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.

Five Animal Phobias

Among the most common phobias, a fear of a specific animal can seriously infringe upon the life of an individual. As children, we are often scared of animals because we suspect they are liable to attack us. Even the most docile of the breed can be a worry to us, but as we grow older we usually come to the realization that next door’s spaniel, for example, is no more likely to attack us than a rabbit would be. Phobias by their nature are, however, irrational, and if you are scared of something, it’s not just something you can get over simply by logic.

Ailurophobia is the fear of cats. To many people this may seem a bizarre one. As cats are most commonly compared with dogs in keeping with their standing as domestic pets, people will often wonder why someone who likes dogs is actually scared of cats. They are generally smaller than dogs, they do not bark loudly and aggressively, and they are naturally reluctant to place themselves in the personal space of someone they don’t know.

However, this reticence can be seen by some people as something to back up their fear – a sign that the cat is less social and therefore potentially more dangerous. Someone who has had an early negative experience with a cat may be more likely to suffer.

Cynophobia, the fear of dogs, may seem more logical. After all, as mentioned, dogs are somewhat more likely to draw attention. They are often large, they are louder than cats and they are also less likely to distance themselves from humans. Because of the way they carry themselves and the shape of their bodies, they are considered to be more threatening than cats.

However, this does not make them more aggressive, and dogs vary every bit as much as humans – so next door’s golden labrador is no more likely to bite you than your aunt’s shih tzu. Someone with prominent cynophobia may well not make this distinction, of course.

Equinophobia, or Hippophobia is the fear of horses. This, again, is understandable. Horses are larger than humans and there are many ways in which they could harm someone if they were so inclined. Some people develop the fear after falling from a horse or being bitten at an early age. Some people develop the fear without such experiences, and even having never seen a horse in real life. Whether logical or illogical, the fear of horses is understandable – and also treatable.

Entemophobia and Arachnophobia are often grouped together, and although in a strictly scientific sense insects and arachnids are not animals, they fit in the bracket of creatures that are not human. There are, again, perfectly good reasons why a human may be scared of insects (they may well sting) and spiders (some may bite and some have toxic venom). As many people again have a fear of one or both because of their appearance and their size, which makes them easier to miss until they are right up close. At this time the old advice that “they are more scared of you than you are of them” is unhelpful and may well be inaccurate in many cases.

Exposure therapy has been proven effective in many cases of animal-related phobias, but can be difficult to implement in severe cases. Nonetheless, there is treatment out there for those looking to conquer their fears