[NT] Irrational fears of the rationale.

[Dizalddin]

HA!

 

[Redbone]

Cut it out with those goddamn arachnids!

I'm going to have nightmares for weeks now!

 

[Red Herring]

 

[guesswho]

Cut it out with those goddamn arachnids!

I'm going to have nightmares for weeks now!

Come on...I only posted cute spiders. Imagine those were puppies instead

 

[rav3n]

The title of this thread answers itself. Rationale =/= rational.

 

[Redbone]

Gawd! Y'all are evil! You're supposed to post about your irrational fears...not stoke the fears of others!

Now someone is going to have to come and sleep with me because I'm scared!

 

[guesswho]

 

[Redbone]

^There that's better...

Or did you put that pic up because you have an irrational fear of cute puppies?

 

[Dizalddin]

Now someone is going to have to come and sleep with me because I'm scared!

<.< >.>

 

[KilgoreTrout]

I think fear of spiders, heights, etc... are pretty rational. Perhaps some biological hardwiring sending messages to stay away from things that would hurt/maim/kill us since we lack natural defenses.

I am afraid of one thing that I find to be irrational: MOTHS! I think it is the erratic beating of the wings coupled with how insane they are around light...literally sends me into a state of sheer panic.

 

[guesswho]

fear of spiders= arachnophobia
phobia= irrational fear

 

[Amethyst]

New found irrational fear: relationships? Or maybe the fact that I don't want to be in one, but would like to 'get around' but am too scared because I'm too 'innocent' for that and probably will have no clue what I'm doing.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

fear of spiders= arachnophobia
phobia= irrational fear

I know the defintion of the Greek root. I was just stating my observation and opinion that the most common "phobias" do not seem, to me, to be purposeless and unfounded fears rather misinterpreted survival instincts.

 

[guesswho]

More like overactive survival instincts.

 

[Red Herring]

*gets on pedantic soapbox*

1. Ahem, Greek, not Latin.

*get's off pedantic soapbox*

2. You are right about some fears representing an evolutionary advantage (see predator, run from predator, etc.). But "phobias" as a category include fears such:

* Ablutophobia – fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning.
* Acrophobia, Altophobia – fear of heights.
* Agoraphobia, Agoraphobia Without History of Panic Disorder – fear of places or events where escape is impossible or when help is unavailable.
* Agraphobia – fear of sexual abuse.
* Aichmophobia – fear of sharp or pointed objects (such as a needle or knife).
* Algophobia – fear of pain.
* Agyrophobia – fear of crossing roads.
* Aibohphobia - fear of palindromes. Recognized as a palindromic version of the word "phobia."
* Androphobia – fear of men.
* Anemomenophobia - fear of windmills.
* Anthropophobia – fear of people or being in a company, a form of social phobia.
* Anthophobia – fear of flowers.
* Aquaphobia – fear of water. Distinct from Hydrophobia, a scientific property that makes chemicals averse to interaction with water, as well as an archaic name for rabies.
* Arachnophobia- fear of spiders.
* Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia, Keraunophobia – fear of thunder, lightning and storms; especially common in young children.
* Atychiphobia, fear of failure
* Aviophobia, Aviatophobia – fear of flying.

...and that's just the letter A! This list doesn't distinguish between fear of pain (reasonable) and fear of flowers (not so much). One of my favorites: Fragariaphobia - fear of strawberries

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobias_list

So maybe we should make a distinction on two levels: A- biologically reasonable fear B- biologically unresaonable fear; 1- healthy level of fear (necessarx for self conservation) 2- unhealthy level of fear (destructive)
So fragariaphobia would be a fear of the subcategory B2 if we assume that any fear of strawberries is unhealthy (unless you are allergic). A normal level of fear of pitbulls on the other hand would be a fear of the subcategory A1.

 

[Nicodemus]

I have an uncertain fear or Haight, though that may be a rational one.

 

[Red Herring]

I have an uncertain fear or Haight, though that may be a rational one.

 

[guesswho]

I don't understand how someone would be afraid of open spaces, actually I thought that that's what agoraphobia meant, since the Agora was a market. They're afraid of not being able to escape from an open space lol.
I guess most phobias have a survival thing in them, I don't know if it's an instinct or a collective unconscious thing,the things that are feared are not random, nobody's afraid of rabbits noo, because they're not a threat, and we have never perceived them as a threat throughout time.
Spiders are not a thread now , but they kind of were 1500 years ago. Are these memories or just instincts ..or both

 

[Thalassa]

It's not funny to have agoraphobia. It means fear of exposure, like having no place to hide. When you think of it that way, it makes more sense. It happens a lot to people with severe social anxiety and/or panic disorder.

I think phobias are just magnified rational fears. Like I have a phobia of car accidents...and a lot of people DO die in car accidents. It's just that I blow it out of proportion. Other people do this with heights, fire, etc.

 

[guesswho]

I also fear car accidents, but I didn't fear them till I was returning from the seaside with this psycho ESTP guy and he started driving GTA style, we almost crashed like 2 times at about 100mph it's more like a post traumatic thing for me, but i got over it.