WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST FEARS? | 50 ABSURD PHOBIAS YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU HAD

What is your greatest fear in life? What are you most afraid of? How do you overcome this fears? But most importantly: Do you know you have those fears? Or are you living in denial?

Personally, i have the fear of Public speaking. am afraid to address a crowd. Am afraid of the dark, am afraid of rejections, am afraid to speak my mind most times, am afraid of losing. This are the fears am aware of in my subconsciousness. But then i realized there is more. I didn't how to classify them, i didn't know what to call them. And of-course i didn't how to overcome them. So, i just live in denial. And face it squarely with a spiritual approach. But most of those Fears and Phobias are just there. staring us in the face.

Aha: Now that i have mentioned phobia's; this brings me to ask, what's the difference between Fear and Phobia? Here is what i found out...

1) Feelings of fear are very common – diagnosable phobias are not.
2) Phobias are a form of anxiety disorder and are characterized by intense and irrational fears of an object or situation that poses no real threat. A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger.

Phobias come in three different forms:

1. Specific – This is when there is a specific object or situation causing the fear, such as dogs, heights or flying.
2. Social – These phobias revolve around social situations and are linked to social anxiety disorder.
3. Agoraphobia – This phobia is the fear of being in a place or situation that is perceived to be hard to escape from.
These phobias go further than general fear, causing phobic people to constantly worry that they will encounter the object/situation that they fear. Time and energy is often used to actively avoid the object of fear – and if they do come across it, they endure high levels of distress, experiencing nausea, shortness of breath and potentially even panic attacks.

Though, both fear and phobia represent fear. Their meanings could be independent but they speak the same language and i'd like to think of Phobia as an advanced state of fear.

You might want to understand fear and phobia more. So here is a deeper explanation.

Understanding Fears

Fear is a built-in survival mechanism with which we are all equipped. Fear is a normal human emotional reaction. Even as babies, we possess the survival instincts necessary to respond when we sense danger.
A fear reaction happens whenever we sense danger or when we are confronted with something new or unknown that seems potentially dangerous. Most people tend to avoid the things they feel afraid of. There are, of course, exceptions such as people who seek out the thrill of extreme sports because the rush of fear can be exciting. We all experience fear slightly differently and with more or less intensity.
Some normal fears seem pretty much like a worry, or something you feel generally afraid of or uneasy about. However, at other times, fear comes as a sudden reaction to a sudden confrontation with danger. It's that sudden fear response that triggers the body's survival mechanism known as the fight or flight reaction. The fear reaction is known as "fight or flight" because that is exactly what the body is preparing itself to do - to fight off the danger or to run to get away.
When faced with danger, our sympathetic nervous system produces adrenaline. This excess adrenaline prepares us to fight or to flee the physical threat. The fight-or-flight response includes an increase in heart rate and blood flow to our large muscles, better enabling us to react to the emergency. Blood sugar also increases, providing us with more energy. With our bodies and minds alert and ready for action, we are able to respond quickly and protect ourselves.
Although it is normal and even helpful to experience fear in dangerous situations, with phobias the fear and danger are greatly exaggerated or imagined. For example, it is only natural to be afraid of a snarling dog, but it is irrational to be terrified of a small, tail wagging puppy.
Fears become a reason for concern when they are persistent and interfere with your daily functioning. When a fear reaches this level of intensity, it is often identified as a phobia. For a fear to be considered a phobia it has to be so extreme and cause so much distress that it gets in the way of a person's normal activities.

Understanding Phobias

A phobia is an intense, unreasonable fear of situations, objects, activities, or persons where the fear is far out of proportion to the actual danger or harm that is possible. The fear and distress is so intense that the person will do whatever they can to avoid coming into contact with the object of their fear, and often spend time thinking about whether they're likely to encounter it in a given situation. In fact, if you have a phobia, you probably realize that your fear is unreasonable, yet you still can’t control it. If you are exposed to the thing you’re afraid of, you become overwhelmed with extreme feelings of anxiety, fear, and even panic. This experience is so unpleasant that you will go to great lengths to avoid the object or situation you fear. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject.
Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Some individuals can simply avoid the subject of their fear and suffer only relatively mild anxiety over that fear. Others suffer fully-fledged panic attacks with all the associated disabling symptoms. Most individuals understand that they are suffering from an irrational fear, but are powerless to override their initial panic reaction.
Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term) are the most common form of anxiety disorders. Approximately 8% to 18% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the phobias are generally one of the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.



