Passion

Fears Episode 10: Ophidiophobia

“I loved animals when I was little so I would watch Animal Planet all the time. The snakes just seemed vicious. I had never seen one in person but they looked like scary little dinosaurs. The way they stuck their tongues out made them look like demons and that hissing sound! And they can get so huge – like those Anacondas! It was just really traumatizing. We had a pool in my backyard and I always feared the garden snakes I thought were everywhere would come out and wrap around me and strangle me or bite into me – I mean they’re so quick! Even at the zoo, I usually avoided the reptile exhibit. I’d see the iguanas, but then I’d leave before I could see any snakes. Just a few weeks ago some friends and I took the bus to see a movie in downtown State College. When we got off the bus, there was a big field that we had to walk through to get to the theater. But I saw that there were snakes in it and I refused to walk through. I tensed up and got really hot. We ended up finally getting to the theater but I had made my friends take the longest way possible around the field.”

Ophidiophobia (or ophiophobia) is defined as the abnormal fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by a more general term, Herpetophobia, or the fear of reptiles and/or amphibians. It is termed an irrational fear. Approximately 1/3 of all adult humans are Ophidiophobic, which makes Ophidiophobia the most commonly reported phobia. However, as with many other phobias, it is important to note that there are also many people who simply do not like snakes. There are also some who simply fear them for their venom or the inherent danger involved, but do not undergo the same effects of the Ophidiophobia. Some signs and symptoms of Ophidiophobia include panic, anxiety, difficulty breathing, sweating, elevated heart rate, nausea, vomiting, shaking, crying. and/or an inability to remain near a trigger (i.e. a snake or a photo of a snake). An Ophidiophobe would not only fear snakes when in live contact but would also dread to think about them or even see them on TV or in pictures. The history/evolution behind Ophidiophobia is demonstrated by scientists who have theorized that humans may have an innate reaction to snakes, which was vital for the survival of humankind as it allowed such dangerous threats to be identified immediately. Other causes may include a traumatic experience surrounding the feared item, possibly early in childhood. However, there are even times that phobias arise without being connected to past experiences. Possible treatments for Ophidiophobia include cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques, gradual exposure, and even Hypnosis to assist in relaxation.

 

Fun Fact: The fictional adventurer Indiana Jones is an Ophidiophobe.

 

 

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RCL Blogs

Passion and Civic Issues Blog Topics Announcement

For my Passion blog this semester, I have decided that I want to continue my Fears blog from the Fall including their format and style. With that be saying, if you or someone you know has an interesting, irrational, or even common fear, please contact me and help contribute to this semester’s “episodes”!

For my Civic Issues blog, I have chosen the category of Gender/Sexuality/Rights. I feel that this is not only a broad topic with plenty of smaller components that I would have an abundance to write about, but I feel very passionately about many of them. I would also like to discuss current events concerning these topics.

RCL Blogs

“This I Believe” Podcast Revised Draft

This I Believe

            I believe that everything happens for a reason. Yes, this may be somewhat of a cliché, and I have even heard it referred to as “the statement one makes when one is bad at giving advice”. But for me, it has truly proved itself over and over again throughout my life. In other words, although there has not been one single event that has sparked this belief, a series of much more minor and almost daily occurrences have continued to reinforce my trust in it.

Sometimes, I simply have a bad day. And then another bad day follows it, and then another, until I recognize the pattern. To keep myself going, I just comfort myself by telling myself that this bad week just means that I will have a good one coming up. Maybe this comes from my mother. Every once in a while, when I am complaining about my troubles, she will dismissively – yet more consoling than belittling – say “That’s okay; that means something good is about to happen”.

Or maybe this comes from an inner need to be in balance. I have always found it hard to view life and/or the universe as either entirely bad or entirely good; it has to be a mix of both. This balance is what allows for all of these elements to coexist.

Or maybe this comes from my belief that no matter how far away it will happen, everything does work out. Whether this has come from experience – “I will finish this assignment by midnight; I have to” – or from hopes for the future – “Even if my major doesn’t work out, I know I will find and rock something else” – it seems to have stuck with me. I find more and more that even when viewing my life retrospectively, I rationale previous decisions and events by finding specific reasons for them.

