Friday the 13th can be filled with the eerie or spooky, but for some, their fears are bigger than just a Hollywood horror movie.
Many people develop phobias, ranging from the common, like heights, to something more specific. University of North Georgia Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences Dr. Amanda Halliburton said phobias stem from two things, fear and learned experience.
"[With] phobias, the fear that you experience is out of proportion to the actual danger that's posed by the object or situation," she said. "There may be things that you develop a fear of, where it's a situation where you actually are safe or if there is any danger, it's relatively mild in nature, but your phobia is telling you there's actually much more to be afraid of in that moment."
Halliburton gave an example of a fear of dogs. A person could have been around dogs for her entire life, but have a negative experience when a dog bites her.
"That's going to cause sort of a mental association to form between being around dogs and experiencing some fear and that pain in that situation," said Halliburton. "And then what happens is, going forward, I might decide I want to avoid being around dogs because I don't want to put myself back into a situation where I'm going to experience that fear, that pain.
"And while that works very well in the short term, that's likely to cause some problems going forward because I might end up not wanting to spend time around some of my friends who have dogs, or I might miss out on some good experiences because I'm trying to avoid dogs. It also has the effect that the more that I avoid the thing I'm afraid of, the more it kind of strengthens that association in my mind that tells me that I really should be afraid of that thing, and I should avoid it."
Halliburton said there are plenty of common phobias out there, like animals, including insects; the natural environment, like bodies of water; situations, like flying; medical things, like needles; and social things, like public speaking.
Luckily, there are ways to stop a phobia. Halliburton suggests starting with cognitive behavioral therapy, in which a therapist will gradually expose you to your phobia in a safe context.
"The idea of exposure can be a little scary at times, we're sort of asking people to face that fear they might have been avoiding for quite a long time, even years," said Halliburton. "The important thing to remember is you are going to be in a safe situation and it is something you are going to go through gradually, so you'll become more and more comfortable that object the more and more you work with your therapist to confront it."
Halliburton encouraged anyone with a phobia, especially one compromising quality of life or causing problems, to seek treatment so they can move past it.
