatively mild anxiety over that fear. Others suffer full-fledged panic attacks with all the associated disabling symptoms. Most individuals understand that they are suffering from an irrational fear, but are powerless to override their panic reaction. These individuals often report dizziness, loss of bladder or bowel control, tachypnea, feelings of pain, and shortness of breath.

Fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane (aeroplane), or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also referred to as flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia or aerophobia (although the last also means a fear of drafts or of fresh air).

Fear of flying may be a distinct phobia in itself, or it may be an indirect combination of one or more other disorders, such as claustrophobia (a phobia of being restricted, confined, or unable to escape) or acrophobia (anxiety or dread of being at a great height). It may have other causes as well, such as agoraphobia (especially the type associated with having a panic attack in a place they can't escape from). It is a symptom rather than a disease, and different causes may bring it about in different individuals.

This phobia receives more attention than most other phobias because air travel is often difficult for people to avoid—especially in professional contexts—and because it is common, affecting a significant minority of the population. Inability to maintain emotional control when aloft may prevent a person from going on vacations or visiting family and friends, and it can cripple the career of a businessperson by preventing them from traveling on work-related business.

The phobia manifests itself in different ways. For most people it is less about fear than about loathing, similar to the reaction many people have to snakes or rats. Some people experience it almost all the time, others just in response to direct stimuli. Some possible situations that can trigger the loathing of cats are: hearing purring, seeing a cat in real life, imagining the possibility of a cat touching or rubbing against one, the thought of meeting a cat in the dark, seeing the staring eyes of a cat (cats have the tendency to stare at passers-by) cats in pictures and on television, and cat-like toys and cat-like fur. Big cats such as lions or tigers can also trigger the stimuli associated with a phobia.

Generally, an individual that deals with spectrophobia has been traumatized in an event where they believe they have seen or heard apparitions or ghosts. The individual could also become traumatized by horror films, television shows, or by nightmares.

This fear could be the result of a trauma involving mirrors. It could also be the result of the person's superstitious fear of being watched through the mirror.

Ergophobia or ergasiophobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of (manual labor, non-manual labour, etc.) or finding employment. Ergophobia may also be a subset of either social phobia or performance anxiety. Sufferers of ergophobia experience undue anxiety about the workplace environment even though they realize their fear is irrational. Their fear may actually be a combination of fears, such as fear of failing at assigned tasks, speaking before groups at work (both of which are types of performance anxiety), socializing with co-workers (a type of social phobia), and other fears of emotional, psychological and/or physiological injuries.

The term "ergophobia" comes from the Greek "ergon" (work) and "phobos" (fear).

Ailurophobia is a type of specific phobia: the persistent, irrational fear of cats. The name comes from the Greek ("ailouros"), "cat" and ("phóbos"), "fear". Other names include felinophobia, elurophobia, and cat phobia.