Damn The Phobia, Mind Over Matter!

It's natural for humans to have phobias, there's no bickering about it. Phobias are fascinating and sometimes very irrational human fears for an object, situation or activity. They can range from common fears like Arachnophobia (fear of spiders) to more unusual ones like Arithmophobia (Fear of numbers), Plutophobia (fear of money) etc. I wonder why someone will have fear for money, no way will I, hehehe.

Phobias can actually be caused by a variety of factors, including past experiences, genetics, or even cultural influences. They can have serious effects on a person's life, such as limiting their activities or causing severe anxiety which isn't healthy for their mental health.
Some might just have phobia for one thing while some other might have multiple phobias, we all are wired differently and have different ways of reacting to things.

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I fall in the group of people who have multiple phobias, hehehe and mine is
Bathophobia (fear of depth) and Semicophobia, that's (fear of tipper trucks), lol. Funny right? 😂. Well that's Luchyl for you. There are so many others but these ones were so dominant.

I can't really say what prompted these phobias in me, all I can say is that they started from when I was a kid.
I just found myself feeling panicky anytime I hear the sound of a tipper truck or see it in view. Everything about this truck elicits fear in me, from the size, the front, to the sound especially when it's in motion or tipping sand, concrete or any content it was carrying. Ah, I will just run for my dear life for fear which I couldn't explain. And if it happens that I see it coming my way, I'll just turn back immediately, running and crying while searching for a near place to hide for it to drive pass. Even if I see it parked on the road, I won't pass that way.

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Now for bathophobia, please don't take me anywhere close to open gutters, gullies lol. I can't even remember the number of times I cried my eyes out each time I was to follow my siblings and neighborhood friends to go fetch water from a waterside in my city when I was a kid. There was one big gully with just a narrow path that we had to cross before getting to the waterside. Once we get to the gully, others will cross but I will stand by the way crying. Fear of slipping and falling into inside it won't allow. Even when someone offers to hold me so I can cross, the fear won't allow me. So what I usually do is to beg for us to take another route where we won't have to cross the gully which apparently was longer. Same thing with deep uncovered gutters, I'll alwsys feel that crossing it will have me falling inside, lol.

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Have I outgrown these phobias?

I wouldn't say that I have, completely. For Semicophobia, well yes to a greater extent as I no longer have to run away crying when I see a tipper truck but can only feel somehow shaken up especially when it's passing by me on the road.
What helped me grow over it was an incident that happened when I was about ten years old. I was with mom at the garden which was close to our house then and this tipper came to deposit sand in a building site close to the garden. I was busy chasing butterflies and didn't quite hear it coming. It was when it had gotten so close while blowing it's horn that I was jolted out of my chasing escapade, hehehe. Immediately I made to take off but mom held me.

Amid tears I told her that the truck will crush me but she calmly told me that it won't. She made me understand that although they can hit or crush one, but that's only if the person was standing in it's way or in the cause of an accident due to brake failure just like any other car can do. She now asked me "why are you not afraid of your papa's Mazda car?" I replied that "it's my papa's car and I always touch and enter it", moreover it's not big like this one.

You know what, mom took me right where the tipper was parked and told me to touch the body. I did with fear while still crying. The other time the truck came, she asked the driver to allow me enter it. Amidst fear I did, again and again. Gradually the fear began to die down, now I can comfortably enter tipper trucks, hehehe.

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I'm still struggling with overcoming Bathophobia. I doubt if I can not when I still carry the mark of the gutter accident I had. I was trying to cross the gutter in front of my office after close of work and my right leg slipped and got stuck on the iron bars that were used to cover the gutter. Luckily people were around and they helped pull my leg out after applying some soap water to it but not without bruises. I was taken to the hospital immediately for medical attention. Luckily there was no fracture only swelling and bruises.
It took weeks for my leg to heal and that experience further increased the fear of crossing gullies, open gutters and those covered with iron bars or planks.

I'd rather go extra distance to find a place that's well covered and cemented in order to cross. Once bitten, twice shy, lol.

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One can actually use logic to overcome phobias. One of the ways is by systematic desensitization. This involves using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to gradually expose a person to the feared object or situation while teaching them relaxation techniques and that's exactly what mom did. By engaging me in a discussion, she was able to find out what caused the fear. She then introduced me to the object of fear and also encouraged me to touch and enter it. Now I've learned to control my fear and develop new, positive association with the feared object.

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We all know that taking care of our mental health is very crucial aspect of overall well-being. I'm very intentional about taking care of my mind I can't function properly if I am not in one piece. To keep it in check I follow these hacks;

• Having a good night sleep, resting or taking a nap whenever my body calls for it.
• I try to reduce stress by all means, although it's not so easy due to so many tasks I have to carry out.
• I practice mindfulness or simply meditate:
• Enjoying the beauty of nature while taking a walk around my neighborhood works wonders for me. That's exercise too.

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Talking about pet peeves, I can't just deal with a person who snores, no way. The sound robs me of sleep because I will be constantly waking the person up to adjust the sleeping position.
Another action that gets to me is when someone behaves irresponsibly by littering the environment, dumping refuse in water ways, dropping things on the road through the window of a moving vehicle. Sometimes I try to let the person know that the action is totally wrong as it impacts on the environment negatively.

I can go on ranting about this but I just have to stop here, lol.

It was nice having you visit my blog, please visit again.

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Still the #threadsaddict 😂

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*This post is for #mayinleo day 24

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