FYI: Top 10 Phobias

[sparky2004]

I found the list. This is incredible.
PHOBIAS&nbsp ; Medical name
1 Open spaces.........Agoraphobia
2 Driving...................Can be a symptom of agoraphobia
3 Vomiting................Emetophobia
4 Confined spaces.....Claustrophobia
5 Insects..................Entemophobia
6 Illness...................Nosemophobia
7 Animals.................Zoophobia
8 Flying....................Aerophobia
9 Blushing................Erythrophobia
10 Heights................AcrophobiaEdited by: sparky2004

[mystikal star]

wow!! number three huh? wonder why so few people know about this phobia?

[princessmel]

Wow. Ours is number 3. That's unbelievable and most doctors don't even know about our phobia? That's weird.[img]smileys/smilies_12.gif[/img]

[stella9]

I noticed that Fear of Flying was down on the list. Every major
airline, airport, etc has Fear of Flying courses and there on tons of
books on it.



I think some of the other phobias can be more easily avoided. If
someone is afraid of flying they can avoid travel that involve
flying.



Very interesting.



Stella9

[carmagnet]

The thing people don't understand about our phobia, and why it's so debilitating, is we can't wake up without thinking about ours. My boyfriend has a phobia of moths, but, he can walk out the door in the summertime at night when moths are hanging out by the porch light without freaking out. It's when he see's one that he gets scared. Ours takes the initial *vomit* and pulls a whole bunch of other things into it. examples are, (for me at least) agoraphobia, clostraphobia, social phobia, germaphobia. It can't just stay as emetaphobia. My friend has a VERY mild case of emetaphobia, she just freaks out when it happens. it's not something she thinks about CONSTANTLY. I can't leave the house without being afraid I'm gonna see it. I can't be in small spaces with other people cause I might or someone else might, being in social atmospheres get's my anxiety going as well. I agree with stella, you can avoid most of those other things people are scared of. Sickness happens, whether you like it or not.

[kellybean]

I thought public speaking was one of the most common phobias also? That is very interestong though!!

[donna1216]

Blushing was the one that surprised me!

[sage]

Sparky - where did you find this list? The list from the American Psychiatric Association is quite different, that's all I'm curious about.

[cat283]

WOAH. So much for my idiot school psychologist in elementary school who said I was "deeply disturbed" and he had "never heard of anyone with a fear of v*ing". I need to find his email address and send this site to him [img]smileys/smilies_18.gif[/img]. *Sigh* I went to such a hick school...I'm so glad I'm homeschooled now.

[sparky2004]

I found the site from my internet history.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews...id=14568147&am p;method=full&siteid=50143&headline=top-10-of-everyt hing-name_page.htmlEdited by: sparky2004

[sage]

hmmm - the Mirror, huh? If I'm not mistaken this is a kind of "National Enquirer" type publication. But no matter - it's quoting a book some bloke wrote about the top 10 of everything, so who knows where he gets his information?


Nevertheless the point is that it's on the list and how about that. We're not so weird after all - indeed.


The high school counsellor that said this to the poster above is a complete idiot. For saying it. Not for thinking it, however. Hardly anybody I know of has heard of this phobia...especially doctors and ordinary people. Clinical psychologists I talk to have all pretty much heard of it - it's much more common than the world makes it out to be.


Thanks for the link Sparky!


This is kind of encouraging in a weird way, huh?

[carmagnet]

I will never discredit any one's phobia. my b/f has a moth phobia and a midget phobia. While I don't understand them I do understand phobia.

[jennyleigh1975]

Well, I know that I have Emetophobia, but I think I may have number 6 too. I am always afraid that I am gonna come down with some horrible disease or something. I mean something outside of a cold and such. I wasnt this way until I had my hysterectomy in August. I just cant seem to get past it, its like that surgery really made me realize that I am not inferior and that I am getting older. I mean, its not like Im old, Im only 29, 30 in May.

I dont know what my problem is ..........

Any suggestions anyone? Sage?????

[xhelenx]

I think that in some lists they might be including people who don't actually have a phobia of something, they just don't like it, or get jumpy when they're around it - but it's not actually a phobia. Like loads of people ay they're scared of spiders, but they're not all so extreme that it's arachnaphobia. Just guessing that maybe that's the reason?

[sage]

Jenny,


Major surgery like this can certainly increase your anxiety level...especially if you're prone to anxiety disorders already. Anxiety is a mental state every human being is in, it's just a matter of degree. For phobics, it's high. So when other kinds of stressors are added into it, you get even more anxious. When anxiety was high in my life I became claustrophobic during a medical test, even though I'd never been that way before.


The good news is that the cure for one anxiety is the same as another. If you treat the phobia, or the fear of general illness/dying, you'll get good results for the other. It's also natural to stop being in denial of our own mortality when we are faced with a major illness or surgery...we WILL age...we WILL get sick...and yes, we WILL die.


Look at this revelation as a sign of growth and maturity, rather than a setback, perhaps. Use it to set life goals, find deeper meaning, get spiritual. And (here goes the sage-broken-record) get a good therapist and some treatment!

[jennyleigh1975]

I have been thinking that some therapy would do me good, so I need to find me a good therapist. Sighs ...... where to start.

Thank you sage!!!!