bookworm
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Phobias
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Nov 26 00:06 UTC 1998 |
I know this is out of context, but all the to do in item 37 (i think) has made
me curious.
How many people in this cf have a phobia that they are aware of?
If you have one and are interested in sharing it, this is the place to do so.
Example: bookworm-I have been afraid of lots of things, among them darkness,
bees, loneliness, fear, insects, spiders, heights, and trying new things.
Just for reference sake:
PHOBIA: (FOE be ah) n. an unreasoning fear or hatred of any given subject.
(btw. unreasoning means you don't know why you're afraid of or hate the
subject.)
Any comments are welcome. Confessions of personal phobias are welcomed but
not necessary. --Julie
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brighn
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response 1 of 62:
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Nov 26 00:30 UTC 1998 |
It should be noted that the clinical use of the word "phobia" is significantly
more rigorous than the dictionary definition. Phobic reactions include intense
physiological and psychological discomfort, not mere heightened anxiety.
I'd also say that "unreasoning" in phobias aren't an issue of not being aware
of why you have the fear, but rather an issue of being aware that the fear
is unjustified. For instance, someone from the bayou has a genuine and
legitimate reason for fearing snakes... some of them are deadly. Someone from
Michigan doesn't. you may, however, be fully aware of why you have that
fear... perhaps when you were four, your older brother would terrorize you
with a rubber snake.
at any rate, I have an actual phobia: social phobia, an intense discomfort
about being in new places or situations; in my case, it focuses around parties
where I only know a few people, if anyone, crowded trendsetter places like
dance clubs, and places where "outsiders" are supposedly ridiculed (local
bars), as well as places of ill-repute (strip clubs); I also fear rejection
to the point of violence, mostly because it's so much work for me to make new
friends, that if I lose the ones i have, I'll be alone. ={
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