Phobias

[scary_dream]

Ok, so we all know that there is a difference between a fear and a phobia; a fear is something relatively rational that doesn't necessarily disrupt everyday life, and a phobia is a somewhat irrational, sometimes inexplainable fear that causes the person to act AROUND their fear of this certain thing. My question here is: Has anyone had any peculiar phobias (or ANY phobias for that matter), or have they met anyone with any sort of severe phobia? Some of them are quite interesting (Aulophobia - a fear of flutes!), and you can see a list of many at http://www.phobialist.com.

Mine is emetophobia, a fear of vomit. It's not because I think it's gross (honestly, the gross-out factor doesn't get to me), I'm just terrified of it. I can't explain it, but whenever I hear or see anyone get sick, I hyperventalate and start to shake pretty badly. Other than that, however, I've not met anyone with any sort of peculiar phobia, just the more common ones like acrophobia (fear of heights) or arachnophobia (fear of spiders).

[kaytea]

Aeroacrophobia- Fear of open high places.
Agoraphobia- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place.
Anemophobia- Fear of air drafts or wind.(Ancraophobia)
Bathmophobia- Fear of stairs or steep slopes.
Chiraptophobia- Fear of being touched.
Cleithrophobia or Cleisiophobia- Fear of being locked in an enclosed place.
Dishabiliophobia- Fear of undressing in front of someone.
Eisoptrophobia- Fear of mirrors or of seeing oneself in a mirror.
Glossophobia- Fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.
Hylophobia- Fear of forests.
Kenophobia- Fear of voids or empty spaces.
Mnemophobia- Fear of memories.
Ophthalmophobia- Fear of being stared at.
Sociophobia- Fear of society or people in general.

[HappyFoppy]

Optophobia- Fear of opening one's eyes.
Duchess?
Also Dutchphobia is coool.

[pitbulllady]

I fortunately don't have any phobias, though I am pretty scared of lightning and high winds. Roughing out a Category 4 hurricane, alone, can do that to you.

I do know a LOT of people, especially among our supposedly-educated teaching staff here at school, who are severely phobic of cats, though, moreso than of snakes, spiders, large dogs, or just about any other animal I can think of. There is also one teacher who is a general Zoophobe-she's phobic of ALL non-human animals.

The oddest phobia I've heard of was told to me a couple of years ago by one of my fifth graders, who told me that her then-16-year-old cousin, who lives in NYC, has a phobia of cheerleader pom-poms. The cousin and her family came down to South Carolina to visit over the Christmas holidays a couple of years ago, and it just so happened that my student, a girl, had gotten a cheerleader outfit for Christmas. The cousin walked in and saw the pom-poms sitting in a chair, and became hysterical, to the point that a neighbor called the police, fearing that someone in the house was being brutalized after hearing all the screams!

The bad thing about phobias is that most of the people who suffer from them do not realize that this is a very real mental illness, and a potentially harmful one at that, and that phobias can be treated and even cured. The people who have them, though, make excuses for them, and do not seem to want to get rid of the phobias, for some reason. THAT is the aspect that I cannot understand.

pitbulllady

[Scribble]

I've started becoming really scared of mosquitoes recently, though I'm not sure if it's a phobia or not. I wasn't too bad last night with two in the house but usually I just cannot be in the same room as a mosquito and I can't put my mind at rest until it's either dead or I know it's gone from the house. I often get quite paranoid about it at night to the point where I can't sleep for fear that there is mosquito in my room. I also keep thinking that I hear the sound they make when there's nothing there.

There was one time a while ago where I seriously thought a mosquito was trying to land on my ear (ie. really loud buzzing) even though I don't think there was anything there. I practically jumped off the bed and ran out of the room and actually found it really hard to breath. I've had a panic attack before and it really felt like I was on the brink of one then!

[scary_dream]

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

The oddest phobia I've heard of was told to me a couple of years ago by one of my fifth graders, who told me that her then-16-year-old cousin, who lives in NYC, has a phobia of cheerleader pom-poms.

That IS a peculiar one.

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

The bad thing about phobias is that most of the people who suffer from them do not realize that this is a very real mental illness, and a potentially harmful one at that, and that phobias can be treated and even cured. The people who have them, though, make excuses for them, and do not seem to want to get rid of the phobias, for some reason. THAT is the aspect that I cannot understand.

I wouldn't say that mine is potentially harmful because it HAS gotten better (whenever I was little it was so bad I'd worry about it so much that I'd give myself stomachaches, thus making my worrying worse!) But regardless I WOULD like to know how to get rid of it completely. I don't know why anyone want one, either!

Originally Posted by Scribble

I often get quite paranoid about it at night to the point where I can't sleep for fear that there is mosquito in my room.

Whenever I was little and my phobia was worse, I'd not be scared of the boogeyman, but the thought that whenever I'd go to sleep I'd somehow get sick.

Now that I think about it, I HAVE met someone with a relatively severe phobia. My friend in high school had coulrophobia (fear of clowns) pretty bad. While I know a lot of people are creeped out by clowns, he actually had a strong fear of them. I remember once while he was at a friend's house, he saw a glass clown on one of the shelves, and he ran out and wouldn't even go back in the room until his friend hid it under the sink. After that, he'd go in the room, but he still wouldn't go near the sink.

[koosie]

Originally Posted by Scribble

I've started becoming really scared of mosquitoes recently, though I'm not sure if it's a phobia or not. I wasn't too bad last night with two in the house but usually I just cannot be in the same room as a mosquito and I can't put my mind at rest until it's either dead or I know it's gone from the house. I often get quite paranoid about it at night to the point where I can't sleep for fear that there is mosquito in my room. I also keep thinking that I hear the sound they make when there's nothing there.

There was one time a while ago where I seriously thought a mosquito was trying to land on my ear (ie. really loud buzzing) even though I don't think there was anything there. I practically jumped off the bed and ran out of the room and actually found it really hard to breath. I've had a panic attack before and it really felt like I was on the brink of one then!

I totally sympathise. There's a lot of insects around this year especially the Craneflies (daddy long-legs) that are totally harmless but do make angry little noises when then get stuck behind things.

Does like you're getting a bit phobic there and you'd best find a way of dealing with it before you get more panic attacks, which are deeply unpleasant to experience. It's not a rational thing so it won't help to tell you that dangerous Mosquitos are very rare in Britain. You may get bitten by gnats or horseflies but your body's immune system can easily deal with their little toxins.

There are ways to overcome any phobia with help but specifically with your mosquito thing you could find out a lot about these tiny pests to convince your brain that you're actually way more powerful than them or get some allies to reassure you like a carnivourous plant that eats bugs (like a venus fly-trap or a sundew) or even cultivate the friendship of spiders.

When I was a kid I was scared of spiders, that old thing of imagining them crawling over your face when you sleep. One night it actually happened and it was a bit of anticlimax after all that worry, it just crawled off without causing me any harm or discomfort whatsoever. Since then i've always welcomed them in my home and helped them out the bath so they can continue the good fight against those annoying buzzing flying jerks.

[Tonya]

The oddest phobia I've heard is the phobia of furnature, olives, and bathrooms. I'm serious, I really did read these somewhere. About the phobia of pom poms? Hmmm.....odd.

[BlooCheese]

Um...is there a phobia of doing what everyone else does, because if there is, I probably have it.

[OpenYourMind]

Hey that's some interesting stuff! I definitely have
chronophobia -- fear of time
Dysmorphophobia- Fear of deformity (lately I've been having that too )
Epistemophobia- fear of knowledge (the more I learn that more i realise i don't know and that it's a cruel world out there)

Now that's funny!! Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia- Fear of the number 666