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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Is there really such a thing?
A phobia is roughly defined as an irrational fear or dislike but,surely all fear is rational if you are afraid that something will hurt you. All dislike is rational if you feel that something will repulse you.
For example,I am absolutely terrified of snakes. they bite you and inject poison that rots you from the inside out,or they squeeze you so hard that your heart explodes. I may be wrong but my fear is perfectly rational,isn't it?
I knew someone who was afraid of butterflies,she was convinced that they get in your hair and lay eggs under your skin and make you go blind. Is that a phobia? She had at least thought about it. |
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But are you afraid of all snakes or just the venomous ones? If it's all I'd say that's irrational. You are lumping all snakes under one heading.
I'd say the butterfly is fairly irrational as well.... They don't do that.
Perhaps it's an overused term but I think there are genuine phobias. Dictionary definition is an extreme OR irrational fear so they can be rational but extreme.
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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"But are you afraid of all snakes or just the venomous ones? If it's all I'd say that's irrational. You are lumping all snakes under one heading.
I'd say the butterfly is fairly irrational as well.... They don't do that.
Perhaps it's an overused term but I think there are genuine phobias. Dictionary definition is an extreme OR irrational fear so they can be rational but extreme.
"
I guess if I was sitting here,quaking with fear about snakes even though there are (I hope) no snakes anywhere near me,that would be completely irrational. If a python was chasing me down the street,I would be justified in being scared.
My friend with the terror of butterflies was wrong but was she irrational? She had thought it through. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My biggest fear is soft/boggy ground, as soon as my feet start sinking I have a panic attack.. Even if I know there's solid ground underneath which is irrational.
I'd say coz of my reaction it's a phobia.
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I’ve a phobia of straight men. Sorry guys. You know the ones that say straight in profile but want to suck your cock or fuck my ass. Sorry to be so blunt but they scare th shit out of me. No pun intended |
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I have a phobia of daddylonglegs (the flying ones and crawling ones are all lumped under the title daddylonglegs). I have absolutely no idea why. I didn't used to have this fear, and don't recall any incident that could have caused it, but I can't be in the same room as one when I know it's there.
I'm always on the look out for them, and I'm aware that it's irrational, but they are the only thing I am so frightened of I can't function around. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have a phobia of daddylonglegs (the flying ones and crawling ones are all lumped under the title daddylonglegs). I have absolutely no idea why. I didn't used to have this fear, and don't recall any incident that could have caused it, but I can't be in the same room as one when I know it's there.
I'm always on the look out for them, and I'm aware that it's irrational, but they are the only thing I am so frightened of I can't function around."
Craneflies. Shudder  |
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"I have a phobia of daddylonglegs (the flying ones and crawling ones are all lumped under the title daddylonglegs). I have absolutely no idea why. I didn't used to have this fear, and don't recall any incident that could have caused it, but I can't be in the same room as one when I know it's there.
I'm always on the look out for them, and I'm aware that it's irrational, but they are the only thing I am so frightened of I can't function around.
Craneflies. Shudder "
Indeed! You understand my horror! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have a phobia of daddylonglegs (the flying ones and crawling ones are all lumped under the title daddylonglegs). I have absolutely no idea why. I didn't used to have this fear, and don't recall any incident that could have caused it, but I can't be in the same room as one when I know it's there.
I'm always on the look out for them, and I'm aware that it's irrational, but they are the only thing I am so frightened of I can't function around.
Craneflies. Shudder
Indeed! You understand my horror! "
Absolutely. Not a true phobia though in my case, I think I just find them icky in the extreme and non-flying varieties don't bother me. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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It's also about the reaction or over reaction. People being repulsed by a transfer woman is, in my opinion, an over reaction. However being repulsed by bigotry or ignorance isn't. |
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"But are you afraid of all snakes or just the venomous ones? If it's all I'd say that's irrational. You are lumping all snakes under one heading.
I'd say the butterfly is fairly irrational as well.... They don't do that.
Perhaps it's an overused term but I think there are genuine phobias. Dictionary definition is an extreme OR irrational fear so they can be rational but extreme.
I guess if I was sitting here,quaking with fear about snakes even though there are (I hope) no snakes anywhere near me,that would be completely irrational. If a python was chasing me down the street,I would be justified in being scared.
My friend with the terror of butterflies was wrong but was she irrational? She had thought it through."
Rationality isn't just thinking things through and reaching any conclusion though it's to do with logical.
It is not logical to think that butterflies lay eggs in your skin and so it is irrational.
It is not logical to be scared of simply seeing a snake and so that is irrational.
It would be logical to be scared when chased by something so that would be rational.
It's not a requirement to have a phobia of something if you simply dislike them, it's the response and reaction to that something that makes it a phobia. |
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By *ara JTV/TS
over a year ago
Bristol East |
Prof Sir Robert Winston has some interesting thoughts about where these fears of snakes, spiders etc come from. It's rooted in the cave-man era, for lack of a better word, when the little feckers quite happily killed us off. Over time, our DNA - or some of our DNA anyway - became conditioned to fear the things that threatened our ancestors.
I can't stand spiders either.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Mine's spiders, house spiders I can't abide them. I don't understand it and I have got better but September and October I am completely on edge, I always peer into the bath to check for spiders before entering and I remember every spot in my house where I've seen a spider that has given me a panic attack, and I always check these spots too. If they are sat on a wall then I'm not too bad, but to see one run across the floor will sometimes induce panic attacks. It's not all spiders either. I've also held a tarantula and that didn't bother me at all  so I don't see it as rational or logical.
Ginger |
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We're each responsible for ourselves, assuming our faculties are intact etc, so can personally determine if our fear is something we accept as rational or not. It may cause no difference or effect to others but be highly personal and we don't accept.
Dome medical terms enter into everyday language but we'll not usually have full understanding of them. I think this includes some phobias or the term overall.
If the fear/anxiety response to some trigger is personally viewed as inappropriately high then we might want to alter things - it's our choice. Obviously the fight,flight and freeze response that we have is a fantastic safeguard for us to have, where we don't even need to think about what to do. We've evolved to be fearful of many things that few would argue against but it's easy for our responses to have been hijacked by various aspects of life, including chance and learning. We can relearn and find new options. |
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By *icentiousCouple
over a year ago
Up on them there hills |
Phobias come, usually, from a one shot learning experience . ‘Tis a stimulance/response irrational behaviour.
Some behaviour support us, like making tea, eating cake.
Some don’t.
Phobias can be unlearned, as is with most behaviours. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Vomiting was mine, even I know that it’s totally and utterly irrational, it was still debilitating at times. Therapy plus a self help book aimed specifically at my phobia has helped me massively. |
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