![KirstyMarks](/community/data/avatars/m/0/61.jpg?1465204261)
KirstyMarks
New Member
Hi folks,
I thought I would post this for you. Just as a little explanation. Many people often confuse Phobias and Fears. Its not uncommon, and certainly easy to explain.
A phobia is a full blown, chemical response to a given stimulus. People will not be able to look, touch, see, (should it be a spider, snake for example). People will live in constant worry (for example emetophobia). A phobia is often learned from a loved one in many cases! (Not always)
A fear however is a perceived response. An anticipated outlook of what may happen, should they be exposed to a given stimulus. For example, a fear of open water... People say, I have a fear of water.... I ask,... ok, fear of water, can you get in a swimming pool... yes.... If you can get into a swimming pool, but your scared of the sea. Its still damn right scary, however this is because you have had a bad experience at some point, and still scared of it happening again, BUT you wont totally avoid some instances where water is around, IE a swimming pool... purely because a swimming pool wasn't the cause of your anxiety, the sea was.
Happy to explain further should this be needed.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
P.S.... I'm not saying that both are more detrimental than the other
both cause severe emotional distress and anxiety for sufferers, and both are life hindering. Its how you deal with them which is completely different ![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I thought I would post this for you. Just as a little explanation. Many people often confuse Phobias and Fears. Its not uncommon, and certainly easy to explain.
A phobia is a full blown, chemical response to a given stimulus. People will not be able to look, touch, see, (should it be a spider, snake for example). People will live in constant worry (for example emetophobia). A phobia is often learned from a loved one in many cases! (Not always)
A fear however is a perceived response. An anticipated outlook of what may happen, should they be exposed to a given stimulus. For example, a fear of open water... People say, I have a fear of water.... I ask,... ok, fear of water, can you get in a swimming pool... yes.... If you can get into a swimming pool, but your scared of the sea. Its still damn right scary, however this is because you have had a bad experience at some point, and still scared of it happening again, BUT you wont totally avoid some instances where water is around, IE a swimming pool... purely because a swimming pool wasn't the cause of your anxiety, the sea was.
Happy to explain further should this be needed.
P.S.... I'm not saying that both are more detrimental than the other