Specific Phobia
Diagnostic Criteria
A. Marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation (e.g., flying, heights, animals,
receiving an injection, seeing blood). 
Note: In children, the fear or anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing,
or clinging.
B. The phobic object or situation almost always provokes immediate fear or anxiety.
C. The phobic object or situation is actively avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety.
D. The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the specific object
or situation and to the sociocultural context.
E. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting for 6 months or more. 
F. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance causes clin ically significant distress or impairment in
social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
G. The disturbance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder,
including fear, anxiety, and avoidance of situations associated with panic-like symptoms
or other incapacitating symptoms (as in agoraphobia); objects or situations related to
obsessions (as in obsessive-compulsive disorder); reminders of traumatic events (as in
posttraumatic stress disorder); separation from home or attachment figures (as in sep-
aration anxiety disorder); or social situations (as in social anxiety disorder).