It is natural for human beings to have some form of fear. When fear becomes excessive and causes irrational behavior, it is considered a phobia. Many people are embarrassed to admit that they have an excessive fear for something, but phobia is actually not an uncommon condition. According to reports from the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 10% of American adults are affected by at least one kind of phobia. Phobias are somewhat harmless when they are mild, but they can be detrimental and dangerous if they are severe.

Up to now, experts are unable to ascertain the true causes of phobia, but they have managed to identify a number of possible causes. According to renowned psychologists David Rosenhan and Martin Seligman, the phobias that are affecting modern people are the outcomes of the evolution of phobias that were experienced in the past. For example, the fear of spiders was probably passed down from ancient human beings who had to avoid spiders when they were hunting. However, other psychologists are of the opinion that phobias are a result of cultural learning. This opinion is supported by the fact that there are less people with fear for spiders in South America. The South American continent is home to some of the largest and deadliest spiders in the world, and some of the natives consume them as delicacies. Read the rest of this entry »