What's your phobia?

ARE you afraid of ghosts, snakes, or heights? If you are, you’re not alone. These are some of the things most people are afraid of.

I know somebody who has claustrophobia, the fear of being confined in enclosed spaces. For instance, in a church with overcrowded people, he wouldn’t go out as soon as the mass is over because he cannot tolerate being cramped in the middle of congested people at church doors. He feels being squeezed and wrapped, making him feel suffocated. I have also a friend who is phasmophobic—afraid of ghosts. She doesn’t like reading horror books or watching films with ghost themes. We make fun of her during Halloween because she never goes out nor head to the cemetery every 1^st of November.

According to Bessie Head, a South African writer, “the terrible thing is that, those who fear are always in the majority.” The phobia, however, that majority of the people have, is the fear of heights known as acrophobia. We could see in reality-based TV shows like the defunct Extra Challenge that most of the show’s contestants admit that they don’t like jumping off from the top of the building nor attempt skydiving when given such tasks. But some faces their fears by defying challenges. On the other hand, in a foreign TV show like Fear Factor, we could see different challenges that would ultimately confront the fears of the challengers. For example, one contestant would continue eating disgusting worms although he looks like he would cry and he wants to puke. Some may also endure being piled up by hundreds of snakes and bugs creeping at their legs and neck. That’s why they believe that fear is not a factor and winning because of luring green bucks is obviously their motivation.

Other phobias that are common to many are cynophobia, the fear of dogs; arachnephobia, the fear of spiders; and xenophobia, being afraid of strangers. If you have hematophobia, don’t dream of becoming a doctor because it is the fear of seeing blood, or don’t take an engineering course if you're numerophobic because you would probably hate numbers. If you smell a friend who is stinky, assume that he is aquaphobic, afraid of water. I believe that people with genophobia are certainly safe to acquiring STDs because it is the fear of having sex. If you are insomniac, for sure you have clinophobia, the fear of going to bed. Thanatophobia I think is the most fearsome; that is the fear to die. Loveless people have philophobia and they fear falling in love.

Remember that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.