Phobias

A special case in which fear goes wrong is something called a phobia, in which we inappropriately associate a neutral stimulus with fear.

There are phobias about height (acrophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), open spaces (agoraphobia) and so on. These are irrational fears where our minds play tricks on us by thinking that something harmless is harmful.

Basically, our normal fear and anxiety pathways are held hostage in a phobia until we overcome our fears either on our own or through counseling. Specific phobias are the most common form of fear and anxiety disorder and are diagnosed clinically.