On my mind – The curious case of phobiacs

What is a phobia? It is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little real danger but provokes anxiety and avoidance. There are several types of phobias in existence. Some people fear large, open spaces, others are unable to tolerate certain social situations. Still others have a specific phobia like the fear of snakes, elevators or flying, perhaps. Well, as for me, I have a major fear of grasshoppers and locusts. Their size and looks just scare me so bad, especially those big, green grasshoppers that can even fly. I sometimes imagine what I’d do if one were to land on my face – perhaps I’d wet my pants! The fear of grasshoppers and locusts started very long ago when I was still a kid. My friends used to catch them and play with them and when they did that, I would just disappear and go home. So, when my friends realised that I was so scared of them, they decided they would always scare me with them and I did not like it at all. But, anyway, I am sure that many of us are really scared of something. Most of us have a particular phobia that gives us chills. I looked up a few phobias and some of them are just so sad. There are people that fear falling asleep – it’s called ‘somniphobia’. Sleeping is such a wonderful thing but there are people somewhere in the world that fear falling asleep. It’s said that somniphobia is often caused by continual nightmares. Another interesting one is ‘descend phobia’ – the fear of descending. Apparently, walking down the stairs or slopes can be terrifying for descend phobiacs. Many times, they may get dizzy as well. On the other hand, some people could have ascent phobia – the fear of moving upwards.