Fear of bridges-Gephyrophobia

While there seems to be a fear for just about everything, there are some fears that can directly be linked with the fear of falling. Gephyrophobia also known as the far of bridges can turn a drive to work into a nightmare for people who suffer from this phobia.

In area such as New York, this phobia makes it hard for some people to live their daily lives, containing more than 2,000 different bridges in the state. Manhattan alone has 19.

Like most fears the fear of bridges can be traced to watching movies. One of the most famous is the 1979 Cassandra’s Crossing.

Their fear may result partly from the fear of enclosure (claustrophobia) or the fear of heights (acrophobia). Phobic drivers may worry about being in an accident in busy traffic or losing control of their vehicles. High bridges over waterways and gorges can be especially intimidating, as can be very long or very narrow bridges.

The fear of bridges is perhaps one of the only phobias that cities actually devote tax money to, for example in San Francisco/ Oakland, authorities will actually dispatch a tow truck to take drivers to the other side.

For some the worst part is knowing that they have to cross everyday, but in the same respect some who have this fear have learned to ignore it because of having to drive across them on a daily basis. ” Ever since I moved up to San Francisco, I kinda got use to it, if you want to get across the bay, you really don’t have much of a choice sais, Jenna Davi, a theatre major at San Francisco State University.

Fear of long words-hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

The fear of long words ironically enough is referred to as hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.</a> Wow, try and say that three times really fast. For most people, writers included, long words are at times, helpful and tend to give the writer more of a grasp on the english language.

However for some hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is something that they tend to shy away from reading, writing, and definitely using.

According to Jan Heering, who is a phobia specialist this is a real phobia and much like the fear of spiders or heights, many of the same feelings or symptoms come along with this phobia.

For some it may be that in their past they may have seen someone finding it immensely difficult to spell or pronounce a long word. Some picked up the fear and began worrying about long and complicated words.

Heering goes on to say,”You simply start attaching negative emotions to the thought of uttering a long and complicated word.”

You start thinking, “Oh my God, the word is so big to pronounce and the spelling of the word is too difficult. How can I utter the word correctly? I will definitely stammer and make a fool of myself. What will others say? They will think I am so stupid.”

It seems as though the phobia can easily be linked with the fear of embarrassment. While the longest word in the english language is under debate it is said that the longest is 189,819 words long and in a type a protein.