Interesting Facts About Phobias
What is a Phobia?
Anyone living with a phobia will know how limiting and terrifying it can be. A phobia is a seemingly irrational fear of something that can trigger a person's fight/fight/freeze response. One thing is certain; there is no such thing as a silly phobia as far as we are concerned.
What Causes a Phobia?
Regardless of the name or the subject, phobias generally develop by one of two means. Either they are learned from someone like a parent, teacher or someone else important to us, OR, they are the result of a trauma or emotional event at an early age. A common factor to both is often the feeling of strong emotion at the time we learn or experience whatever that cause may be.
How many different Phobias exist?
There is no limit to the range of phobias, although there are some that are extremely common:-
Spiders - Arachnophobia
Public Speaking - Glossophobia
Birds - Ornithophobia
Wasps - Spheksophobia
Dogs - Cynophobia
Injections/needles - Trypanophobia
There are also some rare and unusual phobias:
Paper - Papyrophobia
Being tickled by feathers - Pteronophobia
Gravity - Barophobia
Hallowe'en - Samhainophobia