The WoW Style

Everyone has phobias. If you ever meet someone who says they fear nothing, they’re probably lying. Fear can even be healthy, since, if you fear something dangerous, you are likely to avoid it.

However, fear can also paralyze you, or it can negatively impact your lifestyle. It can be hard overcoming certain fears, and you’ll need to find a great deal of inner strength to do so.

We’ll talk about some of the most common fears in this article, and we’ll also go over some ways you can manage or get past them.

Fear of Insects

Many people fear insects. There is something alien-seeming about them. They are so different from humans, whereas mammals seem akin to us in fundamental ways.

It’s pretty rare to encounter a dangerous or deadly insect. There are many more realistic things to fear. For instance, over 2.5 million people per year develop bedsores, yet very few people mention that at the top of their fears list.

There are a few insects that it does make sense to want to avoid, such as ticks, which spread Lyme disease. You can easily stay away from them, though, by wearing long pants and protective headgear if you go walking in the woods or the tall grass.

You can also avoid traveling to countries where you know there are many more dangerous insects than you would prefer. Several Central and South American countries have some enormous insects, so maybe you’d better take those off your vacation destination list.

You can also keep a fly swatter handy. If you encounter an insect in your house that you don’t like, such as a centipede, you can easily dispatch it that way.

Fear of Heights

It makes sense to fear heights. Some people have vertigo, and they feel dizzy if they look down from a tall place. They also might worry that they will experience the “call of the void,” and they will suddenly want to leap off if they get too close to the edge.

For the most part, you can avoid heights. You can hire someone to clean out your gutters rather than getting up on a ladder. You can stay away from rooftop bars or restaurants, or you can at least keep away from the roof’s edge if you go up there.

Some psychologists contend that you should face your fears. However, in this instance, there is probably no reason for you to do so. As long as you don’t take a job as a construction worker or anything else where you have to work high up in the air, you should be fine.

Fear of Needles

You might fear needles, and this can be a tough one. Maybe you need someone to draw your blood sometimes. It could also be that you have diabetes, and you need to check your blood sugar level by using a finger-stick option.

If someone is going to draw your blood, you can always look away. That’s probably the better option than looking over and seeing the needle entering your skin.

You can close your eyes as well and focus on your breathing. You can also let the person who’s drawing your blood know that you have an aversion to it, and they can help talk you through it.

Fear of Public Speaking

Many people fear public speaking. If you query several individuals, it might surprise you how many fear public speaking more than they do more dangerous things.

Of course, no one has ever died from embarrassment if they didn’t do well during a public speaking engagement. You ought to keep that in mind if you ever need to present something in front of a group.

Generally, those who fear public speaking the most do not need to do it very often. If you do it frequently, you often become at least somewhat more comfortable with it as time passes.

You might also have heard about doing things like picturing your audience naked, or wearing funny hats, since that adds some frivolity to the proceedings. That can work for some people, but not everybody.

Probably you’ll do best by practicing your speech in front of some family members and friends. You should also try to avoid a profession where you need to talk in front of people a lot.

Fear of Death

Fear of death is probably the worst phobia that there is. That’s because all of us are mortal, and there is no avoiding our eventual demise.

Those who fear death sometimes describe it like an icy terror that occasionally grips them. It might come upon them suddenly while they are going about their day, or maybe they lie awake at night and fixate on it.

Thinking about death occasionally is normal, and fearing it is as well. It’s natural, the only conclusion we can expect at the end of our lives. However, no one knows what happens when you die, and fearing the unknown is perhaps the most natural thing of all.  

You have to try to get away from a mindset, though, where you think about little else but dying. If you’re in that situation, you’re not going to enjoy your life while you’re living it.

You can seek professional help if you can’t seem to stop thinking about death all the time. Talking about your fears can’t make you immortal, but it often does make you feel better simply to vocalize what’s scaring you.

Also, some people who fear death find that meditating helps. The act of focusing on breathing in and out and being physically present can calm you if you’re nearing a panic attack because you can’t get your own mortality out of your mind.

No matter what you fear, you can let that control you, or you can find a way to deal with it. Almost everyone prefers the latter option since constant fear will exhaust you and prevent any chance at happiness.