by Becky Swartswatter
Daily Lobo
You're eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch. The girl sitting across the table tells you she will not touch a peanut butter sandwich. Why? She has arachibutyrophobia, or the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of her mouth.
Though arachibutyrophobia sounds like a rare disease, it is one of thousands of specific phobias that are different categories of phobias. A specific phobia is the irrational fear of an object, experience or situation.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 6.3 million American adults have specific phobias. In women they are twice as common.
UNM student Sandra Frank said she is afraid of being alone.
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"I don't like being by myself," she said. "I like being with people."
In the event she found herself alone, she said she would call a friend.
The most common specific phobia is the fear of animals, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Junior Nichole Nelson said she isn't afraid of anything - except snakes. Nelson said there is no experience in particular that triggered the fear.
UNM psychology Professor Michael Dougher said pure learning and language processes are the most common ways people develop phobias.
Pure learning is conditioning as a result of an experience. If a person were attacked by a dog, that experience could prompt cynophobia, or fear of dogs.
UNM student Luke Murphy is afraid of spiders. His phobia is a direct result of an experience he had as a child. On a family car trip, Murphy found a daddy-long-legs spider crawling on him.
Thinking processes that involve negative thought patterns and apprehension might produce an irrational fear.
Halee Baird said she is afraid of public restrooms.
"Have you been inside?" she said. "Look at them."
Baird said she thinks about everyone who has been in the restroom, what they touched, if their hands are clean and about its general cleanliness.
The third way people develop phobias, Dougher said, is through language. Hearing about a plane crash on the news could trigger aviophobia, or the fear of flying.
Another common category of phobias is social phobias. A person with an irrational fear of associating freely with peers, co-workers, going out on dates or who merely avoids any social scene, including parties or gatherings, might have a social phobia.
There are treatments for specific and social fears, including Zoloft, Valium and other prescription drugs.
Other approaches include cognitive or behavioral therapy.
One cognitive approach gradually exposes patients to the object associated with their phobia, usually starting with pictures and progressing to the actual object.
"If you have a phobia, there is nothing to be ashamed of," Dougher said. "There are facilities to offer treatment."
Then there's the fearless, like UNM student Alex Talavera.
"I'm ready for anything and looking for challenges," he said.
