Phobia or.. Instinct?

[dj.]

Have you an irrational fear of something that the rest of the world does not comprehend, yes they might understand what a phobia is, but they themselves cannot see the rational in it.

For instance, my friend gets me in fits of laughter, she's frightened of wasps. On occasion, as we both own horses, on a sunny day we might be chilling out in a field, enjoying the sun. Well, I am anyway, she usually has to get up, run around flapping her arms and screaming at a wasp.

lol I laugh, I just lie there and the wasp doesnt bother me, but its fun to watch her lol

Although I laugh, I do understand, if it was flying spiders that at any time might land on me, I'd be screaming too.

So, her wasps.
Me, spiders.

Im not afraid of rats or snakes though, but others are.

What the hell defines our irrational fear of something, anyway my point, main point..is it really a phobia?

I thought of this tonight because of this, might sound a bit weird but its true anyway;

My cat always follows me to the toilet, I dunno why!! maybe he's a pervert lol, I close the door, he pushes it open!

If one of my dogs isnt in his bed.. he also follows.. pushes the door open also.. Im just telling you how it is! Not my fault all my animals are weird!

Anyway, tonight the dog gets in first, the cat second.

The cat sits at my feet, looking at the dog, my dog cowardly gets to the back wall, and wont pass the cat. Even when I leave, he wont move untill the cat unblocks the doorway.

MY DOG IS BUILT LIKE BRICK SHIT HOUSE.

He's an American Bulldog cross.. google it, you wouldnt mess with this bugger!

The dog is afraid of a cat, he must weigh 9 stone, my cat no more than 2 bags of sugar lol.

So do we decide the dog has a phobia of cats?

I experienced vertigo once and only once in my life. I was visiting an old castle with my brother, and climbed one of the towers.
If anyone suffers from this regular, I can only just sympathise.
At the top, I suddenly felt dizzy, and clamped my hands onto the edge of the stone tower.
My brain froze and I was extremely scared, I couldnt move, and was in no hurry too either.
Panic attack I assume, I was able to tell myself "I cant let this become a phobia" and it passed, but I will never forget that feeling that "freezing" seemed the best option.

I have to move onto my point now, Im writing loads lol

Why is a phobia called an irrational fear?

I swear I had vertigo because that castle was like 500 years old, and the tower really was just a pile of crumbling stone, and my brain told me it wasnt safe.

My dog fears the cat, because he might be smaller, but his claws are quick, and could easily have the dogs eye out.

I fear spiders, but yet.. thier fucking ugly No, lol, they must have delivered some toxic shock to my caveman ancestors, and I rekon my instinct knows it.

My friend fears wasps, probably cos she was stung.

I wont fly.. 911 anyone? (to name just one catastrophy)

Im claustrophobic also (yeah Im a lost case when it comes to phobia's lol) Well, who feels comfortable stuck in a small space?

So is a phobia only a phobia when you over-react to something, what defines an over-reaction?

If your not afraid of snakes, but wake up to one in your face, first thing you see...I rekon you'd shit your pants..as opposed to thinking "Ohh a snake, I'll get a box to put you in"

To end, is it a phobia, a phrase/psycho-babble made up by quacks. Or really is it just some deep down ingrained instinct?

Why is it called a phobia? Are we all supposed to be brave and stupid, and fear nothing?

Im not frightend of heights ffs!! Im not frightend of falling.. Im frightened of hitting the gound at a high speed!! Thats the part I dont like!!

Anyway, hope you get my point. Why is a fear deemed irrational then called a phobia, when there is a reason behind it?

 

[mojorisin]

I would assume because there are and will always be people out there who just do not get or understand why you have the fear that you do.

I for instance share one of your fears. Spiders, as well as natural disasters.. i think that is control issues lol but anyways.. SPIDERS!

While I will sit and watch a spider untill it has made its exit just so I know where it is. I cant kill the spider.. what if it falls on my head while I swipe at it with a broom. Or what if i miss it and it scurries away and I cant find it! Thats even worse! Id rather know exactly where it is, even tho i have to look at it, at least I know its not biting me.

I watch too many shows, read too much I guess. I freak myself out by knowing that this tiny bug can kill me or give me such pain with a tiny bite. Which in its self doesnt make since or I would be a freak about germs as well..which im not, so idk.

Point being, anyways, as I scream and sink into the sofa, paralized with fear watching the tiny spider dangle inches above me all the way from the ceiling.... Ben comes up, quickly CLAPS his hands together(Spider caught in the middle) And procedes to laugh at me and tell me im a freak.

