What are Phobias?
Have you wondered what a phobia is, and how different is it from just being afraid? A phobia is an irrational and persistent fear of an event, an object or even a situation. Facing a phobia can trigger different symptoms including physical ones that can be very harmful. Phobias tend not to always have a rational explanation.
The word phobia comes from the Greek word phobos which means to fear or have a morbid fear of. It is not always evident when someone suffers from a phobia. This is mostly because people who suffer from phobias go to great lengths to avoid the situation, which would otherwise provide them with an opportunity to confront and overcome the phobia. For example, if someone is afraid of water, they will make sure to go great lengths to avoid interaction with water. Their ability to avoid the cause of phobia is so great that often you might not even realize that the person has a phobia.
Statistics on phobias are not very authentic as most go unreported. Phobias might often get disguised as other illnesses or quirks. On the surface phobias might seem funny even quirky or eccentric but often phobias can severely limit life. For people who suffer from a phobia for flying or traveling in vehicles, life can be very difficult. It can even get difficult for families of individuals who suffer from such phobias. Research has also shown that women are twice as likely to suffer from different phobias as men and often remain undiagnosed.