understanding phobias

We all have fears. Many of us have common fears, such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders), or a fear of heights or crowds or speaking in public. Some of us can get over those fears, get cured, or grow out of them, but sometimes they become so extreme that they dictate the way we live our lives to the point that we will avoid doing things we love in order to avoid coming into contact with the thing we fear the most.

When a fear is so ingrained in a person, it is almost impossible for them to rationalise the situation, because those feelings of panic are so intense that the 'fight or flight' instinct is all there is, and flight is their only option. To get away from the situation is the only way to still those feelings of dread and fear.

In the world we live in, we have come to accept common phobias like these, we all know someone who is afraid to climb a steep staircase, or yelps at the sight of a flying insect, and we are sympathetic towards them - we support them and help them the stay calm while we remove them from the situation if we can.

But there are a small amount of people who have more unusual fears. To some people, an object that is used in everyday life by us, seems terrifying to others.

Sometimes, a person can become fearful of a thing because it provokes a memory, or they are scared of something that will happen. Here I have listed some unusual phobias - they are not known in dictionaries, I suspect the names have been created to fit unusual phobias, as they can be searched online.

Globophobia is a fear of balloons. A person who suffers with this can become agitated when he is near a blown-up balloon, and is afraid that it will burst. People who have this phobia will most likely not touch a balloon for fear that it will burst if they do.

Papyrophobia is a fear of paper. Papyrophobics do not like the touch of paper, fearing the sharp edges, and of getting paper cuts.

Scriptophobia is a fear of writing in public. This person is afraid to be seen writing, and this can cause panic attacks. This is one of many irrational fears, which may stem from a lack of confidence, or a past trauma in the persons life.

Is there a cure for phobias? Of course, this is largely dependant on the case, I believe that most phobic's can be taught to cope with their phobias, but it's difficult to say whether or not they can be cured. The thing to remember is that a phobia is a fear, an irrational fear, and the best way to cope with one is to accept, understand, and talk about it.