Five Common Phobias

It might not be strictly accurate to say that everyone has at least one phobia, but most of us can certainly admit to having a fear which is based in little or nothing more than the fear itself. Although you may look at the friend who is terrified of buttons and wonder “What on earth is scary about that?”, looking at your own fears might show you that, while there may be rational and irrational fears, a fear is a fear nonetheless, and its rationale makes scarce difference to the feeling of the sufferer.

Anyway, most of us have at least one largely irrational fear. For example, you yourself may not be a sufferer of Acrophobia, but you probably know someone who is. It is the fear of heights. Think about it logically, and heights cannot really do much to you (it’s falling from them you need to look out for). Even when inside a building with extremely strong walls and windows, there are many of us who will tremble in fear when we look out to see a drop of ten stories (and less, in many cases). Although there is scant likelihood of acutally falling, it still scares us. Understandable? Yes. Rational? Not strictly.

Claustrophobia is a very, very common fear. Indeed people who are not specifically diagnosed with it will often refer to feeling claustrophobic or a “claustrophobic situation”. Sometimes all they mean is that they felt a little uncomfortable – but for many sufferers, claustrophobia ia so real and so severe that it makes life very difficult indeed. Literally the fear of enclosed spaces, claustrophobia is for many sufferers the fear of what might happen due to their confinement – often suffocation is a major fear – and sufferers frequently have panic attacks at the mere idea of getting in a lift or sitting in a locked room.

Nyctophobia is a word that is seldom used, but a concept that is starkly familiar to most of us. The fear of the dark is something most people have as children and, while we are expected to “grow out of it”, not everyone has the good fortune to overcome it as easily as that. As with many fears, it is not so much the fear of things being dark as the idea of what may be hidden in it. As children we are likely to fear a bogeyman (literal or figurative), and may want to sleep with a light on. As we grow older this fear may go away, but it will not always do so. Victims of burglary may find that they develop nyctophobia.

A familiar and understandable fear of needlesand injections affects many of us. Trypanophobia is very real and often arises from the anticipation of pain or contamination from a hyperdomic needle. Even when we have seen the needle sterilised, and we have suffered considerably worse pain than a needle gives, many of us will faint at the sight of a needle which is set to be jabbed into our arm (or wherever else).

And, of course, there is Agoraphobia - the fear of open spaces, as it is known to many people. More accurately, agoraphobics fear being trapped in a situation from which there is no easy or visible means of escape – which does often apply to busy city centers, airports and so forth. This can be enough to trigger a panic attack in someone for whom ferocious dogs, spiders and sharp instruments hold no fear.

Do any of the above affect you? If so, then you can probably understand why a friend’s “bizarre” phobia is no less real for being rare.

Related posts:

1. Acrophobia: The Fear of Heights One of the most common fears known to man, and...

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