Are you terrified of spiders? Do enclosed spaces send chills down your spine? Does the thought of leaving your house fill your soul with dread?
You’re not alone. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, about 19 million Americans suffer from one or more phobias — an anxiety disorder that causes uncontrollable, irrational, lasting fears for a specific object, situation or activity — with strong mental, physical and emotional reactions ranging from compulsive avoidance to severe panic attacks.
A study in 2014 suggested that one in ten Americans may suffer from severe weather phobia. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in 2018 that he had a jewelry phobia (kosmemophobia), which he turned into a business opportunity by partnering with QALO, a company that sells silicon rings.
This is not to say that every fear is irrational. A fear of and respect for heights, for example, or snakes, is probably a good idea, evolutionarily speaking. But when the very thought of heights or seeing a snake in a movie triggers an increase in your heart rate, sweating, shaking, nausea, tightness in the chest, a desperate need to flee or panic attacks, when the fear disrupts your life, you may have a phobia.
And if you’re in Florida, your phobia might cause you problems if you get a scratch.
Lighting site e-conolight took a look at what people in different states were Googling about phobias over the past 12 months, and Florida’s was biological.
Top searched phobia in Florida? Blood.
Floridians have been searching for information about hemophobia, the study showed, which is the fear of blood. (So were people in Maryland.)
Hemophobia is a fairly common phobia, affecting about 3-4% of the general population according to a 2014 study. While it may seem like it’s only a problem at Halloween it can cause real problems that might endanger your life.
“This phobia can have a serious impact on a person, as they may avoid doctor’s visits or medical care for fear of seeing blood.,” said MedicalNewsToday.com.
And unlike most other phobias, hemophobia can cause you to faint. Up to 80% of people with hemophobia experience a sudden blood pressure drop at the sight of their own blood or the blood of others, according to a 2018 study, abruptly reducing the amount of blood to the brain and causing unconsciousness.
What is emetophobia?And why is it getting so much attention on TikTok?
What is the most commonly searched-for phobia in the U.S.?
Ten different states all had claustrophobia as their number one searched-for phobia. Info about the fear of confined spaces was popular in Alabama, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey and New York.
Obesophobia, the fear of gaining weight or being fat, was the most-searched phobia in Massachusetts, Oregon, and Rhode Island, even though those states have some of the least obese populations in the U.S.
Other phobias with two states each included:
- Agoraphobia (fear of leaving a safe space): Alaska and Montana, two of the states with the most wide-open areas of land.
- Entomophobia (fear of insects): Arizona and Wisconsin.
- Gynophobia (fear of women): Pennsylvania, South Carolina.
- Megalophobia (fear of large objects): Oklahoma and Tennessee.
- Philophobia (fear of love): Kentucky and Texas.
- Thanatophobia (fear of dying): Louisiana and Maine.
- Trypophobia (fear of holes): New Mexico and Wyoming.
Nebraska has a fear of clowns (coulrophobia), apparently. Vermont’s nyctophobia (fear of the dark or night) is a fairly common one, especially among young people. Necrophobia, the fear of dead bodies, is a top search in Minnesota and another big problem in the Halloween season. For people of Connecticut, dentist visits may be their worst nightmare (dentophobia). And the most-searched phobia in Utah is hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, the fear of long words, which is a particularly cruel name to use for it.
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What causes phobias?
Good question. Experts are still studying the source of phobias and how to treat them. According to the Mayo Clinic, the most common causes seem to be:
- Traumatic experiences: Getting terrified by a spider once, for example, might be enough to give you a lifelong terror of them. Even hearing about a bad experience someone else had might do it.
- Genetics or learned behavior: “There may be a link between your specific phobia and the phobia or anxiety of your parents,” the Mayo Clinic said, either from a genetic cause or because parents who constantly avoid or warn about things they are phobic about might pass on those fears to their children.
- Brain function and structure: Phobias can trigger certain parts of the brain for sufferers when people without the phobia are unaffected. “Also, a person with a specific phobia can have a different brain structure than a person without that specific phobia,” the Mayo Clinic said.
Can phobias be treated?
Phobias with mild effects, or for things or situations you rarely encounter, can be left alone as something to deal with, experts say.
But when they cause problems with work, school or social interactions, if they trigger depression, if they lead to misuse of drugs or alcohol for the stress, or if there is a risk of suicide, treatment through exposure therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you desensitize yourself and learn how to cope.
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