Or he will be more civalized on occasions, grabbing a tissue and throwing it in the toilet and flushing it. Which I in return still go behind him and fluch the toilet another 3 times before letting it be.

If we didnt have our quarks, our "irrational" fears, our tiny or huge bouts of OCD, we would all be boring souls with nothing to laugh about.

Whether we like it or not, not all people will understand and the term "irrational" is made for people just like that.

You are looking at your ceiling now arent you lol

 

[Mega]

I have a bit of a problem with heights, tried to conquer it with roller coaster rides for example and I can go on them but I really hate heights.

Possible cause of phobias could be past lives - depends if you believe in that though.

Anyway for those who are afraid of spiders, here is how to remove them from your home (warning link does have a pic of a spider)

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Spiders-from-Your-Home-Safely

 

[nutter]

I trained as a nurse....

Yet I am needlephobic. I faint if I have to have a needle myself!

 

[mrproper]

If you infect your dog with Toxoplasmosis, he will not fear cats anymore

 

[Skam]

Well there's fears and theres irrational fears. Being afraid of heights really isnt that unnatural; its against our nature -we're supposed to stay grounded.
Of course today its a hinder while in the stoneage, getting close to a cliff it might have saved you to feel that fear, to know you shouldnt go closer.

And while Wasps dont kill you unless you're allergic, they hurt if they sting you so your friends fear isnt completely irrational either. Maybe you should tell her that running around flapping her arms will probably make it worse!

Now, a big problem today however is agoraphobia. Being scared of public spaces, of places with alot of people in them, of offices, waitingrooms and the queue at the supermarket. Thats completely irrational, but there's a lot of people struggling with it!

Me, Im not completely comfortable around larger animals, and Im not very comfortable swimming on deep waters. But I dont have anything that actually triggers angst in me.

 

[kalanen]

Last spring I realized something funny - I'm afraid of ladder.

I had to brush dead leaves, cones and such off our summer cottages roof. I tried to use ladder for clmbing on it but just couldnt, so I climbed up a tree nearby and jumped on the roof.

I didn't even hurt myself because I was very drunk - under protection of King Alcohol!

 

[Mega]

I tried to use ladder for clmbing on it but just couldnt, so I climbed up a tree nearby and jumped on the roof.

I didn't even hurt myself because I was very drunk - under protection of King Alcohol!

Hope you don't mind, but that made me laugh.

[YOUTUBE]NPiGJBHVadA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Quickening]

really interesting read. I don't believe in irrational fear, what's irrational to some might be rational to others. Fear is good, it keeps us going

 

[Coz1969]

Interesting topic...

Me... well, I am terrified of snakes. Doesn't matter how big or small, what kind of snake... just terrified of them. Okay, so lots of people are afraid of snakes, yes? I don't consider this to be an irrational fear... as it stands now.
However, I used to be terrified of even a picture of a snake. You know, the ones that you constantly see in magazines such as National Geographic. Had a friend who didn't believe how terrified of snakes I was... he had a small one in a glass aquarium, top firmly in place. He picked up the aquarium and placed it in my lap. I broke out in a cold sweat and froze. All I could do was say repeatedly "get it off, get it off, get it off" (you get the picture)

Reactions such as those that I used to have (I am no longer afraid of snake pictures, and have no problems looking at snakes that are encaged) I consider to be irrational.

Just my

 

[aridash]

the difference between "fear" and "phobia" is that the later is irrational. so a vertigo is not a phobia as its quite rational; being fearfull of a tiny flying insect is irrational as you expend more effort screaming and running away than simply ignoring or squashing the thing. so yes, its down to the scale of the reaction to the threat, its all relative though.

the instinct to be fearfull of insects and animals is quite real and rational. apparently it was recently proven that females are more prone to these fear reactions than males. wouldnt make a very good hunter if scared of a snake, but in the settlement with children around being scared of a snake is a sensible reaction.

 

[waperboy]

I've had an exaggerated fear of wasps in the past, but it's receded to the point where I don't have to run away anymore

I know a person that is severly afraid of birds - the reaction is violent, and the person looks as though loss of life is imminent... for a couple of doves taking off nearby.

And then we have this...

[YOUTUBE]Hn_BjXzLY1k[/YOUTUBE]

 

[malasuerte]

My little brother has a phobia to cockroaches. One time he was in the bathroom and could't get out because there was a cockroach on the door. He couldn't go near it. He had to call my mother so she open the door and he finnally could get out.

