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aliciahopesanddreams:

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//Okay so here’s a totally random post because I’m bored//

In the spirit of Halloween, I wanted to talk a bit about the difference between a fear and a phobia. Let’s begin.

Fear:

• Low scale
• Bothers you, but it’s not terrible
• Makes you a bit anxious
• Is not debilitating
• Is easily controlled

Phobia:

• High scale
• Actually a form of a mental disorder
• Bothers you so bad sometimes you shut down
• Debilitating
• Uncontrollable

I wanted to talk a bit about a phobia I have. I have arachnophobia. For anyone who doesn’t know what arachnophobia is, it’s a fear of arachnids (spiders, daddy long legs, scorpions). Now, some people seem to think it’s okay to minimize my phobia. Just because the spider is smaller than me or can’t hurt me doesn’t mean I can’t be afraid of it. I didn’t choose to have an actually crippling phobia of spiders. Some of my friends have put spiders in my clothes or on my skin. They don’t understand how awful it is. Sometimes I can’t even go outside because I’m too scared I’ll see a spider. I cannot be in the same room as a spider, and I can barely look at pictures of them. My phobia could be considered mentally debilitating to an unhealthy level. One time, I found a spider in the corner of my room and I had horrible nightmares about spiders for a week. Phobias are mental disorders. Don’t make fun of people’s phobias. It’s not okay, and I have had mental breakdowns because people think it’s funny to prank me by putting spiders in my hair and on my back. Everyone has at least one fear, but not everyone has a phobia. Don’t be that guy, and don’t make people feel bad for being afraid. Thanks for putting up with my rambling, bye.

… U r so smart omg

//what? This was just me rambling about my stupid phobia because I’m fuckin pissed because my friend thought it would be funny to put a spider down my back today//

((i once brought a toy spider with me to a youth camp. one of my leaders thought it would be funny to have me scare another leader because she was afraid of spiders.

I felt so bad because she screamed so loudly.

Don’t scare folks unless you’re sure it’s okay.