a phobia is an intense irrational fear of a specific situation activity or thing that in actuality does not pose any true danger people with phobias have a feeling of uncontrollable anxiety when they are exposed to the source of their phobia this psychological reaction causes many physical symptoms some symptoms include shaking rapid heartbeat difficulty breathing sweating chest pains dizziness and a feeling of overwhelming anxiety when a person has such physical reactions to something they fear they are said to be having a panic attack