Phobias

I don't want to study and I have nothing to do online. That brings me here.

Today we shall talk about phobias.

Phobias are irrational fears of specific things or situations which cause intense anxiety. Symptoms are similiar to a panic attack. It becomes a cause of concern when these fears lead to patients avoiding those things and situations up to an extent which interferes with their daily lives.

Besides the more common phobias like haemophobia, agarophobia (fear of being in a situation that might trigger a panic attack), social phobia, fear of public speaking etc, there are the more amusing phobias which squeamish people are particularly susceptible to. :P

I have lizardophobia.
Even typing that L-word makes me squeamish. Ugh.
It manifests as symptoms akin to a panic attack: racing heart, chest pain, shortness of breath, sense of unreality, numbness/tingling, lightheadedness/ dizziness, sweating, choking, trembling, fear of being out of control and fear of dying. Alright, my symptoms are not so bad. I generally want to run away or wave a wand to make 'L' disappear.
Lizardophobia leads to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for me. I develop persistent and recurrent thoughts which are unwelcome and upsetting about 'L'(s). To allay my anxiety caused by these obsessive thoughts, I have to do everything I can to rid my space of the 'L'. These include 'L'-hunts (which are really exhausting, exasperating and traumatising), and an 'L'-repellant produced by Ridsect. I am extremely thankful to my dear housemate who has always come to my rescue during 'L'-hunts, no matter what time of the day or night. (What am I going to do without you dear, I cannot begin to imagine)

In return, I try to be there for her when she screams when a bug so much as flies into her room. Or cockcroaches. That is when I feel brave. hahaha. Bugs don't scare me, I just squash them. But most of the time I set them free at the balcony, with the only exception of cockroaches.

I have a friend who has a fear of chickens. It's pretty serious.
And another who's afraid of fish.
Oh... and another who is deathly afraid of butterflies, so I heard.