Some phobias can be overcome

Phobia: an extreme or irrational fear of, or aversion to, something.

Phobias are funny things which sometimes hit you between the eyes for no apparent reason.

Defined as an extreme or irrational fear of, or aversion to, something, some people work their whole lives to deal with and overcome these phobias.

And while some win the battle, others never do despite concerted efforts and dedication to one or other behaviour modification therapy.

Phobias, however, are not the same as the irrational fears some of us have. Rather, they are fears on steroids.

While fears can manifest in a variety of ways, most of us won’t admit to a phobia, especially since it sounds like such a dirty word.

The truth, however, is that we all have something that sends us running or screaming for cover – for some people it is mice, others dread their annual dental check-up.

However, when these fears become so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with your normal life, they’re called phobias. But how do you know when your phobia is merely a fear?

For me the thing which sent me into a cold sweat was needles.

I’ve been to blood-covered scenes which sometimes included a helping of guts thrown in with no adverse reaction from my stomach, watched as police pulled bodies from water – after a few days those bodies look putrid and smell terrible – and managed to enjoy lunch immediately after, but show me a needle and my knees begin to tremble.

For as long as I can remember, just the sight of one of those little things could make me shake.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that what I thought of as a phobia may actually just have been a fear, and it suddenly disappeared last month without a single attempt on my part to “work through” the problem.

I was the patient who trembled at the thought of a dentist or doctor’s nurse giving me an injection or drawing blood – I had the necessary done but I wasn’t at all happy about it.

It’s amazing what a life-and-death situation can do to alter your perceptions of a situation.

You see, I landed up in hospital with a fairly serious condition which, aside from multiple blood tests, a drip and a CAT scan, all requiring needles, I also needed injections twice a day for 10 days.

For the five days (10 shots) I looked away and thought of happy things while the nurses administered them but then, six days into my hospital stay, happy that my condition was stable, my doctor told me that I could either learn to inject myself or spend another five days as a guest of the hospital.

Boredom was really setting in and I’d watched almost every Showmax show I could so, without a second thought, I told him I’d do it myself and just like that I was jabbing those needles into myself without a second thought – and no fear at all!

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the fear first struck and it has stayed with me through my teens and into adulthood, so imagine my surprise when the right set of circumstances vanquished the fear right out of my mind.

Now I’m quite blasé about my regular blood tests and find myself quite liking the staff at the local blood lab rather than fearing their tiny instruments.

So, with this particular fear banished from my life, I discovered that sometimes even fears and problems which seem insurmountable can be overcome.

I could easily have gone through the rest of my life with this irrational fear, so at least something positive came out of the hospital debacle.

And with this in mind, my wish for you, our dear readers, is a healthy, happy and problem-free 2018 sans fears or tribulations to prevent you from achieving your goals this year.

But if you have some of the more interesting or unusual, and less debilitating fears, we’d love to hear what they are.

To get you started, here are 21 unusual phobias:

• Xanthophobia – fear of the colour yellow.

• Turophobia – fear of cheese.

• Somniphobia – fear of falling asleep.

• Hylophobia – fear of trees.

• Omphalophobia – fear of the navel.

• Nomophobia – fear of being without mobile phone coverage.

• Ombrophobia – fear of rain.

• Papaphobia – fear of the pope.

• Uranophobia – fear of heaven.

• Pogonophobia – fear of beards.

• Triskaidekaphobia – fear of the number 13.

• Ergophobia – fear of work or the workplace environment.

• Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia – fear of long words.

• Deipnophobia – fear of dinner parties.

• Arithmophobia – fear of numbers.

• Arachibutyrophobia – fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.

• Alektorophobia – fear of chickens.

• Scolionophobia – known alternatively as didaskaleinophobia, the fear of school.

• Graphophobia – fear of writing or handwriting.

• Globophobia – fear of balloons popping.

• Geniophobia – fear of chins.

While coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, is often listed as an unusual one, I know at least four people who suffer from it.

If you are coulrophobic just remember IT will be out on DVD this Friday, so don’t accept any invitations from horror enthusiasts to watch DVDs at their house this weekend, as IT may be on the menu.

* Disclaimer: This is my personal experience and in no way seeks to trivialise the experiences of any of our readers suffering from phobias which they are unable to triumph over.