Phobia

Everybody has phobia. I have and had a lot of phobias. When I was young, I was afraid of the dark. I couldn't sleep with the lights off. So I would resort to having the lights on when I go to bed. It didn't work too well because my parents kept telling me off for not switching off the lights when I sleep. So I changed my approach. After I off the lights, I would quickly jump into bed and throw my blanket over me, from head to toe. Come to think about it, it was quite silly. What's the point of covering myself with the blanket. It's like the ostrich sticking its head into the ground when it is afraid, thinking that by not able to see, the problem will disappear. And the blanket approach didn't last long. My dad would find me cover with the blanket and he would tell me off, saying that I would suffocate myself. So I was left with no choice. I had to deal with the issue - the issue of darkness. So one night, I decided I would just be brave and face the darkness. Initially, it was pretty awful. The mind started to play tricks. It seemed that every second or other, there would be a noise. But I guess with many more such brave attempts, I slowly outgrew my fear of the dark. Now, there will be times I will stare blankly into the darkness of my room and (anticipatingly) hope that I can see some 'interesting' thing. Haha!

Another phobia of mine is claustrophobia. It is a symptom of panic when enclosed in an area. I never knew why I had such a phobia as I never had a bad experience. But I know I have it since young. So far, I haven't been too badly affected by this phobia except for 1 incident. I remembered when I was in Secondary school and we had an excursion to Science Centre. In the exhibition, there was this maze which was make up mirrors. So when you stepped into the maze, all you see was reflections. After walking through the maze for a while, I started to feel claustrophobic. So I accelerated my steps. Bad choice. It worsened my condition as the reflection from the mirror make me feel like I was trapped in the mirror. By the time I exited out of the maze, I was hyperventilating. And my mind was badly traumatised. When somebody talked to me or if I do an action, everything seemed to have a time lapse before my brain received the full signal. NO JOKE! I thought I was gone. haha!

Fear of heights. One phobia that I have not fully overcome. I remembered when I was young, I hated crossing the overhead bridge. It was too scary for me. But sadly, I had to use the bridge often. So I engineered the best way to cross the bridge in the quickest way. When I hit the top of the bridge, I would aline myself in the middle and make a 50m dash. haha! So funneh siah! My family would always tease me over this little run of mine. Slowly, I outgrew but yet it was not fully overcome. In my army days, I had difficulties crossing the Jacob's Ladder. I was stuck at the peak and it was so humorous to think about it because all the Specialists and Officers were afraid that I slipped and were very 'nice' and 'caring', encouraging me to take my time and cross the ladder. I doubt I would ever overcome this fear. Bungee jumping???

Fear of the sea. I dun know if there's a scientific term for this type of phobia. Initially, it was fear of water. I had 2 drowning incidents when I was young. Thankfully, my mum send me for swimming lesson after the incidents. I overcome the fear of water. However, I still cannot overcome the fear of the sea. Even though I know I can swim, I know that the sea cannot anyhow play play one. Especially when there are currents. So when I take boat, I won't really dare to stand at the side. Looking at the sea makes me feel like it will swallow me any moment. And every waves that sweep towards me seem to be enticing me make the leap into the water. Eeerrrieeee.

How do we overcome phobia? Sometimes, the best way is to deal with it face to face. Like fear of water. The best way is to experience what water is like. Go into the shallow water first. And once comfortable, slowly, move to a deeper area. It has to be progressive. But what if something bad happen along the way. What if you were starting to feel confident in the deeper water, and somebody come along and start to push you into the water? It may cause the person to have deeper fear of that element.