Colloquially, people sometimes say they have a phobia of something they're fearful or wary of — but what really counts as a specific phobia, as it's understood in psychology?

Initially, the mice ran for a shelter when the ominous shadow appeared, as their classic instinctive fear response kicked in. But after 30 to 50 simulated swoops, ... anxiety and phobias.

The London-based phobia specialist Christopher Paul Jones, author of Face Your Fears: 7 Steps to Conquering Phobias and Anxiety, says that a food phobia, also known as “cibophobia”, is an ...