Phobias

Kiersten Trice, Senior Editor

Phobias are inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or a situation. According to Mayo Clinic, most phobias are developed as a result of having a negative experience or panic attacks to a specific object or situation. There is a possible link between your own specific phobia and the phobia or anxiety of your parents, this can be due to genetics or learned behavior.

The seven most common phobias among teens according to Pradigm Treatment Center; agoraphobia the fear of crowds, claustrophobia the intense fear of being confined, nomophobia the fear of not having your phone. Social phobia social anxiety so intense you can’t go out in public, medical teen phobias the fear of potentially having an illness based off their systems or just the fear of doctors. Cynophobia the fear of dogs, and aerophobia the fear of flying.

Student Arin Charles a senior at Frank H. Peterson after being asked about what he’s afraid he stated, “high places, losing my brother, failure on a bigger level, and thunder.” When asked why he was afraid of these things he said, “looking down from a high place makes me feel like I’ll fall over and it gives me this uncomfortable feeling, my brother is the only family member that I can be myself my around and he’s the most relatable, I’m scared of being a failure because it feels like there’s a bar set that I have to reach, and if I don’t reach it everyone will be disappointed and I’ll have to live with that forever, and thunder is loud and makes my house shake if it’s really loud and it’s freaky.” While asking what other students were afraid of some of the more common fears were needles, clowns, and being alone, these students did not wish to reveal why they are afraid of these things.