phobia

have you ever noticed how there's a phobia for basically EVERYTHING on our planet?? honestly, there's a scientifically devised term for a fear of basically anything you can imagine!!

from some of the more common ones (and ones to which i can personally relate) snakes and spiders, to silly little ones like the fear of the number 13! can you imagine? how can someone be afraid of a number???? or of an inanimate object that has no real power behind it, except for the one you give it!! now before i get too far off track, let me give you some silly little examples:

fear of:
13, number- Triskadekaphobia.
8, number- Octophobia.

Alcohol- Methyphobia or Potophobia (no problem with that one!!)
Amnesia- Amnesiphobia (how can someone be afraid of having amnesia???)
Beards- Pogonophobia (tee hee, no wonder i love your baby face honey!!)
Body, things to the left side of the body- Levophobia.
Body, things to the right side of the body- Dextrophobia (is it mean to mock?)
Bums or beggars- Hobophobia (i think that may be my favourite!)
Church- Ecclesiophobia (interesting)
Colors- Chromophobia or Chromatophobia. (how is that possible?)
Demons- Demonophobia or Daemonophobia (wheres angel when you need him)
Dizziness or vertigo when looking down- Illyngophobia (vertigo's scary)
Dogs or rabies- Cynophobia. (hounds of baskerville!!)
Dolls- Pediophobia.
Englishness- Anglophobia.
Erect penis- Medorthophobia. (once again, no problem there...)
Food or eating- Sitophobia or Sitiophobia (feed joey keefe)
Friday the 13th- Paraskavedekatriaphobia (my birthday's on friday the 13th this year)
Girls, young or virgins- Parthenophobia. (humph)
Japanese or Japanese culture- Japanophobia (anybody see the grudge?)
Memories- Mnemophobia.(*cough cough bull shit cough cough*)
Mother-in-law- Pentheraphobia
Mushrooms- Mycophobia.(wait, magic?)
Outer space- Spacephobia.(that seems somewhat cheap, eh?)
Politicians- Politicophobia. (i've found my answer to my naiveness!)
Pope- Papaphobia.
Rape- Virginitiphobia (really?)
Sitting down- Kathisophobia
Snakes- Ophidiophobia or Snakephobia.
Snow- Chionophobia.

the last two describe me to a 't'!!

but really, i mean scrolling down that list it kinda makes you wanna giggle a bit, cause to us they seem silly! but their not silly to the ones who suffer from them. because i'm sure there are some people out there who do have a deeply rooted aversion to the pope, and that the mere mention of his title does in fact instill a nauseating fear in their hearts...i won't name names...just kiddin'!

and i'm sure there's people out there who LOVE snakes, and love holding them and having them crawl all over them...(make me heave), and these people probably laugh at me when i cringe at the mere mention of the word 'snake'.

truth is, that we're all different, and things effect us differently according to our personality's. what terrifies me, might enthrall the next bloke! and vise versa.

what's interesting about it all, is where these fears stem from. what is it that happens to some that causes them to develop such phobias? is it a part of our genetics to be more fearful than the norm? in my opinion, phobias only have power because we give them power. it's the attention we pay to them that stokes their influence on us. it's definitely mind over matter! if we were to convince ourselves that snakes are actually as cute and cuddly as a newborn puppy and that they're not really the spawn of satan, then maybe our fear would slowly disintegrate. but it's because i could never bring myself to actually touch one without vomiting all over myself, that i will be forever afraid of them.

take the show "fear factor" for instance! who feels such a need to conquer their worst fears??? who cares that much! you don't see people with hobophobia (fear of homeless people) being confronted with beggars on live television!! no, that's not entertainment!~ we'd rather see crazy gross things like goat testicles getting gobbled up!! but anyways, don't even get me started on reality tv!!

point is, that if we don't want our fears to take over us then we have to stop believing in them! it's once we allow them to get the best of us that they have the most power...



chicken shits...