A phobia is considered to be created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. The American Psychiatric Association defines a phobia as “an irrational and excessive fear of an object or a situation.” There are the basic phobias that many people have such as fear of heights or fear of public speaking. However, there are more then a few phobias that are not given as much public attention, are not very known about and are not very reported.
Pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled by feathers. Most people get annoyed simply by being tickled whether it be by a person or by an object, but the people that have this phobia are genuinely scared of being tickled by feathers. The phobia most likely started with a point in their past where being tickled by feathers was linked with a truly emotional experience.
Imagine having a hard time being intimate with your significant other because of a phobia. There is a phobia called Ithyphallophobia. Also known as Medorthophobia or Phallophobia, this phobia means that you have a fear of thinking, seeing or having an erect penis. The people who suffer from this phobia are very much affected in their personal life. Somewhere along the line in the persons past, there was most likely a psychological connection to an erect penis and an emotional experience.
Cathisophobia is another odd, yet horrible, phobia to live with. Cathisophobia is the fear of sitting. Think about all of the times you sit down in a day without even thinking twice about it. Would you be able to deal with a horrible overwhelming fear of sitting down on a day to day basis? This phobia affects every aspect of life for the person who has this phobia. In the persons past, there was most likely a traumatizing connection to sitting down and an emotional experience. It is also known as Kathisophobia or Thaasophobia.
At the end of the day, most people just want to crawl into bed for a nice, long sleep. For the people that suffer from Clinophobia, it isn’t that simple. The people who have the phobia Clinophobia have a fear of going to bed. Some people believe that this phobia is associated with a fear of going to sleep and dying. There was most likely a point in a persons past that linked going to bed with emotional trauma.
Look to your left. Notice all the things to the left side of your body. Look to the right. Now imagine having a fear of having any object on the right side of your body. This phobia is called Dextrophobia. Everywhere you go chances are you are going to have something to the right of you. This fear impacts every portion of your life on a day to day basis.
You probably ate today. Had something you loved the taste of whether it was your morning coffee or a slice of pizza for lunch. People with Geumaphobia do not have what they consider to be a luxury, which is to actually love what they are tasting. That is because they have a fear of taste. The phobia is also known as Geumophobia.
Would you be able to deal if you had a fear of a body part? The people that have the phobia Genuphobia have to cope with this every day. They have a fear of knees.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia translates literally to “fear of the number six-hundred sixty-six”. The number 6-6-6 has the meaning of the number of the beast, or the number of the devil. People with this phobia are usually afraid of the actual numbers as opposed to the numbers adding up to this amount.
Sometime throughout the day most people will take a shower or a bath. In addition to having good hygiene and being clean, it could also be very relaxing and be stress reducing. People who have Ablutophobia do not look at it that way. They have a fear of cleaning, bathing or washing. Somewhere in the persons past there was most likely an emotional trauma linked to washing, cleaning or bathing. This would obviously be a phobia that could be detrimental to not only a persons personal life, but also in every other aspect of their life.
Nostophobia, believe it or not, is the fear of returning home. A persons home is supposed to be a place they love to be, where they love going to. To actually have a fear of returning home is a horrible phobia that could affect a persons life every day. There was most likely a trauma from the persons past associated with them returning home.
A phobia is not necessarily triggered by an event from a persons past. They can also be triggered by events in a movie or on TV or by seeing someone else experience a trauma themselves. In some cases it could take months or even years to be fully rid of a phobia. A phobia does not necessarily experience it almost all the time and for some it could be triggered by direct stimuli.
In regards to the treatment of any phobia, treatments range from the basic to the severe. In some cases strong drugs are prescribed, but they have severe side effects and withdrawals. Drugs are not necessarily needed in the treatment of a phobia. While some doctors choose to treat the patient with the phobia by overwhelming them with their fear (I.e. if you have a fear of crowds, they would repeatedly put you into the middle of a large crowd). This is called an exposure treatment. Other doctors choose to override that approach and skip to counter-conditioning, which is helping the person control their emotions, conquer their fear and replace the negative response to the fear with a positive response. Relaxation techniques are used to replace the anxiety.
Some symptoms that you have a phobia are irregular heartbeat, sweating, panic attacks, nausea and dread when coming in contact with a certain event or object.
For a person suffering with a phobia, it affects every part of their life including personal and work life and also puts a huge strain on their health.
Sources:
www.changethatsrightnow.com
psychology.about.com
http://www.psych.org/
www.wikipedia.com
