Baffling phobias

A phobia is an extreme fear of a particular thing or situation, especially one that cannot be reasonably explained. Almost everybody has some kind of phobia. If you have no morbid fear of darkness (achluphobia), you will fear flying (aviophobia). Those who do not fear thunder (ceraunophobia) may have a morbid fear of confined spaces (claustrophobia). If you look at the list of phobias, you will easily find your own phobia.

As students and then as adults, we knew of a limited number of phobias. About 50 years ago, a college student could count only about 50 phobias. We knew the meanings of most of the phobias. For instance, some of us are scared to climb heights or look down from a high-rise building (acrophobia). Some women have a morbid fear of men (androphobia). Most foreigners visiting the island fear spiders (arachnophobia). Some of us do not like to travel for fear of accidents (dystychiphobia). Then there are confirmed bachelors and spinsters. Some of them may be suffering from gamophobia (fear of marriage).

Although many of us treat phobias lightly, there are millions of sufferers around the world. Scientists and psychologists are offering new treatment and giving the sufferers much needed hope. With all our modern-day pressures, if we have some morbid fears, what will happen to us? Another danger is that most sufferers do not like to admit that they have a morbid fear of something. Of course, there are sensible people who know what they fear.

New phobias

What is remarkable is that a word has been coined to describe every conceivable phobia the human mind can think of. Some phobias may appear to be silly in the Digital Age. However, for the sufferer, a phobia is something for which he has to find a remedy. For instance, most of us have no fear of clouds. We love to watch them floating in the sky. However, for a person suffering from nephophobia, clouds will be a threat to his life. Children and adults enjoy the antics of clowns at carnivals. But some people have a morbid fear of clowns (coulrophobia). Sometimes we meet beggars who have never taken a bath. May be they are suffering from ablutophobia (fear of bathing).

Some of the human fears labelled under phobias appear to be tongue-in-cheek. Although we can understand the gravity of agrizoophobia (fear of wild animals) or demonophobia (fear of demons), will any of us suffer from the fear of beautiful women (caligynephobia)? Similarly, it is difficult to understand whether there are people who suffer from the fear of walking (ambulophobia). Strangely, some people have a morbid fear of gold (aurophobia).

If you look at the growing list of phobias online, you can easily find your own phobia. However, some of these phobias may not need medical or psychological treatment. People have experimented with home-made remedies. If you have a morbid fear of stairways, you can try the elevator. If you have a fear of flying (aviophobia), you can take a preflight cocktail! However, with some phobias, home-remedies do not appear to answer.

Treatment

Today, neuroscience and psychotherapy have developed advanced methods of treatment to cope with phobias. If you have an unbearable lifetime phobia, psychotherapy appears to be the best remedy. Scientists have developed new medications to grapple with the brain’s phobic sparks. They have already developed a drug to counteract social phobias such as allodoxaphobia (fear of opinions), androphobia (fear of men) or atychiphobia (fear of failure). Psychologist David H. Barlow, Director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University is hopeful that most phobia disorders could be treated effectively.

Phobias are different from things we dislike. If you dislike strangers, it is not a morbid fear of strangers (xenophobia). Similarly, if you dislike dancing, you are not suffering from chrophobia (fear of dancing). Therefore, there is no need to panic when you go through the list of phobias. According to experts, a true phobic reaction affects your central nervous system. The sufferer is likely to experience sweating and heavy breathing. Such people usually avoid the objects they are terrified to look at.

People suffering from social phobias have a morbid fear of meeting people. Those having panic disorders entertain fears without any apparent reason. Then there are specific phobias such as fear of snakes (ophidiophobia), puppets (pupaphobia) or frogs (ranidaphobia). Such phobias can be easily treated, psychologists say.

In extreme cases, a person suffering from a phobia may seek the help of a therapist. However, psychotherapy is usually a slow process. As such, the sufferer’s problems will not melt away quickly. As Ehrenberg and Ehrenberg point out, “Psychotherapy takes time, effort and courage.”