Phobias Are Very Real and More Than Half of Us Suffer From a Serious Phobia

My wife and I live in a four-story downtown condo building and when the weather is nice we like to spend time on the roof, which is equipped with couches, chairs and a gas BBQ grill. Recently, we were up there with some friends and one one of my friends got a little too close to me near the rail and I backed away. He asked why I backed away and I told him I had a fear of people being too close to me in high places where plunging to the ground was a real possibility. He was surprised and said that kind of fear is all in your head. The fear of high places is known as acrophobia and yes, I am afraid of high places that are not enclosed. I took exception to the comment about it all being in my head, which it may be, but the fact remains, phobias are real and can have a tremendous impact on your life.

A new study has revealed that more than half of us suffer from some kind of serious phobia, with the fear of heights being number one. A fear of the dentist is number two followed by a fear of flying and a fear of spiders in that order. The above photo alone probably made you cringe.

More than 25% of people with phobias do not want to admit it for fear of being judged and maybe even ridiculed, which is so not cool. Phobias have been known to affect people's relationships, love life and some reported actually losing a job because of their phobia, which makes sense if you are an exterminator and are deathly afraid of bugs.

I also have a fear of people who say they fear nothing. All of us are afraid of something, but some just won't admit it. I don't know if my fear is actually acrophobia because its not the height that freaks me out, its the proximity of anyone standing near me that will actually cause me to tell people out loud to stay at least 10 feet away from me. There, I said it...what are you afraid of?

[The Sun]