Getting to the bottom of phobias
We have all either had one or know of someone who has one, but are phobias real or simply dramatic figments of our imaginations, asks Terence Pillay.
Listen to the podcast or read the full blog below:
For as long as I can remember, I have had a debilitating fear of domestic cats. Initially, I thought it might have been a phase because we lived next door to a couple that collected stray cats and at one point they had over twenty of them as pets, but the fear sustained. And even now as an adult, I cannot bear to be around these animals.
A lot of my friends laugh at this because if they have cats, and I visit, they have to be locked away before I can even go into the house. But phobias are exactly this – irrational fears.
According to Medical News Today, a phobia is a kind of anxiety disorder in which the individual has a relentless dread of a situation, living creature, place, or thing. Individuals with a phobia go to great lengths to avoid a perceived danger which is much greater in their minds than in real life.
If confronted with the source of their phobia, the person will suffer enormous distress, which can interfere with their normal function; it can sometimes lead to total panic. For some people, even thinking about their phobia is immensely distressing.
There are common phobias like arachnophobia, which is the fear of spiders, and agoraphobia, which is the fear of open spaces. Then there are the more unusual fears. For example, actor Billy Bob Thornton has a fear of antique furniture and velvet curtains, and a friend’s sister has a fear of talking.
So to get to the bottom of the matter, I chatted to lifestyle expert Galia Hillhouse and the discussion proved most interesting.
You can listen to the full interview above.
You can also email Terence Pillay at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @terencepillay1 and tweet him your thoughts.