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Phobias: A Collection of True Stories
Over 60 million people in the United States and Great Britain are estimated to have phobias. There is no specific gene that causes phobias. While anxiety disorders and phobias may start in childhood, and children who have a parent or close relative with a specific phobia may be more likely to develop it, there is no specific situation that causes phobias. However, most people who deal with an anxiety disorder or phobia on a daily basis know they are coping with a difficulty. They know that research is ongoing, such as studies on the amygdala, the specific brain region associated with the "fight-or-flight" response. They know there are no "cures." From beta blockers to SSRIs and MAOIs to sedatives to behavioral therapy to biofeedback to herbal remedies, there is no one solution. They also know they are not alone! On these pages, you will find eighteen stories and one poem by individuals who courageously face each day, and each night, knowing life will throw many things, both good and difficult, in their path. And yet, they go on. Read, applaud, and be grateful for your own life.
117 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2014
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March 28, 2014
People all over the world suffer from phobias. What may seem like an irrational fear to one person makes life unbearable for another. What causes phobias is unknown, what causes a phobia for one person wouldn’t affect another. Everyone has their own story on what caused their phobia and how they deal with it. In the book Phobias: A Collection Of True stories from Hidden Thoughts Press you get a glimpse of how eighteen authors have learned to live with their phobias.
Phobias: A Collection Of True Stories has a range of stories that are funny, sad, scary and inspiring. In the introduction Mary Harris points out that phobias may be evolutionary such as being scared of spiders (arachnophobia) which seems to the most common phobia in this book. During ancient times people knew spiders were dangerous because some were poisonous and this trait was passed down through a person’s genes. Something like agoraphobia, the fear of leaving one’s home, may come from an environmental cause.
Whats fascinating about this book is learning how each person got their phobia and learned to live with it. In one story called Dreaming Of The Dead by Suzanne Robb we learn that she has a fear of zombies which stems from seeing Night Of The Living Dead as a child and then associating it with the death of her grandpa. Suzanne would have dreams of zombies coming to get her. She dealt with this by writing about zombies and watching zombie movies that were hard for her to get through. What may not seem to be scary to some was a real fear for Suzanne and she had to work through it.
Another good story in this book was The Monkey Queen by Emerian Rich. In the story she describes a reoccurring dream about being on an island and being served by monkeys, when she tries to leave to go home, the monkeys wont let her and the dream turns into a nightmare. When I read about this dream I thought it would make a good scene in a horror novel but to Emerian the fear of monkeys is a very real thing which she had to learn to live with.
One story in this anthology that really got to me was Phobias Sprouting from Seeds Of Fear by Toianna Wika. Toianna relates how she had an abusive childhood that led her to have issues with anxiety and several different phobias. Toianna goes on to tell how she learned to overcome her fears and live a productive life. She states while working for Mary Kay Cosmetics she learned If she thought positive thoughts and was able to focus her energy on something, it effected her material reality. I loved hearing how Toianna learned to live with her fears and went on to have a family, a career and is now working on her dream of becoming a writer.
Continuing with the idea of not letting your fears control you was Fear Of The Moving Steps by Shauna P. Norman. Shauna talks about her fear of escalators and how it affects her. What I liked about her story was how she writes that some people didn’t understand her fear but there were others that knew how she felt and helped her to get over it. There is always help available when you have a phobia and someone will understand. I took that to be the main idea of Phobias: A Collection Of True Stories.
Phobias: A Collection Of True Stories has a range of stories that are funny, sad, scary and inspiring. In the introduction Mary Harris points out that phobias may be evolutionary such as being scared of spiders (arachnophobia) which seems to the most common phobia in this book. During ancient times people knew spiders were dangerous because some were poisonous and this trait was passed down through a person’s genes. Something like agoraphobia, the fear of leaving one’s home, may come from an environmental cause.
Whats fascinating about this book is learning how each person got their phobia and learned to live with it. In one story called Dreaming Of The Dead by Suzanne Robb we learn that she has a fear of zombies which stems from seeing Night Of The Living Dead as a child and then associating it with the death of her grandpa. Suzanne would have dreams of zombies coming to get her. She dealt with this by writing about zombies and watching zombie movies that were hard for her to get through. What may not seem to be scary to some was a real fear for Suzanne and she had to work through it.
Another good story in this book was The Monkey Queen by Emerian Rich. In the story she describes a reoccurring dream about being on an island and being served by monkeys, when she tries to leave to go home, the monkeys wont let her and the dream turns into a nightmare. When I read about this dream I thought it would make a good scene in a horror novel but to Emerian the fear of monkeys is a very real thing which she had to learn to live with.
One story in this anthology that really got to me was Phobias Sprouting from Seeds Of Fear by Toianna Wika. Toianna relates how she had an abusive childhood that led her to have issues with anxiety and several different phobias. Toianna goes on to tell how she learned to overcome her fears and live a productive life. She states while working for Mary Kay Cosmetics she learned If she thought positive thoughts and was able to focus her energy on something, it effected her material reality. I loved hearing how Toianna learned to live with her fears and went on to have a family, a career and is now working on her dream of becoming a writer.
Continuing with the idea of not letting your fears control you was Fear Of The Moving Steps by Shauna P. Norman. Shauna talks about her fear of escalators and how it affects her. What I liked about her story was how she writes that some people didn’t understand her fear but there were others that knew how she felt and helped her to get over it. There is always help available when you have a phobia and someone will understand. I took that to be the main idea of Phobias: A Collection Of True Stories.
Displaying 1 of 1 review