A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. You may experience a deep sense of dread or panic when you encounter the source of your fear. The fear can be of a certain place, situation, or object.
I was talking to a guy from Whitewater Region the other day about his phobia – a real strange one. I’d thought a first was a joke as I’d never heard of one similar. He has this uncanny feeling that if his fingers are sticky he becomes desperate to get them washed off. He gave me an example of a time he was coming home from Toronto, taking Highway 7 from Bancroft. Noticing a beckoning Farmer’s Market probably selling everything from vegetables to berries, he pulled over. Among other things he bought a half-dozen of butter tarts. On the way again, the temptation for one of those tarts made him reach for one as he was driving. Sure enough after a couple of bites his fingers got sticky and he tried to clean them of in a hurry but unable to do so, he panicked. In no time both hands were sticky as well as the steering wheel. Spotting a little body of water near the roadside he braked hard. Racing over he washed his hands, then went to the car for a rag to wash the steering wheel. His last act was to throw the remainder of that blasted tart into the water itself. He made it home with five full butter tarts.
I said, “Do you ever eat spareribs with your fingers?” “I love spareribs,” he said, “but only occasionally at home if I sitting near the kitchen sink.” He mentioned too if he was patching a roof with tar, the varsol and wipes had to close at hand.
I know people who are afraid of heights or being under water, etc. Myself, I hate to admit it but I’m terrified of mice. One time I spotted one in the cafeteria of a Toronto hospital where I went for a coffee after visiting a friend. I reacted with a yell and a security guard came running over, only adding to my embarrassment.
One girl I got to know when I was a teenager had a phobia about having her hair touched. I know this because after a date one night, in my father’s car he had loaned me, we stopped on a dark laneway. When I reached over I brushed her hair and she screamed blue murder. I was suddenly in a panic too but when she finally explained I guess I understood. She had dark loose curly hair just what I loved at that age. We did have a couple of more dates but my obsession with running my fingers through her hair and her not able to allow it to happen drove us apart.
Social phobia is also referred to as social anxiety disorder. It’s extreme worry about social situations and it can lead to self-isolation. A social phobia can be so severe that the simplest interactions, such as ordering at a restaurant or answering the telephone, can cause panic. There might be plenty of those kinds around, but who knows – we don’t see them much.
Women are more likely to have animal phobias while men make up the majority of those with dentist and doctor phobias.
Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns and it affects about 10 per cent of adults. They didn’t bother me until I saw the movie “Joker”. Now I’m on the lookout for them to avoid distress.
Some of the most common phobias include: acrophobia – fear of heights, aerophobia – fear of flying, arachnophobia – fear of spiders and ophidiophobia – fear of snakes.
Someone told me of a neighbour who when he had his meal, each portion of it had to be separated from every other portion of food. Big meals meant a big plate for him I think! When she asked him if he went to restaurants, he said, “Only once. By the time I explained to the waitress the configuration I needed she told me to get stuffed and walked away.”
One woman has a peculiar type of brain damage that prevents her from experiencing fear. Her condition was first described by scientists in 1994. She has been dubbed by the media as the “woman with no fear”. I would rather deal with phobias than be like her. She has been the victim of numerous crimes and in life-threatening encounters.
