Freaky Phobias
Are you afraid of germs? Do small spaces make you nervous? Do spiders make your skin crawl? Are heights your greatest fear? Well, you may have a phobia. There are so many phobias out there and some are much more obscure than others, but many are also shared between people.
A phobia is defined as an extreme or irrational fear of something, and it is very likely that everyone has a phobia of their own. Sometimes these fears can arise from some kind of traumatic event, but many phobias can also be completely unexplained.
“I have a phobia called trypophobia,” says seventh grader Phoebe Ulbrick. “It’s the fear of small holes that are close together.” Ulbrick says she is not really sure what about small holes freaks her out, but she has a very strong reaction to them. “It sends shivers down my back and I just can’t look at it. It makes me want to throw up,” says Ulbrick, describing how she feels when she sees a collection of holes.
Many may have never even heard of trypophobia, but more people have this specific phobia of holes than one may think. Trypophobia is actually a very common phobia that many people experience. Sophomore Paige Helt says she also has trypophobia. “Whenever I see holes, a plethora of holes, on an object or especially on skin I flip out. I can’t do it,” says Helt. Helt, like Ulbrick, also has very strong reactions to seeing clusters of holes. “It makes me feel really nauseous,” says Helt. “There’s a lotus pod in Mrs. Porter’s class and I saw it and I thought I was going to throw up.”
Probably more well known than trypophobia is the very common fear of spiders, or arachnophobia. Not many people enjoy the company of these eight-legged creatures, and sixth grader Truman Sizemore definitely does not.“I really really hate spiders. I kind of established this fear when a spider dropped down my shirt in third grade,” says Sizemore, and unfortunately this was not his only bad experience with spiders. “So a couple years ago I went to Japan, and I went to Universal Studios. There was a Harry Potter ride and we went through all the movies and the ride malfunctioned in the spider den for ten minutes,” says Sizemore.
Like Sizemore, eighth grader Cooper Bullock also had a somewhat traumatic experience with a spider that resulted in a phobia. “I don’t like spiders. I think it was last year, but I was getting ready to fall asleep and I was in my bed and I felt a tingling on my arm. I thought it was probably just an itch, so I ignored it. But then I felt it again and it was on my shoulder and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal.’ Then it was on my face and I turned the light on and saw it was a gigantic spider. I don’t like spiders anymore.”
Junior Shelby Esmond says she thinks her fear of enclosed spaces, or claustrophobia, may originate from her size in comparison to other people. “I’ve always just gotten claustrophobic just being a smaller person,” Says Esmond. “It’s hard to be surrounded by a ton of people and not really be able to see where you’re going.”
Not every fear is specifically defined as a phobia of something. Oftentimes an unpleasant event can cause a fear of something very specific. “I don’t like bugs, but I’m okay with those play-bugs like small spiders.” Says freshman Ethan Tangpornsin, “But when there’s Halloween decorations, like the ones that fall down on you as pranks, they really creep me out.”
Tangpornsin says that his fear of fake Halloween spiders came from a scare he had as a kid. “It was many years ago, I can’t remember, but there was this house that I went [to] and I didn’t realize it, but right next to me was a pile of spiders in the candy bowl. I grabbed out of [the bowl] and I didn’t realize it until I looked. I was obviously shocked and I really didn’t like [fake spiders] afterward,” says Tangpornsin.
It is likely that everyone has some sort of phobia or irrational fear that freaks them out. Whether your fear is very broad or extremely specific, there is always something that sends chills up your spine.
