Phobia is an anxiety disorder; an excessive and irrational fear of something unlikely to cause any harm to the person suffering from it. The origin of the word phobia goes back to the Greek word “Phobos” meaning horror. Phobia differs from normal non-clinical fears, as it causes exaggerated symptoms that prevent the person from leading a normal life at work, home, or study.
There are numerous and various types of phobias, encompassing almost everything in life. Nature phobia is one of the most popular types of phobia; it is the anxiety and fear of different landscapes around us; such as water, trees, lightning, fire, hights, etc.
Aquaphobia
This type of phobia is very common among people; it seems like everyone has a degree of aquaphobia, and most can overcome it or control it to a certain extent. However, aquaphobia patients live with constant fear and anxiety, preventing them from getting near water, no matter where that water comes from; this includes being anywhere near a river, ocean, bathtub, or even a little amount of water in a bowl. The amount of water does not cause this phobia, water itself does! Aquaphobia is different than rabies or hydrophobia, which is the advanced stage of rabies that leads to not drinking water at all.
Pyrophobia
Many people suffer from pyrophobia or the fear of fire, which stems from old and primary fears of the human soul. Although it makes sense for a person to be afraid of a fire in his house or on one of his properties, a pyrophobia patient fears even little flames that can be controlled and do not cause any harm at all, such as the flame of a match.
The reason for pyrophobia is often a bad memory; such as being burnt, getting locked up inside a burning place, or losing someone dear who was a victim of a fire. A pyrophobia patient develops symptoms such as dizziness, sweatiness, dryness of the mouth, tightness of the chest, or nausea when getting close to a fire. Children could also have pyrophobia; they would scream, freeze, or stick to their parents when they see any kind of flame or fire.
Acrophobia
Acrophobia includes numerous branches and contains all kinds of situations where the patient is off the ground, from the fear of flying, being on a high floor of a building, to the fear of climbing up some stairs, which occurs in advanced cases of the illness. Some health conditions, such as vertigo, come with acrophobia; the patient always gets vertigo in these situations, and it is also connected to other types of phobias, such as bathmophobia and, of course, aerophobia.
Patients experience several physical symptoms similar to those experienced with other phobias, such as sweating and shaking, in addition to emotional symptoms, such as panic attacks, where the patient frantically looks for something to hang on to for balance, lowering his/her body to the ground, or crawling.
Patients of any type of phobia should seek medical assistance; it is a treatable disease, whether by medication or through one of the psychological programs that the psychiatrist recommends. Those around the patient should advise him/her to consult a psychiatrist for assistance.
References
healthline.com/pyrophobia
healthline.com/aquaphobia
verywellmind.com/acrophobia
verywellmind.com/fear-of-fire
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