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Who are Freedon, Sarah, Macky Rae, and Reba? They are my little dogs!
If you are new to this blog, click here to read the introduction.


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Regarding any typos you may find in this blog:
Currently, I am using the computer at the library to write and publish this blog. In addition to the spellcheck on their computer, there is a spell checker on the blog-host's server - and the two programs are arguing with each other, and sometimes one or both corrects my typing, even when it doesn't need to be corrected.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Fear

Today blog subject is fear.
Or more specifically, phobias.
Fear is an emotion induced by a threat perceived by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately a change in behavior the flight or fight response. In humans and animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Thus fear is judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate.

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FDR and Fala
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
first inaugural address
March 4, 1933.

 photo cookiemonster_zpsac7521ac.jpg Some people enjoy being frightened, which is evident from the number of scary movies that have been made since the invention of cinematography.
Or for that matter, the number of scary books that have been published since the invention of literature.
Inspired by authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, scary movies have for more than a century featured scenes that scare the viewer.
But our topic is not rational fear, our topic is irrational fear.
The phobias

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Be Afraid.
Be Very Afraid.
Clinically, a phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. The word phobia comes from the Greek: φόβος (phóbos), meaning "aversion", "fear", or "morbid fear". It is common for specific phobias to be given a name based on a Greek word for the object of the fear, plus the suffix -phobia.

A number of terms with the suffix -phobia are used non-clinically. Such terms are primarily understood as negative attitudes towards certain categories of people or other things. Usually these kinds of "phobias" are described as fear, dislike, disapproval, prejudice, hatred, discrimination, or hostility towards the object of the "phobia". Often this attitude is based on prejudices and is a particular case of most xenophobias.



 photo scared_zpsa054cb70.jpgTop Ten Fears
74 % Glossophobia - fear of public speaking
A.K.A. stage fright
I have a friend who suffered from this.
He won some award some time back, which meant he was going to have to give an acceptance speech in front of a large audience.
He was not looking forward to this.
We decided to help him out by telling him about an age old method of treating stage fright by imagining the audience in there underwear, which (in theory) makes them less threatening. So we told him this, and he decided to try it.
It was worth a shot.
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An odd look
So he practiced his acceptance speech in the mirror, and when the day of the award he was (he thought) ready.
So when the time came, and he went up on stage, ready to give his acceptance speech (and the get the hell off the stage). He stood behind the podium, laid out his notes, looked out at the audience...
...and froze.
He just stood there, unmoving with an odd look on his face.
After several moments, when it became obvious that he was not oing to be able to give his speak, someone went over and gently escorted him of the stage
 photo sharon_stone_legs_zps11fbcd98.jpgWe asked him "What happened? You seemed ready, but then you froze up."
"I looked out at the audience" he told us "and I imagined everyone in their underwear, just like you said. But then I saw Michelle Rockwell in the second row."
"So?"
"Dude! She wasn't wearing any underwear."
68 % Necrophobia - fear of dying
Now please notice: Fear of dying is #2, where as fear of public speaking is #1. What this means is that at a funeral, most people would rather be in the coffin than to be giving the eulogy.
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Anthroarachnophobia
Fear of Spiderman
30.5 % Arachnophobia - fear of spiders
I suffer from this. I dislike spiders. I even dislike pictures of spiders. I know that they serve a purpose in the eco-system, but the are creepy looking (especially Black Widows). I won't mess with a spiders as long as they stay outside, but if those eight-legged freaks come into my house, they are toast!
Statistically, you have a better chance of being killed by a champagne cork than you do from a poinsonous spider.
But if you see a spider coming at you, riding on a flying champagne cork, your odds are not good.
11 % Nyctophobia - fear of darkness
Macky Rae (my younger dog) had this when he was a pup, the result of one of our Family Movie Nights. We had rented Old Yeller, which is a Disney movie, and I thought it would be safe.
You'd think, right?
Towards the end of the film, the dog is bit by a rabid wolf while defending the family and becomes infected, and the owner has to put him down.
He gets shot.
For you and me, this is what is commonly referred to as an "unhappy ending," a theatrical concept that dates back 3000 years to the days of Greek dramas. To a small dog not yet one year old, this is like Freddy Krueger suddenly showing up at the end of the film.
Macky Rae screamed.
He also had what we commonly refer to as "an accident" on the carpet.
 photo nightlight_zps4950cfcb.jpgFor weeks afterwards, Macky Rae had trouble sleeping. I had to buy him a nightlight because of his trauma induced Nyctophobia.