He was like 16 or 17 years old when this happened .

That I would call irrational fear, but maybe a cockroache bite him when he was a child or something. Can normal cockroaches bite?

 

[Golden Atrox]

It's moths (and butterflies as a result of their similarity) for me...and I learned never to scream again after my first encounter with one

 

[CycoKick]

I hate flying, but that is due to a bad experience the first time I flew alone. Yet I still fly quite alot just have increased hart rate and sweaty hands during take off and landing. And im pretty nervous then.

Same goes for speaking in public always makes me about the same as what I described above.

Don't like swimming in water where there might be sharks and I cant see.

All 3 I still do as much as If I didnt have those feelins though.

 

[dj.]

the difference between "fear" and "phobia" is that the later is irrational. so a vertigo is not a phobia as its quite rational; being fearfull of a tiny flying insect is irrational as you expend more effort screaming and running away than simply ignoring or squashing the thing. so yes, its down to the scale of the reaction to the threat, its all relative though.

the instinct to be fearfull of insects and animals is quite real and rational. apparently it was recently proven that females are more prone to these fear reactions than males. wouldnt make a very good hunter if scared of a snake, but in the settlement with children around being scared of a snake is a sensible reaction.

Thats an interesting point, that the total over-reaction makes it a phobia.

Someone pointed out they cant kill a spider, nor can I.. because there's no way Im going to get close to the thing to do it.
Also, if someone removes it for me, I ask them to put it outside (well, across the street and well away from my house actuallly lol)
So, while Im afraid..Im not cruel.

I wasnt even brave enough to click on mega's link, but thanx for at least putting the warning in there lol

People that are afraid of birds is a strange one, any idea's on why?

 

[Mega]

People that are afraid of birds is a strange one, any idea's on why?

I think its the same as the phobia of moths & butterflies (although Golden Atrox may be able to elaborate further) - the fluttering of the wings.

May be of interest:

[YOUTUBE]cZbOaNgWYsg[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Golden Atrox]

I think its the same as the phobia of moths & butterflies (although Golden Atrox may be able to elaborate further) - the fluttering of the wings.

It was an unfortunate encounter during childhood actually...I screamed and it flew into my mouth, I screamed some more and it flew away (quite comical if the victim wasn't myself)

Lesson learned: don't scream, just hide under the covers and wait

 

[dj.]

It was an unfortunate encounter during childhood actually...I screamed and it flew into my mouth, I screamed some more and it flew away

OMG YUK!!!!

I think I have a phobia of moths now!!

 

[Golden Atrox]

OMG YUK!!!!

I think I have a phobia of moths now!!

Don't be, moths are attracted to those who are afraid

 

[mojorisin]

It was an unfortunate encounter during childhood actually...I screamed and it flew into my mouth, I screamed some more and it flew away (quite comical if the victim wasn't myself)

Lesson learned: don't scream, just hide under the covers and wait

Im sorry to laugh but ya... eww! That would def be a start of a phobia for me.

I didnt mention that I used to be "ok" with all kinds of bugs. I mean.. as a child I would play with daddy long legs. They didnt freak me out. As an adult, all bugs freak me out, spiders just being the worst.

I mention this because just like the "moth in mouth", I had an experiance like this as well that may have lead to my phobia.
When I was about 17 I was on our porch swing, I would swing back then drag the tops of my toes..barefoot.. acrossed the cool concrete. I was readiong a nice book. Untill I felt someting!. Looked down and there was a june bug... Big gross beetle... Hugging my toe! All of his little hands wrapped tightly as if I were his mommy. OFC, I flipped the fuck out and cringe at the thought to this day.

^^ Tramatic incidents like these can easily cause phobias.. or is cuz im getting old and am more educated about the critters in this world

 

[waperboy]

Somehow, I seem to be able to control my irrational fears. I grew up on the countryside, and one thing I that made me spring out of bed and grab a rolled-up newspaper was a little creature, in swedish 'harkrank':

It would fly along the walls close to my bed lamp, and this thing is really gross, like 5 cm between the tip of the legs (1.5 inches or so).

This provoked an irrational paralysis of the brain for me when I was in my teens, but since then I've grown to rationalize it, along with fear of the dark that I also had - seriously, now it doesn't bother me in the least to go find the crapper out by the cottage in the black of night, walking through forest with no flashlight.

