Fear nothing but the squirrel itself
Just because you fear something today, doesn’t mean you have to tomorrow.
According to USA TODAY and a study from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, “exposure therapy” done on 12 adults who suffer from arachnophobia proved to be quite effective.
A phobia, according to USA TODAY, is only classified as such when the fear starts to interfere with one’s life; for many of the participants in this study, spiders did.
One participant avoided walking on grass at any and all costs, while another participant would leave their house for days if they suspected a spider in one of its rooms.
Having a “specific phobia” – such as not liking spiders – affects about 7% of the population. It is a type of anxiety disorder. People afflicted with this are those who fear what the masses fear, like needles, heights and deaths.
Yet there are many people with negative fixations on things that seem, well – odd.
Often, the dislike for such things falls somewhere between being a phobia, and plain old being afraid. Such is the case for upcoming junior and communications major at George Mason University, Melissa Gotleib, who fears squirrels.
Growing up in the beach town of Margate, N.J., anything Gotleib might need is within walking distance, making these furry little creatures daily passersby on any stroll, rustling and scavenging through the bushes. A neighborhood woman being attacked by a squirrel and rushed to the hospital didn’t ease Gotleib’s apprehension.
However, her fear and ultimate disgust for the animal reached its breaking point when some squirrels chewed through her uncle’s electrical wires outside his house, “traveling through their roof to the attic, [and] coming into the house.”
“He felt something furry near his feet while he was sleeping,” she said, “and believe it or not, ONE WAS IN HIS BED! After hearing this story, I never wanted to see a squirrel again.”
Often, Gotleib avoids crossing paths with her ultimate foe not only at home, but on campus as well. Sometimes, she runs away. Other times, she will cross the street or take an alternate, often-longer route to her destination. “If I can avoid a squirrel, I will,” she said.
My guess? Gotleib fears the squirrel’s agility and quickness more than the squirrel itself, hence her running away. It’s furry, and fast and has grasping little claws – I can relate to why she wouldn’t like them.
However, upcoming junior and political science and history major at Syracuse University Chelsea Wilson fears something unusual, yet logical.
She fears going to the car wash.
The fear began when she first got her driver’s license, and was forced to go to the car wash alone. Like Gotleib, one bad experience left a terrible taste in Wilson’s mouth.
She once had an issue maneuvering her car into the track, and, flustered, forgot to put her car into neutral, creating a series of embarrassing, scary, and scarring events. Her car was stuck for an extra minute or two inside the wash.
“I don't trust them (car washes),” she said. “What if my car gets stuck? What if I can't get out? What if I do something wrong and break my car? What if another car is too close to me and we wind up colliding or something? So much could go wrong in such an awkward space.”
Nowadays, Wilson washes her car on her own time, not only saving her money but also eliminating unnecessary stress. Yet if she does go to the neighborhood car wash, she makes sure to have someone drive her car through for her.
For Wilson, it seemed that the underlying fear was being in a small cramped space in which she had no control, not the suds and bubbles.
The fact of the matter is that there is hope for overcoming these fears – as long as help is wanted.
Gotleib, for instance, has not yet attempted to overcome her fear, and found that she didn’t find it necessary to. “[It’s not like] I could ever be friendly with a squirrel or go scrounging around looking for nuts with them,” she said. “My fear may sound silly, but [after] the stories I’ve heard, and through my own personal experiences, I can’t stand them!”
Have you encountered something on campus that makes you uneasy?
Allie Caren is a Summer 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.