Posted on 10/15/2010 11:58:57 PM PDT by JoeProBono
Most of us are scared of something - but imagine being too terrified to sleep in the dark.
This week it emerged that five million people in Britain are spooked when the lights go off.
Fears are often caused by childhood experiences or a traumatic incident. Some people are scared of dogs because they were bitten by one.
But why anyone in Britain should be afraid of spiders is a total mystery. None of the native ones are harmful.
Here are some of the phobias that make us tremble - and the fancy names doctors have given them.
Probably the most common of all phobias with around half of all women and 10 per cent of men having fear of spiders.
Thankfully many people with a spider phobia can suppress their reactions and continue to have a normal, balanced life but others have such extreme reactions they may need help or counselling.
COULROPHOBIA
As many phobias are picked up during our childhood years, it's no surprise that coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, can be a common one with 200million people around the world reportedly effected by it.
And it doesn't just refer to the sinister ones in horror films. The circus clowns with red noses, giant feet and green hair are just as scary.
AGOROPHOBIA
Around two per cent of people are thought to have agorophobia, a fear of having a panic attack in a setting from which there is no means of escape, which leads to sufferers rarely going outside.
KOUMPOUNOPHOBIA
To most of us, being scared of buttons makes little or no sense at all, as they don't seem in the slightest bit threatening.
But for a surprisingly large number of people - one in every 75,000 - wardrobe options are severely limited by the condition, which usually first appears in childhood.
GLOBOPHOBIA
The fear of balloons is almost as irrational as phobias get, yet it is a fairly common phobia. Some people are simply scared of coming in close contact with the plastic bubble of air while, perhaps more understandably, others are terri ed of them going pop.
OPHIDIOPHOBIA OR HERPETOPHOBIA
Having a fear or phobia of snakes should not be confused with a healthy wariness or dislike of an animal which could potentially cause you harm.
Someone who has a phobia of snakes can't even stand to watch them on TV.
One of the world's most common phobias, many psycholgists blame the Garden of Eden story in the Bible.
ACROPHOBIA
A fear of heights is one of the most common phobias around, impacting around one in every 20 people.
EMETOPHOBIA
Having a fear of vomiting may sound strange, but evidence shows that it's extremely common, and can affect people in a lot of ways.
Sufferers can worry constantly about what they're eating, are left desperate not to get ill, and can even decide against having children because they fear morning sickness.
SOCIAL PHOBIA
Fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations.
Social phobia typically begins in childhood or adolescence and can effect up to four per cent of the adult population.
HEXAKOSIOIHEXEKONTAHEXAPHOBIA
It's in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, that we're told the number 666 is the sign of the devil, and many people are afraid of it.
Take Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
When they left the White House they moved to 666 St. Cloud Road in Bel Air, Los Angeles, and quickly changed the number to 668 changed the number to 668 to avoid any problems.
AEROPHOBIA
Being scared of flying seems like one of life's most natural fears, but for five per cent of people the terror of going up in an aeroplane is so great they say they will never travel by air.
About 60 million people experience some fear of aircraft, yet bees are more dangerous statistically than flying.
MYCOPHOBIA
There are plenty of people who don't like mushrooms, but having an actual phobia of them might seem like an over-reaction.
However, it could again be something that's learned in childhood among kids who are told not to touch ones they see growing in case they're poisonous.
HYPEGIAPHOBIA
Many of us long for the carefree days of childhood, but for some of us, the realities of grown-up life are just too awful to contemplate.
This is called hypegiaphobia - the fear of responsibility - and is characterised by some as a fear of the pressures of modern life which take you further away from your youthful hopes and expectations.
Exact figures f are unknown, but some experts believe it is becoming more common.
Harmful or not they are still creepy!
Many of us long for the carefree days of childhood, but for some of us, the realities of grown-up life are just too awful to contemplate.
This is called hypegiaphobia - the fear of responsibility - and is characterised by some as a fear of the pressures of modern life which take you further away from your youthful hopes and expectations.
Exact figures are unknown, but some experts believe it is becoming more common.
This would explain the useful idiots' embracement of progressivism.
I've got relatives with this.
The only Phobia that I have is Commiephobia, and why I do not see ever returning to the USSA.
While I am no big fan of any bug, I go into total screaming fits at the sight of a cockroach. Even a dead one will freak me out.
I have no idea why, either.
When I was in high school the biology lab had roaches. Not small basic US ones. Some mutant species from China or something.
Anyways they escaped. We were finding them all over the school, and they didn’t scatter and hide when the lights were on. They didn’t care.
They don’t send me into screaming fits but still give me the willies.
When I was in high school the biology lab had roaches. Not small basic US ones. Some mutant species from China or something.
Anyways they escaped. We were finding them all over the school, and they didn’t scatter and hide when the lights were on. They didn’t care.
They don’t send me into screaming fits but still give me the willies.
Have you ever seen the movie “Creepshow”, based on Stephen King’s book? In one of the stories, there are plenty of cockroaches bothering a rich and evil tenant, played by E.G. Marshall.
AAAAAARRRRRGGGH!!!!!!
I am not coming back to this thread!!!
They fly and Will bite!
(Originally came out of/lived in the florida palm, 'palmetto' tree)
Nasty Boogers!
When I was a kid .. You heard them running around in the walls of your house .. late at night .. when it was dark.
The houses back then were mostly Old and Stick built!
Crap .. Ya’ll got me obsessing over my phobia of Palmetto Bugs.
Ronin
If you don’t have any of these nasties over there where your at .. Let me know .. I’ll be moving! 8)
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