Now that you understand this two factors; lets find out the 50 absurd Phobia's you never thought you had.

1. Numerophobia – The fear of numbers and the mere thought of calculations.
2. Ombrophobia – The fear of rain. Many fear the rain due to stormy weather.
3. Coasterphobia – The fear of roller coasters. Ever seen Final Destination 3?
4. Thalassophobia – The fear of the ocean. Water, waves and unknown spaces.
5. Scoleciphobia – The fear of worms. Often because of unhygienic conditions..
6. Myrmecophobia – The fear of ants. Not as common as Arachnophobia, but may feel just as intense.
7. Allodoxaphobia – The fear of opinions. Being afraid of hearing what others are thinking of you.
8. Ergophobia – The fear of work. Often due to social or performance anxiety.
9. Cacomorphobia – The fear of fat people. Induced by the media. Affects some anorexics/bulimics.
10. Gerascophobia – The fear of getting old. Aging is the most natural thing, yet many of us fear it.
11. Chaetophobia – The fear of hair. Phobics tend to be afraid of other peoples hair.
12. Nosocomephobia – The fear of hospitals. Let’s face it, no one likes hospitals.
13. Ligyrophobia – The fear of loud noises. More than the instinctive noise fear.
14. Didaskaleinophobia – The fear of school. This phobia affects kids mostly.
15. Technophobia – The fear of technology is often induced by culture/religion.
16. Chronophobia – The fear of the future. A persistent fear of what is to come
17. Catoptrophobia – The fear of mirrors. Being afraid of what you might see.
18. Agliophobia – The fear of pain. Being afraid something painful will happen.
19. Tokophobia – The fear of pregnancy involves giving birth or having children.
20. Telephonophobia – The fear of talking on the phone. Phobics prefer texting.
21. Pogonophobia – The fear of beards or being scared of/around bearded men.
22. Omphalophobia – The fear of belly buttons. Touching and looking at nave
23. Bananaphobia – The fear of bananas. If you have this phobia, they are scary.
24. Sidonglobophobia – The fear of cotton balls or plastic foams. Oh that sound.
25. Scelerophobia – The fear of crime involves being afraid of burglars, attackers or crime in general.
26. Cibophobia – The fear of food. The phobia may come from a bad episode while eating, like choking.
27.  ITHYPHALLOPHOBIA- Fear Of Seeing, Thinking About, Or Having An Erect Penis
28. PARTHENOPHOBIA- Fear Of Virgins Or Young Girls
29. Somniphobia – The fear of sleep. Being terrified of what might happen right after you fall asleep.
30. Gynophobia – The fear of women. May occur if you have unresolved mother issues.
31. Emetophobia – The fear of vomiting and the fear of loss of your self control.
32. Gephyrophobia – The fear of bridges and crossing even the smallest bridge.
33. Entomophobia – The fear of bugs and insects, also related to Acarophobia.
34. Lepidopterophobia – The fear of butterflies and often most winged insects.
35. Panophobia – The fear of everything or fear that terrible things will happen
36. Metathesiophobia – The fear of change. Sometimes change is a good thing.
37. Globophobia – The fear of balloons. They should be fun, but not for phobics.
38. Nyctophobia – The fear of darkness. Being afraid of the dark or the night is common for kids.
39. Androphobia – The fear of men. Usually seen in younger females, but it can also affect adults.
40. Phobophobia – The fear of fear. The thought of being afraid of objects/situations
41. Thanatophobia – The fear of death. Even talking about death can be hard.
42. Glossophobia – The fear of public speaking. Not being able to do speeches.
43. Monophobia – The fear of being alone. Even while eating and/or sleeping.
44. Atychiphobia – The fear of failure. It is the single greatest barrier to success.
45. Ornithophobia – The fear of birds. Individuals suffering from this may only fear certain species.
46. Alektorophobia – The fear of chickens. You may have this phobia if chickens make you panic.
47. Enochlophobia – The fear of crowds is closely related to Ochlophobia and Demophobia.
48. Aphenphosmphobia – The fear of intimacy. Fear of being touched and love.
49. Trypanophobia – The fear of needles. I used to fear needles (that and death).
50. Agoraphobia – The fear of open or crowded spaces. People with this fear often wont leave home.
    

HOW TO OVERCOME FEARS AND PHOBIA'S? ARTICLE FOR ANOTHER DAY!