Are you afraid of fire or do you suffer from pyrophobia? Is your phobia rational or irrational? Do you have any idea what the hell I'm talking about? Phobias have always interested me, because I myself am an Arachnophobic. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders, and while some of you may be thinking "Oh geez, it's just a bug, get over it," mind you that arachnophobia is the most common fear in North America, so I am not alone! Actually because of my strong fear of spiders, I was inspired to do my research paper for class on phobias, the psychology and rational versus irrational phobias.
My fear of spiders is a phobia because it goes beyond regular fear. Fear is a natural human instinct that tells us that danger is near. It's natural to be scared of poisonous animals, tornados, and fire because these things are dangerous and life threatening. Not only are spiders not dangerous, but most of them can't even break human skin with their fangs and while tarantula bites are painful, the worst that can come from it is a fever. Contrary to popular belief, the black widow spider, though definitely has the most effective venom to humans, rarely kills, and most life threatening symptoms from these bites are only seen in small children and the elderly.
Yet no matter how many times I preach these facts to myself over and over, I'm checking over my shoulder and on the ceiling for the little eight legged creatures. It's embarrassing, but as I research all of this, I find myself chanting "Please don't have a picture, please don't have a picture," Yes. Even pictures induce anxiety and panic in me.
This is where my fear of spiders not only becomes a phobia, but it also becomes irrational. Rational and irrational are pretty cut and dry-rational means the fear has a reason behind it, and irrational doesn't, yet I still couldn't really fathom a clear idea of this, so I began asking friends and family about their fears, and what do you know, I know eight other arachnophobics! Most of their reasons for fearing spiders were the same as mine. "They're creepy," "I hate them," "I just don't want them anywhere near me,"
Until, that is, I asked my friend Patrick. He told me that he was afraid of spiders because one morning, when he was young, he woke up to a large black widow sitting upon his chest. Well, my first reaction to that was "NEVER TELL ME THAT STORY AGAIN." After I shook the image from my mind and calmed down, I determined that Patrick's fear was, in fact, rational, because it derived from a real situation that involved the feared object directly. So even though Patrick and I both had Arachnophobia, his was rational and mine was irrational.
Of course, most people learn to live with these fears every day, but sometimes phobias can get in the way of life. My fear of spiders used to wake me up several times in the middle of the night so that I would have to turn on the light, scan my room, and tear my sheets and blankets apart to reassure myself there were no spiders before I could go to bed. I used to have this headboard that didn't allow my mattress to go up against the wall, and one night a spider crawled up on my pillow from the little opening. From then on, I had to stuff of the hole with pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets and eventually got ride of the headboard all together. This may sound so silly to someone who isn't afraid of spiders, but to me, it was something I really had to do to keep on living. This is really what classifies my fear as a true blue phobia.
Fear, though it may seem clear cut, is actually very complexed in many ways. There are also different ways to fear one thing. The fear of heights (Acrophobia, Altophobia, Hypsiphobia or Hyposophobia) is one of those special phobias with multiple forms. The most common is that when an acrophobic is faced with heights, they are terrified of falling and becoming seriously injured. Another form is that something in the back of the victim's head continually sings to them, "Jump. Jump." I myself suffer from Acrophobia in the way that when I get close to a high ledge or cliff, the image of myself toppling over or the rocks underneath me giving way break into my thoughts and suddenly I'm overcome by dizziness and nausea.
There are so many different fears as well, and some of them are REALLY strange. Francophobia is the fear of France and the French culture, anuptaphobia is the fear of staying single, and graphophobia, the fear of handwriting. What's you're fear? Is it just a fear, or is it a phobia? Is it rational? Irrational? In what ways have you changed your life to avoid this phobia? We all have fears, but they're natural and don't make us different from anyone else. It's okay to be afraid, but if the fear is negatively effecting your life, professional help should be sought out. Though I have to say, out of all the fears I have come by, the silliest, most irrational one would have to be hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The fear of long words.
My fear of spiders is a phobia because it goes beyond regular fear. Fear is a natural human instinct that tells us that danger is near. It's natural to be scared of poisonous animals, tornados, and fire because these things are dangerous and life threatening. Not only are spiders not dangerous, but most of them can't even break human skin with their fangs and while tarantula bites are painful, the worst that can come from it is a fever. Contrary to popular belief, the black widow spider, though definitely has the most effective venom to humans, rarely kills, and most life threatening symptoms from these bites are only seen in small children and the elderly.
Yet no matter how many times I preach these facts to myself over and over, I'm checking over my shoulder and on the ceiling for the little eight legged creatures. It's embarrassing, but as I research all of this, I find myself chanting "Please don't have a picture, please don't have a picture," Yes. Even pictures induce anxiety and panic in me.
This is where my fear of spiders not only becomes a phobia, but it also becomes irrational. Rational and irrational are pretty cut and dry-rational means the fear has a reason behind it, and irrational doesn't, yet I still couldn't really fathom a clear idea of this, so I began asking friends and family about their fears, and what do you know, I know eight other arachnophobics! Most of their reasons for fearing spiders were the same as mine. "They're creepy," "I hate them," "I just don't want them anywhere near me,"
Until, that is, I asked my friend Patrick. He told me that he was afraid of spiders because one morning, when he was young, he woke up to a large black widow sitting upon his chest. Well, my first reaction to that was "NEVER TELL ME THAT STORY AGAIN." After I shook the image from my mind and calmed down, I determined that Patrick's fear was, in fact, rational, because it derived from a real situation that involved the feared object directly. So even though Patrick and I both had Arachnophobia, his was rational and mine was irrational.
Of course, most people learn to live with these fears every day, but sometimes phobias can get in the way of life. My fear of spiders used to wake me up several times in the middle of the night so that I would have to turn on the light, scan my room, and tear my sheets and blankets apart to reassure myself there were no spiders before I could go to bed. I used to have this headboard that didn't allow my mattress to go up against the wall, and one night a spider crawled up on my pillow from the little opening. From then on, I had to stuff of the hole with pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets and eventually got ride of the headboard all together. This may sound so silly to someone who isn't afraid of spiders, but to me, it was something I really had to do to keep on living. This is really what classifies my fear as a true blue phobia.
Fear, though it may seem clear cut, is actually very complexed in many ways. There are also different ways to fear one thing. The fear of heights (Acrophobia, Altophobia, Hypsiphobia or Hyposophobia) is one of those special phobias with multiple forms. The most common is that when an acrophobic is faced with heights, they are terrified of falling and becoming seriously injured. Another form is that something in the back of the victim's head continually sings to them, "Jump. Jump." I myself suffer from Acrophobia in the way that when I get close to a high ledge or cliff, the image of myself toppling over or the rocks underneath me giving way break into my thoughts and suddenly I'm overcome by dizziness and nausea.
There are so many different fears as well, and some of them are REALLY strange. Francophobia is the fear of France and the French culture, anuptaphobia is the fear of staying single, and graphophobia, the fear of handwriting. What's you're fear? Is it just a fear, or is it a phobia? Is it rational? Irrational? In what ways have you changed your life to avoid this phobia? We all have fears, but they're natural and don't make us different from anyone else. It's okay to be afraid, but if the fear is negatively effecting your life, professional help should be sought out. Though I have to say, out of all the fears I have come by, the silliest, most irrational one would have to be hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The fear of long words.
