Aimee Howarth brings you an interview with The Yorker directors on the final day of the advent articles
Aimee Howarth speaks to YUSU's sabbatical officers about their Christmas Day routine for day 17 of the advent calendar
For the final time this term, Vicky Morris updates you on this weeks film news
50 years after the publication of 'James and the Giant Peach', the works of Roald Dahl continue to celebrate success.
A phobia stems from irrational fear of an object or situation which far outweighs the danger posed to the sufferer. For example, the strongest fear of spiders is experienced in Northern and Central Europe, an area of the world where there are no native deadly spiders; while many communities in Papua New Guinea and South America even include spiders in their traditional cuisines.
A recent study estimated that 13% of the population will develop a phobia during their lives
A phobia is therefore an unusual mutation of the basic ‘fight or flight’ instinct, as in many cases this experience of fear does not recognize any real threat.
A recent study estimated that 13% of the population will develop a phobia during their lives, a figure which is impossible to ignore. While no one is really sure what triggers a phobia, whether it be a traumatic childhood experience or even a hereditary characteristic, phobic experience has a dramatic and impeding influence on many people's lives.
The phobia itself has become our very own cultural cliché; everyone knows the girl who screams at the sight of a spider or the guy who’s afraid to fly. But our fear doesn’t stop at eight-legged creatures or small spaces; there are a lot of people out there who take irrational to a very new level.
Cheryl Cole recently admitted her aversion to cotton wool and a woman hit the news in 2006 for her bizarre fear of peas, which even forced her to avoid the frozen aisles of the supermarket in case she encountered the spherical vegetable. So from the unbelievable to the frankly unthinkable, here’s five of the most weird and wonderful phobias:
Defined merely as the irrational fear of veins and wrists. The experiences and effects of this phobia can range very widely depending on the individual. Just the thought of the underside of the wrist can make sufferers thrust their wrists away from them or become nauseous. Some even have trouble writing with their wrists exposed.
Despite the inevitable sniggers a fear of erections is likely to incite, this condition is surprisingly common. Occurring in both men and women, this phobia manifests itself as an almost morbid fear of seeing, having or even imagining an erect penis. Not only does it damage the sufferer’s ability to have physical relationships, but can take months or even years to overcome.
If you’ve ever encountered the problematic plughole blocked by tangled hair then there’s no doubt you’ve recognized the trauma of a loose hair. But sufferers of this particular phobia begin to identify loose hairs everywhere, becoming particularly disgusted and panicky at the sight of them.
Known strictly as a fear of feathers, the thought of being touched or tickled by feathers can cause sufferers of this phobia severe anxiety and even panic attacks. Some suggest that it can stem from being tickled as a child, however, it seems that, like buttons, it comes from individual experience and maybe an existing fear of birds.
The BBC’s televised programme ‘Panic Room’ forced people to confront their many phobias, one of which was a woman’s intense fear of buttons. The 47-year-old had been plagued by the phobia for almost forty years and was struck by nausea if she was ever confronted by a button scattered on the floor. What is most odd about this phobia is the small inanimate nature of the object and where such a fear could possibly have come from. One man claims his fear of buttons started with a visit to the dentist: ‘As he was tearing my mouth to bits all I can remember is crying and the four buttons on his white tunic.’
From body parts to buttonholes, it seems fear is everywhere, so if you laugh in the face of fear or quiver at the very mention of a button or wrist, just beware: after three years on the University of York campus, an unfortunate run in with a goose or duck could lead to serious life long ornithophobia - a fear of birds.
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