Phobias...
When I was in middle school, I just became completely obsessed with them.
I had to know the name for every fear and even had some favorites.
I don't know why they interested me so much.
Honestly, it may have been just cause I soak up the most random of knowledge like a sponge.
I also loved the fact that being afraid of something such as spiders wasn't just a fear or just being afraid of spiders.
It was a phobia, more specifically arachnophobia.
Even then, the phobia goes further. Arachnophobia is a fear of spiders and other arachnids.
This includes scorpions as well.
Focusing back on phobias, what exactly are they?
They're actually a kind of anxiety disorder that is when someone has an unreasonable amount of fear due to a specific object or circumstance.
These can result in something as small as being incredibly uncomfortable or be so severe that they result in panic attacks.
Most people with phobias, especially the more unusual ones, are aware that the fear is irrational, but cannot control the anxiety that comes along with it.
While most people do nothing out of the ordinary for their phobias besides a simple avoidance of the thing, there are those who must spend long periods of time in therapy to live some semblance of a normal life.
According to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) phobias typically fall into a few general categories:
Animal: dogs, snakes, spiders, etc.
Natural enviromental: thunderstorms, large bodies of water, heights, aging, etc.
Situation: closed spaces, meeting new people, the dark, etc.
Medical: surgery, blood, needles, etc.
Other: children being afraid of loud sounds or costumed figures would fall under here
What causes them?
Phobias could be caused by a multitude of things. My mother's fear of heights is because of a very realistic dream she had when she was younger. My fear of the water is caused in part by seeing the movie Jaws at a young age and being shoved into a pool against my will a lot. My friend, Katlyn, is afraid of spiders likely due to a instinctual reaction that humans have. It's just more severe in her as well as others that share her fear. My cousin was afraid of dogs when she was younger because she had been attacked by one.
Sometimes, a phobia is just something that we have with no explanation, but quite often, it is due to an experience that traumatized us previously.
Regardless, I'll delve more into specific phobias later.
Love you all and adios!
*not my images
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