Phobias

I've always been very interested in psychology, so things like phobias I find quite fascinating. Many people have at least one, and I'm quite sure most of you will have one or more of the top ten you can see on the picture. Do you? Do take in mind that a phobia isn't just being slightly scared. I mean, I'm not very fond of spiders and won't go touching them, and if there's a ginormous one in the tub I may get my dad to get it awaaay but I'm not going to have a total freak-out because I'm scared to death of that spider. A phobia is having an irrational terror, so in a nutshell nearly peeing your pants.

My dad has a snake phobia, so he's pretty lucky to live in Belgium. It's pretty funny though, I still remember being a kid and on holiday walking in the forest in Austria, and taking a branch and sneakishly going over my dad's foot with it, he cried out and nearly ran a mile in fear. Now that's a phobia :D But you're not supposed to mock, tempting though it may be. I have lots of friends with acrophobia, fear of heights, they can't even stand on a short ladder without having a total freak-out, I could not understand that at all when I was young. How can you be so afraid, if you're barely a meter off the ground. I love heights, I used to climb in trees with my neighbour, and I once walked a stepladder with huge gaps between over a giant ravine. Pretty creepy, but so exciting!

There's also phobias you grow out of, like fear of the dentist or fear of thunder. I used to be terrified of thunder when I was a child, I hid behind the couch with the dog, and wouldn't come out. My mom used to help count with me to show how far away it was. Helped a lot. I got over it though, although I still wouldn't go stand in the middle of it. The phobia I've always had though is necrophobia, one of the top ten. I'm absolutely terrified of dying, and if I see a dead animal on the street I feel really really uncomfortable. Luckily I'm young and don't really have to think about death, but I've had moment where I reflected on the whole idea of dying and what would happen, and I go all hyperventilaty in fear, so I think you can call that a phobia.

There's actually hundreds and hundreds of phobias out there, some freakier than the other. Here's some that I find pretty strange and hilarious:

Alliumphobia- Fear of garlic. Nooo my breath!
Allodoxaphobia- Fear of opinions. Are those the people who think they're always right?
Ambulophobia- Fear of walking. These boots were NOT made for walking!
Chirophobia- Fear of hands. A talk to the hand joke comes to mind
Dutchphobia- Fear of the Dutch. Lots of Belgians have this one :p
Euphobia- Fear of hearing good news. Happiness is overrated.
Geniophobia- Fear of chins. This person must be terrified of Jay Leno
Macrophobia- Fear of long waits. Your new excuse in the supermarket!
Pogonophobia- Fear of beards. Probably not a fan of Santa
Teutophobia- Fear of German or German things. I can relate, lol

And the list goes on! Can you imagine having any of those? How can you live?
Oh found an unusual one I have! Bufonophobia- Fear of toads. Yup, totally terrified of toads, but really can you blame me? Look at it!

I can barely look at it, bah, gives me the shivers! Hideous creatures. But I know where I got it. On a schooltrip in the woods we found a gigantic dead toad, and the others were poking it with a stick. Still remember it, it was absolutely disgusting. Since then, toads give me the heebie jeebies. Only toads though, other reptiles are fine, so apparently a fear can really stem from one single unsettling experience.

So what's your phobia? And how did you get it? Does it have a big effect on your life?