PHOBIAS
Specific phobias are an overwhelming and irrational fear of
objects or situations that pose little real danger but cause anxiety and
avoidance behaviors. Unlike a brief moment of anxiety you might feel when you
give a speech or take a test, specific phobias are long-lasting, produce
intense physical and psychological reactions, and can affect your ability to
function normally at work, school, or social environments. Specific phobias are
among the most common anxiety disorders; not all phobias need treatment.
However, if a particular phobia affects your daily life, various therapies can
help you process and overcome your fears, often permanently.
A few years ago, I realized that I was afraid of clowns and
thought it was a phobia. Surprisingly, there exists a phobia for clowns that is
called Coulrophobia. Coulrophobia is the extreme, intense, irrational fear of
clowns. It can be either just seeing it in pictures and videos or their
presence. It is interesting how phobias were created or installed in our brains.
Most of the time, phobias are created due to an early traumatic experience.
When it comes to traumas, we don't need to remember what happened. Traumatic
events supposed such a heavy emotional charge that the brain repressed the
memory as a self-protective mechanism. According to the psychodynamic theory,
repression is one of those defense mechanisms, and it is strongly tied with
traumas and phobias.
I needed to differentiate between a phobia and a fear. I
recognized that I feared clowns, but it was not severe. For instance, I was not
afraid of watching videos or pictures of clowns. However, in the presence of a
clown, I would feel uncomfortable and anxious. While evaluating my fear, I
wanted to know where my fear of clowns originated. When I was very little, my
older brother had the book IT by Stephen King; I guess from reading that book,
I created a fear of clowns.
Cleveland Clinic Editors. (2021). Coulrophobia (fear of clowns): Causes and treatment. Cleveland Clinic., from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21835-coulrophobia-fear-of-clowns#:~:text=Coulrophobia%20(COOl%2Druh%2DFOE,fear%20of%20clowns%20is%20coulrophobic.
I really enjoyed reading your post regarding phobias. I also chose the same subject because I suffer from Trypophobia where I cannot look at anything with small gaping holes. IT was a perfect example of a phobia in that not only are clowns a phobia, but so are horror movies. My sister is also afraid of clowns and I am most certain that clowns as well as spiders are the two most common phobias. To your point, there is so much that our brain can suppress and those feelings and memories can come back out at the most inopportune times.
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