He also developed tetarophobia, a fear of monsters. Specifically, he developed
Krevatitetarophobia (fear of monsters under the bed), and
Ntoulapitetarophobia (fear of monsters in the closet)
Which meant at bedtime we would have to do a thorough search of the bedroom, to insure that the room was free of any monsters that might emerge with rifles and shoot him.
Chtypimanychtophobia- fear of things that go bump in the night
10 % Acrophobia - fear of heights
For me it is not so much a fear of height as it is a fear of falling. And its not the fall I fear, it's the sudden stop when I hit the ground.
Related fears:
Corpulophobia - fear of widths.
Bathophobia - fear of depth.
That should cover all dimensions.
7.9 % Sociophobia - fear of people or social situations
 photo daplane_zpsad8c2c90.jpg 6.5 % Aerophobia - fear of flying
I do not like to fly.
Which is odd when you know that I was in the Air Force.
But I don't like to fly, for a variety of reasons covered in a previous blog entry. The main reason is I don't want to die in an airline crash. Or worse yet, survive a crash only to live the rest of my life horribly mangled and disfigured. Statistically speaking, one is more likely to die in an auto accident, but I have never heard of an auto wreck that occurred because it fell 30,000 feet.
2.5 % Claustrophobia - fear of confined spaces
2.2 % Agoraphobia - fear of open spaces
2.0 % Brontophobia - fear of thunder and lightning
 

Critterphobia:
Zoophobia - fear of animals

Spiders and insects are the most popular
or rather: the most unpopular
but snakes, reptiles, rodents, and other creep critters are also commonly feared. 50% of phobiacs fear insects (entomophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), or birds (ornithophobia).
Birds?
Maybe Angry Birds.
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Macky Rae enjoys science fiction,
"1950s Era Black and White Giant
Insect Films," and Zombie Flicks.
Critters, especially giant insect and spiders (but other enlarge critters as well) have been used in cinema as the baddies in some scary movies, especially during the 1950s. Usually, these ginormous bugs (and other) are the result of radiation (or some other human caused eco-damage).
I watched these as a child - even the ones about spiders. They almost always had a scene where the hero and the heroine are running from a giant bug of some sort, and she trips and sprains her ankle.
Because she is running in high heels.
He turns, but she urges him to "save himself." But he runs back to her, picks her up and carries her - usually just as the bug is about to get her.
If it was me, I'd leave her there for the bug.
But if a ginormous bug was chasing me, and I sprained my ankle, I bet you I could hop very fast.
Especially if it was a ginormous spider
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Roar!!!
I is a Lion!
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Agrizoophobia - fear of wild animals (a branch of zoophobia)
Leophobia - Fear of Lions
Tigrophobia - Fear of Tigers
Arkoudaphobia - Fear of Bears
Leotigroarloudaphobia - Fear of Lions, Tigers, and Bears
(Oh, my)
Cynophobia - fear of dogs
Totophobia - and your little dog too.
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Oz never gave nothing to the Tinman,
That he didn't already have.
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Ailurophobia - fear of cats.
Melanoailurophobia - fear of black cats
Apiphobia - fear of bees

Batrachophobia - fear of amphibians

Entomophobia - fear of insects
Mottephobia - fear of butterflies and/or moths
Equinophobia, hippophobia - fear of horses

Ichthyophobia - fear of fish
Fish???
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Autodysomophobia
fear of one that has a vile odor
Mephitophobia - fear of skunks
Actually, nobody is really afraid of skunks, per se. You never hear about somebody getting mauled by wild skunks. What one is afraid of is getting stunked.

FREEDOM: Stunked?

SARAH: Is that even a word?
Yes, it is the past tense of stinked.


Some years back, I was invited to a friends birthday party...
I didn't have my car at the time (transmission issues) which was a good thing because when you celebrate Keith's birthday...
Yes, my redneck buddy keith
 photo beer2_zps86c17c58.jpg ...you are expected to drink. Which I did.

So I had to walk home. It wasn't that far, maybe a 30-40 minute walk, assuming you took the shortcut through the park down by the river (which I did).
Critters live down by the river.
I was walking down a dirt roadand as I came around the turn, I suddenly found myself face to face (so to speak) with a skunk.

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Fearless Farris
He was about 2-3 feet away from me, and his tail was up.
I was fealing the autodysomophobia.
So, in my alcohol muddled brain, I decided to reason with him.
Yes, with the Skunk.
"Look, dude" I told him. "I'm not going to mess with you. I'm just going home, and it looks like you are too. So there is no need to stink me. Lets just keep walking and go home."

The skunk (seemed) pondered my request for a moment, then dropped his tail and continued walking - brushing up against my pant leg as he went past me.

I stood there for a moment, stunned.
If that skunk didn't understand what I told him, he sure acted as if he did.

 photo scaredofmouse_zps2add06c3.jpg Musophobia - fear of mice and/or rats

Ophidiophobia - fear of snakes
This may be the result of Genesis, because the snake enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
According to Genesis, chapter 3 verses 14 & 15:
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Herpetophobia - fear of reptiles

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Leporiphobia - fear of rabbits.
Rabbits? Who is afraid of Rabbits?
Former president Jimmy Carter for one:
The Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, dubbed the "killer rabbit" attack by the media, involved a swamp rabbit that swam toward President Jimmy Carter's fishing boat on April 20, 1979. The incident caught press imagination after Carter's press secretary mentioned the event to a correspondent months later.
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The Rabbit of Caerbannog from
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Carter had gone on a solo fishing expedition in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. According to the former president, a rabbit being chased by hounds "jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle."
Upon returning to his office, Carter's staff did not believe his story, insisting that rabbits couldn't swim, or that they would never approach a person threateningly. The incident was captured on footage taken by a White House photographer.