As far as I can tell, this overcoming of my fears was courtesy of my discovery of the universe, causality, rationality, physics etc - everything is rational and causal, so unless you know there are tigers or bears roaming the woods, there's nothing to be afraid of

 

[Golden Atrox]

When I was about 17 I was on our porch swing, I would swing back then drag the tops of my toes..barefoot.. acrossed the cool concrete. I was readiong a nice book. Untill I felt someting!. Looked down and there was a june bug... Big gross beetle... Hugging my toe! All of his little hands wrapped tightly as if I were his mommy. OFC, I flipped the fuck out and cringe at the thought to this day.

Same here, had a weird looking bug on my leg once and it was holding on pretty tight like its life depended on it...where's their instincts that they could be in danger?

And other weird encounters...catepillar on my neck (which was killed by accident) and golden beetle in my hair...

 

[Kemp]

Im not frightend of heights ffs!! Im not frightend of falling.. Im frightened of hitting the gound at a high speed!! Thats the part I dont like!!

Anyway, hope you get my point. Why is a fear deemed irrational then called a phobia, when there is a reason behind it?

Vertigo is my thing!! Until I reached the age of 19 or so, I laught about my dad who suffers from it as much as I do now. And no, it's not that I am afraid of hitting the ground at a high speed. That doesn't even cross my mind when vertigo strikes me. It's just a shear panically freezing reaction when I am very high and the devider between me and the depth is only small, like a fence.

Put me 300 meters up with a 2 meter wide concrete wall between me and the depth and I don't have any problem. Put me 300m high with just a very rigid and strong yet small fence and I wet my pants.
It's ridiculous because the fence protects me from falling as good as the wall does. But as soon I can see the depth beneath me, my brain freezes and my legs get wobbly.
Don't ask me why, but it sucks... There is no reason behind it...

Don't have any problems with flying or driving a car in high mountains though
But no Eifeltower for me, that's for sure

 

[Dav]

Put me 300m high with just a very rigid and strong yet small fence and I wet my pants.

The I guess you wouldn't have liked to be at this pic:



Taken by me while hanging with my upper body outside the net at the lookout floor of the eiffel tower. I wanted to try and get some more original pic than all the common ones you usually snaps from up there and managed to wrangle my upper body through the net while my friends held me by the waist. Turned out a crappy pic though...

 

[Kemp]

The I guess you wouldn't have liked to be at this pic:



Taken by me while hanging with my upper body outside the net at the lookout floor of the eiffel tower. I wanted to try and get some more original pic than all the common ones you usually snaps from up there and managed to wrangle my upper body through the net while my friends held me by the waist. Turned out a crappy pic though...

Erhmm, no, not for me buddy

 

[Ardorj]

I'm afraid of heights, same as Kemp. If the protection is solid and high enough, no problem. A little wooden fence of half a meter with rusty nails in it ... better be at least two meters away from that. When I don't trust the defense, I usually kick hard at it to test if it will hold me when I fall.
One thing I don't like is climbing long spiral stairs. About ten meters and more. The higher I get, the slower I move untill I stop and don't dare to go any further. When I go down I feel better (relief?) with every step.
The Eiffeltower has a very good defense. I've been up there and had no fear.

A friend of me is afraid of wasps and I'm not in the least. I remain all calm and watch it flying around me. My friend will scream at it and turns violent against the poor creature. I always tell him not to be afraid, be calm, they don't sting, they don't hurt.
Last month I was stung by a wasp. Now he'll responds "you get stung yourself by a wasp! They must die!" lol

 

[Oracle]

Have you an irrational fear of something that the rest of the world does not comprehend, yes they might understand what a phobia is, but they themselves cannot see the rational in it.

For instance, my friend gets me in fits of laughter, she's frightened of wasps. On occasion, as we both own horses, on a sunny day we might be chilling out in a field, enjoying the sun. Well, I am anyway, she usually has to get up, run around flapping her arms and screaming at a wasp.

lol I laugh, I just lie there and the wasp doesnt bother me, but its fun to watch her lol

Although I laugh, I do understand, if it was flying spiders that at any time might land on me, I'd be screaming too.

So, her wasps.
Me, spiders.

Im not afraid of rats or snakes though, but others are.

What the hell defines our irrational fear of something, anyway my point, main point..is it really a phobia?

I thought of this tonight because of this, might sound a bit weird but its true anyway;

My cat always follows me to the toilet, I dunno why!! maybe he's a pervert lol, I close the door, he pushes it open!

