Page 155 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

136 Mysteries of the Mind

a situation, a condition, or a thing, they may el for their work, and many refuse to fly
experience sweating, increased heart rate, diffi- regardless of the consequences to their liveli-
culty in breathing, and an overwhelming desire hood. The “First Lady of Soul,” singer Aretha
to run away. Sometimes they even fear that Franklin, refuses to fly, even if it means can-
they are in imminent danger of dying. celing a concert date. Academy Award-win-
ning screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton refuses
Phobias are the most common of anxiety
to commit to any appearance that requires
disorders, and they affect men and women of
him to board an airplane. Although science
all ages, income levels, and ethnic groups. A
fiction author Ray Bradbury has taken his
phobia may develop from an unpleasant child-
readers to outer space on numerous occasions,
hood memory. For example, an individual may
he avoids airplanes. Actors Tony Curtis,
feel uneasy around cats because of being bit-
Whoopi Goldberg, and Cher are also avio-
ten or scratched as an infant. If over the years
phobes. Prescription tranquilizers and other
such an uneasiness develops into an unreason-
medications have proven effective for most
ing fear of cats that causes the person to
individuals who suffer from aviophobia.
scream, run, or faint at the very presence of a
cat, that person has ailurophobia (from the Agoraphobia is considered the most dis-
Greek words ailuro for cat, phobia for fear). abling of all the phobias. Treatment is difficult
Those individuals who have this phobia may because those who suffer from this phobia fear
take some comfort in knowing that a fear of being someplace outside of their home where
cats also troubled such military conquerors as they will not be able to escape if they should
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and experience a panic attack—and that can be
Napoleon Bonaparte. anywhere from a supermarket, the office, or a
crowded street. Usually defined as a fear of
Psychologists have categorized as many as open spaces and unfamiliar places, the phobia
500 phobias, and according to the estimates of takes its name from agora, the Greek word for
some health professionals, as many as 50 mil- marketplace, and literally translates as “fear of
lion individuals in the United States suffer the marketplace.” Some people develop this
from some kind of phobia. While the causes of phobia so severely that they choose to leave
phobias remain unknown and open to much their home and familiar surroundings as sel-
speculation, some of the most frequent theo- dom as possible. Interestingly, Sigmund Freud
ries name biological, chemical, cultural, and (1856–1939), the famous psychotherapist who
psychological origins—or a mix of the four. sought to unravel the phobias of his patients,
Health care professionals stress that the most suffered from agoraphobia. The wealthy and
important thing for people with phobias to extremely eccentric aviator and investor
remember is that phobic disorders respond Howard Hughes numbered agoraphobia
well to treatment and a phobia is not some- among his fears. Academy Award-winning
thing that they must continue to endure. actress Kim Basinger is another agoraphobic.
Among the most common phobias is a fear Treatment generally consists of behavioral
of flying, aviophobia (avio, Latin for bird; therapy combined with antianxiety or antide-
avion, French for airplane). In 1980, a study pressant medications.
conducted by Boeing Aircraft Corporation Psychologists generally agree that it is
found that 25 million Americans readily common for children to have extreme fear
expressed a fear of getting on board an air- reactions before the age of seven and to learn
plane. Many individuals who suffer from this to distinguish between actual dangers and
phobia break out into cold sweat and suffer legitimate fears as they mature. Those
from difficulty in breathing even while board- researchers who delve into the origins of pho-
ing the aircraft. Nearly all are consumed by an bic responses have theorized that as many as
overwhelming conviction that the aircraft 40 percent of all those who suffer from specific
will crash and they will die in the ensuing dis- phobias have inherited those fears from their
aster. Such a phobia can make life extremely parents or close relatives. Whether one’s
difficult for those professionals who must trav- mother jumped up on a chair and screamed at

The Gale Enc y clopedia of the Unusu al and Unexplained