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Heffalumpandwoozlephobia
As a pup, Macky Rae had Leporiphobia - a side effect from the "Old Yeller Incident." In the panic, he misunderstood what was said, and thought that the reason the dog was shot was because he had "rabbits" (instead of rabies). I tried to correct him, be he was in too much shock to listen.

Latter, he took a stffed bunny he got for Easter and buried it in the back yard.
Just to be safe.
Ranidaphobia - fear/dislike of frogs
Scoleciphobia - fear of worms
Selachophobia - fear of sharks


Potty Break?

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Paruresis
fear of urinating
in public places
Paruresis is a type of phobia in which the sufferer is unable to urinate in the (real or imaginary) presence of others, such as in a public restroom. The analogous condition that affects bowel movement is called parcopresis.
Some people have brief, isolated episodes of urinary difficulty in situations where other people are in close proximity. Paruresis, however, goes beyond simple shyness, embarrassment, fear of exposure, or fear of being judged for not being able to urinate. Other people may find that they are unable to urinate while in moving vehicles, or are fixated on the sounds of their urination in quiet restrooms or residential settings. In severe cases, a person with paruresis can urinate only when alone at home or through the process of catheterization.
Although most sufferers report that they developed the condition in their teenage years, it can strike at any age. Also, because of the differing levels of severity from one person to another, some people's first experience of the problem is when, for the first time, they "lock up" attempting to produce a sample for a drug test. Many women are unaware that they, too, are subject to paruresis; articles about women and urination emphasize other female urinary dysfunctions, such as urinary incontinence or frequent urination.
Some people cope by deliberately holding in their urine, by refraining from drinking liquids, or locating unoccupied or single-occupancy public bathrooms.
Some just try and hold it in.
       
 photo pottydance_zps5aa7852d.jpgI have a friend (female) who does not like to use public restrooms, not out of any fear of embarrassment. Her fear - actually not really a fear - her "issue" is that all to often the public restrooms are "disgustingly filthy." (Her words)
I always thought that women would keep their restrooms cleaner.
I was informed that this is not always the case.
But what interested me was how she could come and drink coffee and not have to visit the little girl's room at least once.
"Over the years" she informed me "I have developed awesome bladder control."


More Fears:

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Panphobia
fear of everything
Acrophobia - fear of heights
Corpulophobia - fear of widths.
Bathophobia - fear of depth.
That should cover all dimensions.
Agoraphobia - fear of open spaces.

Claustrophobia - fear of closed spaces.
Agroclaustrophobia - fear of open AND closed spaces
Having both agrora- and claustrophobia would be a real bummer
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns.


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Coulrophobia
Fear of clowns
Some people do not like clowns, and not just evil clowns
but notorious clown figures in literature (Pennywise in It) and real life (John Wayne Gacy) do not help matters.
According to a psychology professor at California State University, Northridge, young children are "very reactive to a familiar body type with an unfamiliar face".

Clowns are often disliked by children. A study found that the children often did not like clown décor in the hospital or physicians' office settings. Some found the clown images to be quite frightening and unknowable. Researchers who have studied the phobia believe there is some correlation to the uncanny valley effect.


 photo hobodogs_zpsd562c30a.jpgHomophobia - fear of homosexuals
Hobophobia - fear of Tramps
Hispanophobia - fear of Mexicans
Hispanochibophobia - fear of Mexican food

Dentophobia - fear of dentists and dental procedures

Nosocomephobia - fear of hospitals
25% fear the dentist as oposes to 15% who fear hospitals
Nosophobia - fear of contracting a disease
Venereanosophobia - fear of contracting an STD
Trypanophobia - Fear of injection or medical needles

Stygiophobia - fear of Hell
Uranophobia - fear of heaven
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Demonophobia - fear of demons
Angelophobia - fear of Angels
Ecclesiophobia - fear of churches

Diabolophobia - fear of Satan
Theophobia - fear of God
Astraphobia - fear that God is going to smite you with a bolt of lightning.
This fear can be cured by stopping whatever it is you are doing that you believe God is going to smite you for.
Atheophobia - fear of atheists
Zilotiphobia - fear of fanatical Christians.
Evangeliophobia - fear of born again Christians.
Evangelioportaphobia - fear of born again Christians at you door.
Not restricted to just Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons



Triskaidekaphobia - fear of the number 13
Friggatriskaidekaphobia - fear of Friday the 13th
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Kruegerphobia
Like all cheesy horrow flicks, this blog entry will have a sequal
To be continued.

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