Tom wrote to ask about the reality of a site called
The Phobia Clinic. At first glance, the site definitely looks like it represents a real business that's selling a program to help people overcome their fears. The strangeness comes when you
dig into some of the fears that they claim they can cure, and you have to wonder... do such fears or anxieties really exist? For example, they can cure you of
Arachibutyrophobia (that's a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth),
Ballistophobia (a fear of bullets... but why would anyone want to overcome their fear of bullets? Isn't that a good thing to be afraid of?),
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words... the name of the anxiety alone probably sends sufferers into convulsions), and the list goes on and on. Despite all the weird anxieties, I think that the Phobia Clinic is real enough, in the sense that they'll take your money and offer some kind of 'cure.' But I'm skeptical about whether their cure actually works.
Comments
god bless,
lucy
ugh, i can't stand it, when i was a little bit younger i would always have my fingers in my mouth because i hated my hands being dry, it gives me the chills and i get sick! and i thought i was alone about the whole people looking at my neck thing, like i never wear my hair up because i can't stand people looking at the back of my neck, it kills me!
- Emma
But i cant stand the sound of silverwear scraping against a plate! Ewwwww my skin crawls just thinking about it }=P
And i hate the feeling on my nails scraping against anything dry and hard! its just like...the vibrating or something...
i also dont like it when i see people or find myself biting nails....or when i see people chewing on their hair...gives me chills
1. I cant have my belly button touched by anyone not even myself.
2. I cant touch Newspaper. (it is so oily or just weird feeling)
3. I CAN NOT scratch anyones back or any other part of their body. I am assuming it started when I was little and my dad told me to scratch his back all the time and I did but his skin would peel off into my finger nails. It makes me gag.... I have vomited over scratching my husbands back. (what is this phobia called?)
First time I experienced it was in school, had to write something on one of those smart boards - everyone else just used their finger, so i was going to - then just as I started writing, the skin on my finger pulled back, and just creeped me out, started to panic a little - I had to use the pen thing it comes with. Ever since, I've had to use either the pen, or something else quite hard - without damaging the board, of course. Sometimes i can bare to use my knuckle, as it's already quite taught, and won't stick and peel.
And it just started to develop, I feel sick standing bare foot on lino flooring, peeling back as I slide my foot across - sometimes even lifting it up again, if my foot sticks just a little bit, the skin stretches and I feel physically sick.
There doesn't seem to be any official name for it, or at least i can't find one. Not sure how else to describe it.
I have a phobia of rubbing my hands together & I cant stand when other people do it. Jesse, we have alot it common,