It's actually surprising just how many people have a fear of crowds.
The size of the crowd they're afraid of may vary from person to person, but it's a good rule of thumb that the bigger the crowd, the more people will be afraid.
In some ways, crowd phobia is an exaggeration of the fear of strangers.
After all, almost everyone in a good size crowd will be a stranger.
But that's by no means the only reason that people develop a fear of crowds.
For a lot of people this fear goes back to their childhood.
Maybe they were in a crowded place with their parents and for whatever reason managed to get separated.
At that stage, a fear of abandonment occurs.
Panic sets in.
You stop to wonder whether you will ever see your parents again! Of course, the situations are normally happily resolved.
But that doesn't mean that this seemingly irrational fear hasn't had time to develop - because it has.
It's been part of our evolutionary process that we learn to fear things that put us in danger very fast.
It's one of the many reasons that our species has survived and thrived.
The problem is that a lot of things we learn to be afraid of aren't really dangers.
One of the easiest ways to get over a fear of crowds is with hypnosis.
Either by attending a real life hypnosis session with a local therapist, or by listening to a specially recorded hypnosis download that you can play in the comfort of your own home as often as you like.
Another possible solution is to gradually wean yourself into coping with larger crowds, starting with a couple of other people and working your way up to bigger numbers.