+286 If you don't have a phobia you find it difficult to understand how people can have such a crippling fear of something that is in your opinionion utterly irrational, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That is true, but I hate it when people act like phobias are a choice and tell people to "get over it."

by Anonymous 12 years ago

What's an opinionion?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I have SEVERE pathophobia (fear of disease). I was forced (well not technically forced, but I was way too shy to speak up) to watch a documentary about Ebola in the 8th grade (I'm in 10th now) and I still have trouble sleeping at night. Despite maintaining straight A's all my life, I came very close to failing Biology because I simply could not learn microbiology (I had to write the Board of Ed describing the extent of my phobia in order to exempt me) And you know that new movie Contagion that's coming out? The commercial for that is enough to launch me into a panic attack. Other things I can't look at: -pictures of bacteria -pictures of monkeys (they carry Ebola, people) -anything that has anything to do with the Black Death/ Yellow fever/anything else in that category -anybody in one of those bio-hazard suits It's totally rational, folks. And it's certainly not funny

by Anonymous 12 years ago

did you get an episode from writing this post?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Course. (cry2) But I had to pour my feelings out somewhere.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm sorry, I disagree with your statement of "It's totally rational." While it is a concern-- high level pathogens are extremely, extremely dangerous-- they're also fairly rare. Yes, it is possible that you might catch one of those disease, but it's unlikely (unless you're afraid of, I dunno, catching the flu, which yes will happen, sorry, that's life) and you for sure can't catch stuff from learning it in bio class or seeing pictures of it. It may scare you but it doesn't actually harm you. I'm sorry if I seem sort of harsh, it's just my opinion, I think while in some aspects and to some extent your phobia may help you stay healthy, it's unhealthy to live your life in such a way, causing undue stress, impeding learning, etc.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm perfectly aware of these facts. But they don't really seem to help me.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Okay, well, that's not to say you're not unhelpable. Sorry, double negative-- you can be helped. I'm sure you've heard this before, maybe even done this before, but you could talk to a counselor, psychiatrist, what have you. If none of that helps, there's a million and one methods to calm panic attacks. Yoga, deep breathing, worry beads, thinking of something calming, and so forth. I'm not sure, but there might even be drugs for certain types of phobias. I'm also aware, of course, that it's much easier said than done, but you could/should try.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm currently on my third psychiatrist :/

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Oh goodness. I'm sorry. best of luck then :(

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You should look into Exposure Therapy. Behavior therapists have had increasing luck with this tactic in recent years.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That's the definition of a phobia-- a very intense irrational fear. They are misunderstood and misdiagnosed, and self-diagnosed too commonly. It's not just being very afraid, or even having panic attacks due to something. Usually a phobia will disrupt a person's whole lifestyle until they cope with it properly. But as with everything, there are two ends of the spectrum and therefore, more intense and less severe phobia cases.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The most commonly self-diagnosed ones, I think, are arachnophobia and claustrophobia. I hate bugs, I won't touch them, even if there is one in my house I will spray it and leave it's dead body there. But I don't have a phobia.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I have an irrational fear of elves, mostly just the ears. I also can't listen to people talk about, think about, or see fingernails that have been like ripped it pains me to even type this out S:

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I am terrified of moths, which most people think is nuts, seeing as "they can't hurt you".

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm not sure what the name is for this....but I'm totally not okay with mustard.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My sister is terrified of ketchup.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm terrified of bees and i couldn't even go to a butterfly house because out of the corner of my eyes it looks like bees.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I've never known for sure, and I may sound really stupid for asking, but are phobias diagnosed? There's always those few annoying people who claim they have a legitimate phobia of something that they just don't like, and I sometimes I can't tell if said person is actually afraid of something or if they're just doing it for attention hmm

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yes. A phobia isn't just a fear, it's an actually anxiety disorder. That being said, the amount of people who claim they have "arachnophobia" just because they don't like spiders annoys me to no end.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah same here. So then you go to a professional and they have to tell you that it's a phobia and not just a fear? I'm asking because my friend is afraid of birds and she always says "I have a phobia of birds" but I'm almost positive it's not a legitimate phobia.

by Anonymous 12 years ago