We human beings are a fearful lot. I found this great website that lists the different phobia names for specific fears (e.g., phagophobia- fear of swallowing or of eating or of being eaten). It was amazing to see how huge this list is but I wasn’t surprised that the list was so long. I believe we are often ruled by our fears, especially just the fear of change (metathesiophobia, for those of you who are curious) or just our desire to stay comfortable.
I have some strange phobias. Really. The oddest things make me hyperventilate and become irrational with fear. My niece Kirsten seems to revel in this fact because they are at least “interesting” phobias. Is there a run-of-the-mill phobia? I believe public speaking, death, going to the dentist, and spiders are common fear provokers. To confess, several of my phobias are not so common.
My phobia list:
Granted, I have “normal” fears like claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces) and acrophobia (fear of heights) which seem more reasonable, or at least more popular.
I’m not sure where these irrational fears started for me. Did I watch too many episodes of “Twilight Zone” when I was young or was it those scary t.v. trailers for the movie “Magic” back in 1978? Who knows?
Luckily for me, my phobias don’t keep me from living a regular life so at most, they are inconvenient (especially for my wonderful nieces who cover their doll collection with sheets whenever I come to visit). I have tried to confront some of my fears. I’ve been bungee jumping twice off of a 140′ bridge (I hit the water one of those times. Ugh.). During the winter when the sun is rising and I’m driving to work, I manage to stay on the road. I only scream occasionally during thunderstorms and only when the thunder is really loud. And I can now sleep in a room that has a mirror in it.
I suppose my desire to conquer some of my fear is a result of my desire to be more courageous. Perhaps, I’m like the Cowardly Lion in “The Wizard of Oz” hoping to find the nerve to do something. Of course, the irony of that statement is that I find the movie version of “The Wizard of Oz” very frightening, especially the flying monkeys and I won’t watch it. I mean, really, a woman is smashed under a house and they steal the ruby slippers off of her dead body? Doesn’t anyone else think that’s a little gruesome??? A little scary??? Oh well, I guess there’s always therapy.
“Courage is not the lack of fear but the ability to face it.” —- Lt. John B. Putnam, Jr. (1921-1944)