The fear of<unk>  is associated with various physical and subjective emotional symptoms that somewhat vary from individual to individual. For example, the physical symptoms might involve increased perspiration or tachycardia (pathologically accelerated heart rate), or hyperventilation. On the cognitive level, the patient may experience a loss of sense of reality, or thoughts of losing control while<unk> , even in situations that are reasonably safe. On behavioral level, the avoidance of<unk>  tends to perpetuate the phobia. Patients who developed their amaxophobia after a serious traffic accident frequently develop the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that may involve experiencing intrusive thoughts or anxious dreams of the original accident and/or other typical PTSD symptoms. A noteworthy part of post-accident symptomatology is the phantom brake syndrome. It is the passenger's partly involuntary or unintended pressing the foot on the floor of the car in a reflexive attempt "to brake." This unintended behavior usually occurs in skilled drivers when they are seated as a passenger next to a less competent person who drives the vehicle as a reflexive response to potentially dangerous traffic situations. The phantom brake syndrome is particularly common in survivors of serious car accidents. Associated conditions Some patients who present with phobia of<unk>  also describe features consistent with various other anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobia, and social phobia. The majority of survivors of serious car accidents tend to experience only the phobia of<unk> , but they often report generalized anxiety as a part of their post-traumatic adjustment disorder. The amaxophobia tends to be perpetuated by persistent pain caused by the car accident, and by pain related insomnia, and also by persistent post-conconcussion and whiplash symptoms caused by the accident. The PTSD symptoms, e.g., in the forms of flashbacks such as intrusive images of a bleeding person injured in the same car accident, may also contribute to amaxophobia. Correlations of PTSD scores to scores on measures of<unk>  anxiety are significant and range from .31 to .79.
Driving phobia
Blood phobia
Generalized anxiety disorder
Specific phobia
Medication phobia
Separation anxiety disorder
Cephalalgiaphobia
Social anxiety disorder