Monday, September 17, 2012
Astrophobia, a not common phobia.
Have you ever been afraid of something that's not common? Have you ever been afraid of something that you feel you should not be afraid of?
You may have a phobia and you don't know it. According to Oxford dictionary, a phobia is "an extreme or irrational fear of or a version to something". Some people feel fear of spiders (arachnophobia), others feel fear of situations in which scape is difficult (agoraphobia) and others feel fear of dogs (cynophobia).
In my life, I've heard about phobias that are pretty extrange, but this one really called my attention.
Astrophobia is the fear of stars, planets and space. It can be connected with to fears of dark, being alone or being away from home. People with astrophobia can have a persistent and overwhelming fear of the situation, dizziness, rapid heartbeat shaking, palpitations, difficulty thinking about anything than the fear, and persistent worrying about upcoming events that involve planets or stars.
There are lots of treatments for people with astrophobia such as behavior therapy, anti-anxiety medication, psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, relaxation techniques, and medication to treat anxiety.
I was pretty amazed when I realized that astrophobia actually exists. I met someone that suffers from this. I have a friend that feels so scared every time he sees images of planets or stars. First, he starts shaking, and then he can't control their actions. I talked to him some time ago about this. I asked him how does he feel when he sees a planet in a photograph. His answer was so simple: "I feel the same as you when you see a spider". He was right, I'm afraid of spiders and I can't control my feelings when I see one. My hands start to sweat and my heartbeats are faster.
What about you? Do you have a phobia that's not common?
Astrophobia
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Oh gosh! I didn't know about this phobia, it's so weird, but as your friend told you: it's the same feeling when you see a spider.
ReplyDeleteIn my case,I have phobia to mice, for some people it is stupid, but hey! we all are special :P , even in this sense.
Some people say that phobias are related with some traumatic experience, but I'm not sure if this is the case.
Same here; I did not know about this phobia.
ReplyDeleteI see it as connected with the fear some people have when they are close to the ocean. I know this ma'am who whenever she sees the ocean she covers her face and emits a groan(she once yelled out) or even cries out. Proximity to things which seem immense and gigantic is what probably has to be blamed when trying to figure out a reason why of this phenomenon.
But I think treatments are a bit useless because they consist on getting the affected person used to company and support by somebody else. Sooner or later that person is going to face the source of the phobia by themselves and the subsequent effect is probably going to reach out.
I did not have any idea this kind of phobia existed, but i do think it is a quite interesting topic to know more about; because this is something we usually take for granted. Although, after reading this piece of information, I questioned myself how someone can suffer this type of phobia. Is it just because of seeing a picture of any planet, or perhaps for watching a science-fiction movie related to galaxies? I believe this is very strange, of course, but what I really think is that the reason why people suffer this problem is mostly because they are afraid of aliens or they fear of what is unknown for most of us- ordinary people- and the consequences of discovering new species outside our own planet.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, those treatments presented by my classmate are the same for any kind of phobia, so it would be very complicated to control a horrible fear of something we do not even know yet.
I thought that the strangest phobia I have ever heard was the tripophobia (fear of holes), but this is kind of amazing! Can a photograph cause those sensations? It is incredible that something that distant can provoke these alterations; I guess that those classes when students learn about the Universe are a torture for these people! I certainly had no idea about astrophobia and the effects that a phobia cause on the human body and mind mainly because I do not suffer any of them and I had never thought about them either, I just feel the regular repulsion that spiders provoke, but I do not get mad when I see one. The human mind is incredible!
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