Fear and phobias: what are you afraid of?

By: Nikki Phipps

There are many different kinds of phobias that exist, and some may even seem funny or unbelievable, but imagine if fear took over your life. What would you do? Although some people may not care to admit it, we all have fears. Maybe it’s something that simply gives us the creeps or makes us feel uneasy. Maybe it’s something much more debilitating. Normally, a specific type of phobia develops after a traumatic event. Others are actually inherited. Some people may even become so apprehensive about their fears that they actually become full-blown panic attacks. Once this happens, a person might experience real physical discomforts such as dizziness, breathing difficulties, and abdominal pain. Intense fear can even make some people unwilling to venture out into the world. Fear can emulate from places, animals, objects, disasters, events, or the unknown.

Understanding your fear could help you rationalize it. However, knowing why you’re afraid doesn’t necessarily guarantee an all-out cure. For instance, I am afraid of many things. I am terrified of spiders (arachnophobia); yet I’m unsure when or how it began. I only know that when I see them, I become frozen with fear, scream for dear life, and break out in hives. I also fear heights (aeroacrophobia) and will not venture anywhere close to ledges or I begin to feel dizzy. I hate speaking in front of others (phonophobia), and unless it is absolutely necessary, I will avoid this at all costs. I get nervous, sweaty, tongue-tied, and find it hard to breathe. I do not like closed-in spaces (clithrophobia). This includes elevators, small rooms, and even cars. When I’m in a car, I must have a window cracked open no matter how cold it remains outside; otherwise, I feel as if I will suffocate. I prefer not to expose myself to large crowds (demophobia) as this makes me feel unsafe. And many people have made fun of me for my fear of mushrooms (mycophobia) and jello (don’t think they have one for this).

We all have some type of fear. Some fears may be quite typical such as the fear of loneliness (autophobia), birds (melanophobia), needles (enetophobia), open spaces (agoraphobia), pain (algophobia), germs (mysophobia), dogs (cynophobia), fire (pyrophobia), or insects (entomophobia). On the other hand, fears may be less known by others and even embarrassing such as the fear of sunlight (heliophobia), fish (chthyphobia), rain (ombrophobia), music (musicophobia), motor vehicles (motophobia), bathing (bathophobia), or even metal (metallophobia).

Maybe you’re afraid of water (hydrophobia). Could it be snakes (ophidiophobia), or are you afraid of the dark (nyctophobia). Some people are afraid of animals (zoophobia). Common fears in relation to animals include the fear of mice (musophobia), bees (apiphobia), or even cats (ailurophobia). Terrified of certain places? It could be the fear of cemeteries (coimetrophobia) or outer space (spacephobia). Do you fear people (anthropophobia) or avoid certain ones such as the dentist (dentophobia), doctor (iatrophobia), or maybe the opposite sex (sexophobia)? Could you be one of those people who is terrified of marriage (gamophobia), Friday the 13th (paraskavedekatriaphobia), flowers (anthophobia), clowns (coulrophobia), clouds (nephophobia), blood (hemaphobia), mirrors (catoptrophobia), meat (arnophobia), accidents (dystychiphobia), or making changes (trophophobia)?

Phobias are real; everyone has them. What are you afraid of?

For a more exstensive list of phobias, visit the Phobia List