If one of my dogs isnt in his bed.. he also follows.. pushes the door open also.. Im just telling you how it is! Not my fault all my animals are weird!

Anyway, tonight the dog gets in first, the cat second.

The cat sits at my feet, looking at the dog, my dog cowardly gets to the back wall, and wont pass the cat. Even when I leave, he wont move untill the cat unblocks the doorway.

MY DOG IS BUILT LIKE BRICK SHIT HOUSE.

He's an American Bulldog cross.. google it, you wouldnt mess with this bugger!

The dog is afraid of a cat, he must weigh 9 stone, my cat no more than 2 bags of sugar lol.

So do we decide the dog has a phobia of cats?

I experienced vertigo once and only once in my life. I was visiting an old castle with my brother, and climbed one of the towers.
If anyone suffers from this regular, I can only just sympathise.
At the top, I suddenly felt dizzy, and clamped my hands onto the edge of the stone tower.
My brain froze and I was extremely scared, I couldnt move, and was in no hurry too either.
Panic attack I assume, I was able to tell myself "I cant let this become a phobia" and it passed, but I will never forget that feeling that "freezing" seemed the best option.

I have to move onto my point now, Im writing loads lol

Why is a phobia called an irrational fear?

I swear I had vertigo because that castle was like 500 years old, and the tower really was just a pile of crumbling stone, and my brain told me it wasnt safe.

My dog fears the cat, because he might be smaller, but his claws are quick, and could easily have the dogs eye out.

I fear spiders, but yet.. thier fucking ugly No, lol, they must have delivered some toxic shock to my caveman ancestors, and I rekon my instinct knows it.

My friend fears wasps, probably cos she was stung.

I wont fly.. 911 anyone? (to name just one catastrophy)

Im claustrophobic also (yeah Im a lost case when it comes to phobia's lol) Well, who feels comfortable stuck in a small space?

So is a phobia only a phobia when you over-react to something, what defines an over-reaction?

If your not afraid of snakes, but wake up to one in your face, first thing you see...I rekon you'd shit your pants..as opposed to thinking "Ohh a snake, I'll get a box to put you in"

To end, is it a phobia, a phrase/psycho-babble made up by quacks. Or really is it just some deep down ingrained instinct?

Why is it called a phobia? Are we all supposed to be brave and stupid, and fear nothing?

Im not frightend of heights ffs!! Im not frightend of falling.. Im frightened of hitting the gound at a high speed!! Thats the part I dont like!!

Anyway, hope you get my point. Why is a fear deemed irrational then called a phobia, when there is a reason behind it?

I think some phobias are instinctual and therefore 'hard-wired' into the brain in some way and some probably learnt through bad experiences, especially when very young.

For example, baby chimps will keep well away from a snake without ever seeing one before and will even have the same fear reaction to an inanimate object that looks like a snake, eg a hose pipe.

As we've much more chance of getting killed by being knocked down crossing the road than being crushed to death by a boa constrictor, however, I guess such phobias now seem irrational and irrelevant.

Amongst my many ridiculous phobias, which depend to a massive extent whether I face them alone or accompanied by someone else, are a fear of mice and rats, budgies (and any domestic, caged birds not kept securely locked up), flying (the claustrophia of being trapped in a plane together with a fear of crashing or being blown up by suddenly flying into another plane or a mountain or by a maniac terrorist and also I'm not keen on just being close to a bunch of strangers I don't know with no way of getting away from them!), bulls (not that keen on cows either), big spiders (getting quite brave with liddle one's now), not scared of wasps coz was cycling once and flew into one and it stung me inside my mouth and even that wasn't a big deal.

A lot of the above is because of general anxiety I think and me not being brave enough to face up to my fears: so I think that's what makes it a phobia...it's letting the fear of 'non-threats' spiral out of control.

Cats are weird animals by the way Debbie...they can 'do things'...so your dog is right to be wary.

 

[sitram]

My cat always follows me to the toilet, I dunno why!! maybe he's a pervert lol, I close the door, he pushes it open!

I know that feeling

Even when my cat is in deep sleep, as soon as he hears me oppening the bathroom door, he fallows me to the toilet.

 

[dj.]

I
Cats are weird animals by the way Debbie...they can 'do things'...so your dog is right to be wary.

"Do things" mate??

LOL like what?

ps, hope Jaguar's have nothing to do with this lol

Even when my cat is in deep sleep, as soon as he hears me oppening the bathroom door, he fallows me to the toilet.

See? Perverts, the lot of them!