Irrational Fears and Phobias
Topic: Irrational Fears and Phobias Many of us are afflicted with irrational fears or phobias. The things we are afraid of, and the way we react when exposed to those things, vary wildly from person to person. Today we’re going to talk about some common fears, and I will be sharing my own list of phobias and my rational-but-irrational justification for them. You will all be invited to share your own list of phobias, and we can all talk about where these fears come from and how we deal with them. One of the most common and well-known phobias is arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. It makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, as our ancestors did not have the medical technology to deal with a spider bite, making a fear of spiders rational. While the vast majority of spider species are harmless to humans, and we know what the dangerous ones look like and where they live, a lot of people are still terrified of spiders. Some people are able to overcome this fear by educating them