What Your Phobia Spells:

A phobia is an aggrandizement of a particular fear. Many psychoanalysts believe that there are very few people that actually do not have some form of phobia. Common phobias such as fear of bridges can be caused by anxieties of loss or death. Fear of cats and dogs can be brought on by offending someone-fear of retribution by domesticated animals are imagined-in place of those actually offended. Fear of snakes can be effected by a woman who has been raped or is fearful of, or by a man being terror stricken that he is a homosexual. Fear of storms are identified with lack of protection, domestic insecurity. The following list of phobias, though perhaps not as common, are definitely encountered.

Acrophobia: (Fear Of High Places)

Repressed feelings of taking your own life have resulted in this particular form of phobia.

Aerophobia: (Fear Of Flying)

What happens if the pilot does not know what to do in an emergency? What happens if the emergency door doesn’t open? Strangely, it is not the fear of being in the air that affects you, it is actually your fear of not being in command which leaves you feeling powerless.

Agoraphobia:(Fear Of Going Outdoors)

Because all of your life you have been taught to be successful, somehow you feel the reverse. The precautionary measure that you take by not mingling outside, assures you of not losing, for the time being anyway.

Arachnophobia: (Fear Of Spiders)

Overwhelmingly affecting women, psychoanalysts interpret the long legs as mother, as a castrating and preying demon. Others say the spider is seen as possessing bisexual genitalia, therefore casting doubt concerning one’s sexual identity.

Claustrophobia: (Fear Of Enclosed Places)

Therapists believe that at a young age, the claustrophobic was forced to stay either in his room or indoors, rendering him helpless, for which he still has not recovered.

Coitophobia: (Fear Of Sexual Intercourse)

Recent studies have concluded that many children, male and female alike, have manifested a fear of the opposite sex, being caused by having been sexually abused as a child, and more often than not from a close family member. A feeling of helplessness became associated in the child’s character, which he unfortunately associates with sexual relations.

Gasmophobia: (Fear Of Marriage)

The two basic causes underlying this fear is that while growing up your own parents were constantly battling with each other, whether physically or emotionally and the fact that you are tied down to one partner for the rest of your life. Although an immature approach, many analysts suggest that fear itself has its roots in immaturity.

Graphophobia: (Fear Of Writing)

You fear that by signing on the dotted line you may be held accountable. This being caused as a young child (in school) by someone mocking what you had written, and that turned into the phobia.

Harpaxophobia: (Fear Of Robbers)

It is understandable that in this day and age, when the crime rate has soared, that one is concerned. Nevertheless, when this turns into a phobia, this is more than just mere concern. This is brought about by a general fear of being assaulted, because your personality does not allow any infringement on your being whatsoever.

Homophobia: (Fear Of Homosexuals)

Men who have anxieties concerning latent homosexual tendencies, suffer from this phobia, sometimes even acting violently against them, to suppress admitting the truth.

Hydrophobia: (Fear Of Water)

Because at some point in your life you were in some body of water, when you felt helpless, perhaps near death, which resulted in this fear.

Necrophobia: (Fear Of Death)

This has been brought about by someone who was very dear to you and when that person died, you actually felt abandoned by that person, and to this day you suffer because of this.

Oneirophobia: (Fear Of Dreams)

In order to dream you lose a certain degree of consciousness, which is something that you are not prepared to do. Therefore you are awake when you should be sleeping, and because you are so fatigued, you are fit to be tied. Then out of sheer exhaustion, you fall into a deep sleep, albeit short and see horror movies, which makes your phobia even worse, because you know that by falling asleep, you’ll have these horrible dreams.

Osphresiophobia: (Fear Of Body Odors)

This sufferer, having been religiously convinced that the body is full of vice, hence, is dirty, associates sin with smell and fears he himself as the sinner.

Pyrophobia: (Fear Of Fire)

Either you or someone in your memory was engulfed in flames and the emotional scars remain.