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Articles on Phobias

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A Pennywise clown cosplayer attends the Dia de Finados celebrations in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Carla Carniel/Reuters/Alamy

Why are we so scared of clowns? Here’s what we’ve discovered

Our research shows that coulrophobia, or fear of clowns, is mainly triggered by being unable to understand their facial expressions.
See, no crying or big needles, just a person of colour showing off his plaster. This image does the job without scaring people and demonstrates diversity. from www.shutterstock.com

Pictures of COVID injections can scare the pants off people with needle phobias. Use these instead

Our well-meaning efforts to use images to help demystify the vaccination process or share our pride in getting a COVID vaccine can backfire.
Phobias are an intense fear of very specific things like objects, places, situations or animals. Shutterstock

Curious Kids: where do phobias come from?

There are three main scenarios that may influence whether or not you develop a phobia.
Don’t look down … do we develop a fear of heights because of past bad experiences or are some of us just born that way? from www.shutterstock.com

Health Check: why are some people afraid of heights?

There are two schools of thought to explain people’s height phobias: evolutionary and behavioural.
If this spider is making you feel extremely anxious, sweaty or uncomfortable, exposure therapy might help. from www.shutterstock.com

How virtual reality spiders are helping people face their arachnophobia

Many people with phobias are understandably reluctant to face their fears. But gradual exposure using virtual reality headsets can help with everything from a fear of spiders, heights or flying.
Some people focus their fear of death on smaller and more manageable threats. Pimthida/Flickr

Fear of death underlies most of our phobias

We manage our fear of death by creating a sense of permanence and meaning in life. But for some people, death anxiety results in pathological coping mechanisms, such as being afraid of spiders.

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