But perhaps the most influential event is one that occurred almost two decades ago. In the very early morning hours of December 13, 1995, my pregnant mother who wasn’t due for a few more weeks noticed that she was in a lot of pain and that something was very wrong. My frightened father called an ambulance and they informed my parents that she was going into labor. She was rushed to the hospital but was losing a lot of blood and was not stable. Sometime over the course of the next few hours, a doctor approached my father. He told him that they could not save both my mother and her baby, and that they had to choose my mom. They then took my mother into surgery and performed an emergency C-section. To everyone’s complete shock, it was more than successful and I was born a healthy little girl.  For the next few days, people from all around the hospital stopped in to see my recovering mother and the “Miracle Baby”. To this day, my family and I recall that morning and truly cherish the fact that I am here. Whenever I feel insecure, or lose motivation or hope for my future, I remind myself of how I fought to enter this world and that I am meant to be in it. I truly believe that everything does happen for a reason, and that I am destined to find mine.

RCL Blogs

“This I Believe” Podcast Rough Draft

This I Believe

            I believe that everything happens for a reason. Yes, this may be somewhat of a cliché, and I have even heard it referred to as “the statement one makes when one is bad at giving advice”. But for me, it has truly proved itself over and over again throughout my life. In other words, although there has not been one single event that has sparked this belief, a series of much more minor and almost daily occurrences have continued to reinforce my trust in it.

Sometimes, I simply have a bad day. And then another bad day follows it, and then another, until I recognize the pattern. To keep myself going, I just comfort myself by telling myself that this bad week just means that I will have a good one coming up. Maybe this comes from my mother. Every once in a while, when I am complaining about my troubles, she will dismissively – yet more consoling than belittling – say “That’s okay; that means something good is about to happen”.

Or maybe this comes from an inner need to be in balance. I have always found it hard to view life and/or the universe as either entirely bad or entirely good; it has to be a mix of both. This balance is what allows for all of these elements to coexist.

Or maybe this comes from my belief that no matter how far away it will happen, everything does work out. Whether this has come from experience – “I will finish this assignment by midnight; I have to” – or from hopes for the future – “Even if my major doesn’t work out, I know I will find and rock something else” – it seems to have stuck with me. I find more and more that even when viewing my life retrospectively, I rationale previous decisions and events by finding specific reasons for them.

For example, in May of my Senior year of high school the prom dress I wanted immediately went out of stock the day I went to purchase it. After waddling in despair for a few days, I began to look on other websites for similar dresses. I had become stubbornly glued to the color of the original dress, and was not happy with the options I came across. However, I compromised with myself and picked up the phone to order a dress. However, by some wonderful chance you could call fate (or simple absentmindedness), I called the wrong mall. In the process, I found out that they had one dress left in store of the original that I had wanted, in the exact color I wanted it, and in my size! That night, I went to try it, and it fit perfectly. As I was driving home with my amazing prom dress laying in the back seat, I couldn’t help thinking that all of my searching for other dresses, deciding to order one of them, and calling the wrong mall were for a reason, and a great one at that.

 

RCL Blogs

RCL II Brainstorm

“This I Believe” Podcast – All of my smaller ideas keeping tying back into probably one of my strongest beliefs, that everything happens for a reason. Although this is very cliché, it is the belief that governs almost everything I do on a day-to-day basis. I don’t have one main story, but I have a few random ones. They are pretty straightforward, not very powerful but supporting and true.

Passion Blog – I would like to continues my Fears blog from the fall semester. My only worry is that I have only found a few more people to interview and that it will be hard to find more. But I still have at least a few lined up and really want to continue what I was working on. If I had to pick another topic I would like to discuss and analyze a season or finite number of episodes of a TV show, such as the upcoming third season of House of Cards or the classic sitcom Friends.

Civic Issues Blog – The first category I want to focus my Civic Issues blog on is Gender/Sexuality/Rights. As a freshman in college, I have both heard many stories about discrimination, violence and rape, and related controversies and experienced the atmosphere here firsthand. Some of the History of a Public Controversy videos my peers created at the end of last semester reinforced the multitude and heaviness of these issues today. I would also maybe want to focus on the Race category. With all of the research and work my own group put into our History of a Public Controversy video on Diversity at Penn State, there are many aspects that inspired my further interest in the subject. Perhaps I could even expand it to all educational institutions, our country, or even the world.