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Phobias

Phobias

Pho*bi*a (fobea) n.   A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.   Symptoms of a phobia include breathlessness, dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, and fear of dying.

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 5%-12% of Americans have phobias.   Specific phobias affect an estimated 6.3 million adult Americans. (WebMD)   Some of the more common phobias include claustrophobia - fear of tight spaces; agoraphobia - fear of public places; arachnophobia - fear of spiders; and acrophobia - fear of heights.   The majority of us have experienced at least one of these more common phobias at some time or another, or know someone who has.

Some phobias that are not so common include phobophobia - fear of phobias; politico-phobia - fear of politicians; hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - fear of long words; and arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth.   Although these phobias may bring a smile to your lips, they are real, documented phobias that have been suffered by someone just like you and me.

While researching phobias, I came across a few that I think everyone should suffer from.   The world would be a better place if we all had hamartophobia - fear of sinning; hoplophobia - fear of firearms; or kleptophobia - fear of stealing.   I also discovered a phobia that I suffer from: graphophobia - fear of writing!

* Research done at http://www.phobia-fear-release.com and http://www.webmd.com