Are Phobias Normal Behavior For Different People?
Facing Your Phobias Phobias do tend to sound rather bizarre, especially when people claim to have phobias of completely harmless things like birds and amputees, but phobias do develop for a reason. Phobias are able to develop because of certain little used instincts that are intended to help us survive, but phobias occur when fear is misplaced. Although the creation of phobias is not an absolute science, all types of phobias form as the result of an extreme aversion to something. The difference between a phobia and simply being afraid of something is the level of fear that is characteristic of a phobia. In addition to feeling emotionally uneasy, phobia sufferers show physical symptoms of their fear, including increased heart rate and breathing, sweating, feeling faint, and feeling as though they are choking. Phobias strike people differently depending on the severity of their phobia and what triggers the phobic response. For example, for someone who has a phobic reaction to heights is
