Fear Itself
Olivia Xiao (ISB G10)
Olivia Xiao, a staff writer at Buddy!, has a lot of fears: spiders, tight spaces, death, “or whatever”. But she says nothing truly terrifies her like her grades.
(Courtesy of Youtube)
“The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
I have arachnophobia, a fear of spiders. It isn't just spiders, but also other weird bugs in general. Mosquitos and flies are fine, just annoying, and I'm not scared to kill them, but with other bugs, I tend to call someone else for help. Bugs are just gross to me, and some can sting painfully or crawl up your leg. Just thinking about that gives me the heebie-jeebies.
I also think I have slight claustrophobia, which is a fear of tight spaces. I've never been in a small space for a very long time, but being stuck in a tunnel, for example, where I don't even have enough space to stand up, seems terrifying. I would feel like I couldn't breathe.
“I fear failing tests and just overall not being good enough to get into universities or colleges.”
For more realistic fears, I am scared of failure (Google says it's called atychiphobia). I fear failing tests and just overall not being good enough to get into universities or colleges. A problem I have is that I'm scared of failing but not quite enough so that it would motivate me to study harder. That is something I need to improve on in the future. I am afraid of this because I want a good life in the future, which I won't get by failing everything. I also would hate to disappoint my family, the people who have worked so hard to raise me.
I am also a little scared of the future, but it isn't that extreme. It seems so huge and grows ever closer, but I also look forward to living life independently while also being a little afraid of it.
Most everyone in the world is scared of one thing or another, but it is important to distinguish a regular fear from a phobia. A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of something, and it can be maladaptive. This means that the phobia affects your life negatively and can even be classified as a mental disorder. Because of this, I wouldn’t really say I have arachnophobia or claustrophobia. I get scared around spiders and certain other insects, but it isn’t that extreme. I would also realistically not find myself in a situation where I have to be stuck in a tight space for a long time, though the thought still scares me. But surprisingly, fears can be helpful, too.
”Most everyone in the world is scared of one thing or another, but it is important to distinguish a regular fear from a phobia.”
When humans had just evolved, we were still experiencing the world for the first time. We tried different types of plants, for example, to see if they were edible. Plants that were poisonous gave us uncomfortable feelings or some were even deadly, which taught us to avoid them. This learned aversion to dangerous things is what keeps us alive and safe. My fear of spiders, for example, teaches me to avoid venomous spiders and other animals that could kill me with a bite. My fear of tight spaces is more irrational, considering I’m not in small spaces often, but it can teach me to steer clear of certain risky situations.
OliviaX
