Humans are strange creatures.We're all afraid of certain things some of the time and a lot of us have things we're afraid of all the time. I have a fear of heights. Well I guess it's more a fear of falling because if I'm high up and feel secure, the height doesn't bother me. Yet I have gone indoor rock climbing, (not the most stable of pastimes) . . . once. So I'm not exactly incapacitated by that fear.
I hate to talk in front of crowds (Could call it a fear. Yep, it's pretty close.) yet I've given speeches as President of LIRW at our annual luncheon. Okay I wasn't the steadiest or clearest or proficient speaker of all time, but again, I did it.
I do get claustrophobic occasionally, usually in a large group of people. Though I did get a bad case when the guy I was with, while sitting in a little MG at a drive-in theater, tried to put the moves on me. Right, like anything was going to happen in that little space. Think again, pal. I left him sitting there while I took a long walk around the concession building.
When it comes to these fears, I seem to be unimpressive since these phobias are some of the most common.
Look at those below. Common tapioca bland fears. See what I mean?
Glossophobia - the fear of speaking in public
Aerophobia- fear of heights
Claustrophobia- fear of enclosed spaces
Emetophobia - fear of vomit
Nycotophobia - fear of the dark
Astraphobia aka Brontophobia - fear of thunder and lightening
Trypanophobia - fear of injections or medical needles
Arachnophobia - fear of spiders
Coulrophobia - fear of clowns
Aviatophobia aka Pteromerhanophobia - fear of flying
And then there are the strange, weird ones. . .
Omphalophobia - fear of bellybuttons But not the lint?
Anatidaephobia - fear that you're being watched by a duck I never trusted that mallard!
Phronemophobia- the fear of thinking Good luck staying away from this one. If you're fearing it aren't you thinking about it?
Arachibutyrophobia- fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth
Hypnophobia - Fear of sleep Oh these people must look good.
Dextrophobia- Fear of objects at the right side of the body. There's one for the left side too.
Euphobia- Fear of hearing good news That's kind of sad.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- Fear of long words. And you didn't think psychiatrists had a sense of humor!
Mythophobia- Fear of myths or stories or false statements. Does this mean they can't tell a lie?
Proctophobia- Fear of rectums Okay, how many rectums do you see going down the street? A-holes yes, rectums no.
Politicophobia- Fear or abnormal dislike of politicians. Is this really a fear or a learning curve?
Here's a few writers hope to never develop.
Onomatophobia- Fear of hearing a certain word or of names.
Bibliophobia- Fear of books.
Graphophobia- Fear of writing or handwriting
If you'd like to see more of these go to http://phobialist.com/. I found it fascinating and at times really funny.
All right, I've told you mine, now it's your turn. Fess up. : )
Sources:The Phobia List, Merriam-Webster,the-Healing-Practice.com, psychology.about.com, myhydrolife.com, squidoo.com,voices.yahoo.com, planetnlp.com
