Comments on: why do people have phobias?

By: cremedelacreme04

cremedelacreme04 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:02:54 +0000

The American Heritage Dictionary on Yahoo! defines phobia as
“A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.” It is a form of anxiety disorder.

An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.

There are three types of phobias:

* social phobia – fear of other people or social situations;

* specific phobias triggered by a specific object;

* agoraphobia or fear of everything.

I have a fear of heights which developed at an early age.

By: 272

272 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:36:24 +0000

i think its by a bad experince, i for example read micheal chrighton’s state of fear. after reading a chapter of canibnals eating people, i was terrified of canibals, and still am.

By: needtoknow

needtoknow — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:56:31 +0000

phobias are a result of a malfunction in The flight or fight response of th autonomic nerve system it usually happens when a person is frightened by something there is some research that shows humans are born with a fear of snakes and of height

By: snagelfritz

snagelfritz — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:44:26 +0000

I’m afraid to answer this question, sorry.
OK, I will try. My opinion phobias are from ignorance of that Fear. Take snakes for an example. Heck, many people have a phobia of snakes. I did, because of those around me when I was young. The saying; “Ignorance, breeds ignorance”. Well as I got older and around people who were educated about snakes, I learned that most the time they not even poison snakes and are harmless, I learn to tell the Difference. I learned through experience, on numerous occasions, that snake bites not hurt IF you KNOW how their teeth work. Now my Phobia is gone, because, I no longer have an ignorance of snakes, but, an education. Heck, just 3 days ago, I grabbed a Copperhead (Poisonous) by the tail and threw him away from me and he hauled **** and I not seen him again.

By: steady_state

steady_state — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:22:40 +0000

Hah!! Because they’re scared of stuff. Most fears are developed with a traumatic (as perceived by the person) experience young in life and manifests itself later in life when confronted with situations that bring up something about the perceived memories and creates anxiety and panic in only those situations.

By: monuser13

monuser13 — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:50:06 +0000

Because some people are chicken ****, it is a natural response to fear things, it is in our biological makeup, In the animal kingdom animals are always searching the scene for danger. In people some people have had bad experience or bad feelings from something so they feel it is dangerous and they try to avoid the object of fear. Sorry about the chicken comment but it is kinda true.

By: iluvfuzzie&rj'96

iluvfuzzie&rj'96 — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:50:10 +0000

I’m claustrophobic that means I am scared of small spaces like elevators.

By: forex

forex — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:59:59 +0000

like me , when i was young i saw a very beautiful woman , since that time i got beauty phobia