...Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Most people are afraid to admit that they fear something because they think that they are the only ones that have that fear, but the truth is that everyone is scared of something. Everyone has at least one fear that when facing it, can cause a memorial moment in their life. I have many fears and I’ve been faced with one of my biggest fears for a few years now, and it still lingers on to this day. On thanksgiving 2012, I wanted to spend the night at my friend’s house named Kayla since she was having a big thanksgiving party, but my parents said I couldn’t go. At first I was confused because we never did anything special on thanksgiving, so I didn’t think it would have been such a big conflict. That night, my parents sat me down at the dining room table once my brother and sister were sound asleep. Sitting there, I was so confused on what they were going to tell me that was supposed to be “so important”. They took a deep breath and told me that what I was about to hear, was going to change my perspective on our family. They told me that my dad Clay was not my biological dad, and that my biological dad’s name is Shaun. In that moment, my whole life got turned upside down. A thousand questions ran thru my head like “Why didn’t they tell me sooner?” “Why did my biological dad leave?”, “Is it because of me?”, “Was I a mistake?” I was too shocked to ask any...
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...I Was Like Dying Fear. "Fear" is a word that is flexible in its use. The simple, four-letter word has such deep meaning and power to control a person's life. The power it exudes is so cray-cray that it can cause someone to be oblivious to reality and prevent the truth from coming into the light. Personally, I used to have a fear. A fear so cray it controlled my life. A fear that occasionally prevented me from sleeping. A fear that I could not gain control over; it was so powerful that I could not arrest it and lock it in jail, and forget about it forever and ever. This fear was the fear of anesthesia. People are administered doses of this drug on a daily basis. In fact, most people love it. They love the sensation of drifting off into a deep sleep not having to worry about anything. I, on the other hand, hate it. Anesthesia was NOT my BFF. I had received it like a thousand times as a kid and a tween, and most times I was cool with it. Just like everyone else, I loved it. I loved it until the day I thought it was murdering me. While I was going under, a sharp pain maneuvered its way through...
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...FEAR OF ALTOPHOBIA Veronica Taylor ENG121: ENGLISH COMPOSITION 1(AXC1420C) Instructor: Erin Nelson May 16, 2014 Fear of Alto phobia The fear I need to conquer is my fear of heights. Heights are one of my biggest fears that I have tried numerous of times to get over. This fear causes me to have real bad anxiety attacks to where I sweat, shake, have blurred vision, and have trouble breathing to where I have an asthma attack. One day my sister tried to help me conquer my fears by making me ride on roller coaster and that day is the day that I will never forget because she made my fears worst. The bad thing about my fear is when I go to sleep I picture myself up high in the air somewhere falling and wake up instantly nervous in a cold sweat, scared and emotional. Every time I go to an amusement park I promise every one that I am going to ride on all the rides. When I get there, I freeze up and back out. My sister always forces me to get on the biggest ride which is called The Beast. The beast is concerned to be the longest and biggest rollercoaster and it’s made out of wood. They tell me that I can do it and that it’s not that bad, but they lied. I wanted to get on so bad but, my fear just took over and wouldn’t let me just like always. What really causes me to have a fear of heights was the movie called Final Destination. In the movie all kinds of disturbing and crazy things happen. In one of the sense there were people up on the rollercoaster riding when...
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...building and were too afraid to look over the side? Have you ever climbed a really tall tree and were too afraid to climb down? I have, when I was younger I climbed a really tall tree and when I got to the top I looked down, I was too afraid to climb back down. What I was experiencing was a fear of heights know as acrophobia. Acrophobia (n.d.) according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is an abnormal dread of being in a high place: fear of heights. I believe that most people become a little scared when it comes to heights. There is nothing wrong with having acrophobia to an extent. It is a defense mechanism our bodies use to stop us from walking off cliffs. The problem is when a natural instinct becomes paranoia. For example, someone who has acrophobia would be scared, nervous, and or panic inside a safe environment like a skyscraper. Symptoms There are many symptoms of the fear of heights (acrophobia) that may occur when up on a tall building or high place. Many people with acrophobia can become dizzy, excessive sweating, nausea, sick to their stomachs, shaking, dry mouth, and unable to speak. One of the main symptoms of acrophobia is fear of dying. Some of these symptoms can then turn into a full blown anxiety attack. “Discomfort anxiety tends to be specific to certain uncomfortable or dangerous situations- and consequently shows up in such phobias as fear of heights” (Ellis, 2003, p.83). It is only believed that between 2 and 5 percent of the world’s population actually suffers...
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...not how I see it. I believe that overcoming your fears it necessary because it can show you a whole side to yourself and the world you've never experienced before. Hear me out as I used to be apart of those “typical people”, and I had no problem staying away from my fear. My fear of fish. I can still remember with vivid details my first encounter with fish, it traumatized me. I have always been weary about fish and I never really liked them but it has never developed into a phobia until… that day… the day everything changes. It started in 2011, and I was in Florida, more specifically...
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...| My traumatizing fear as a child. | | | | Teresa Wright 11/14/2015 | | | | As a child, I always had a fear of clowns because of their odd, creepy, and evil appearances. In the month of October 2008, that fear drastically evolved into a trauma; Once I watched the movie called, ‘IT’, by Stephen King. From that day forward I found myself screaming and crying at the top of my lungs every time I seen a clown. Imagining that they were evil killers just like the intimidating clown of the movie. The trauma was so intense that when there was a fund raiser event held at my elementary school , Browning Pearce , the clown Ronald McDonald was there to meet and greet every child , including me, and once it was my turn to actually see him I fainted and collapsed onto the floor . As I came to my senses, my mother, Brenda forced me to watch the movie, ‘IT', including a bunch of other clown cartoons. I had to watch them for a whole week nonstop, even before I did my homework or went to church. Watching almost 168 hours of clowns on television; I finally realized that my horror of clowns had vanished into thin air. The next day I told my mother that the anxiety was gone, so she told me to get in the car and she drove us to a local McDonalds where Ronald McDonald was at. She had me meet him again, but, this time I didn't faint; I actually thought he was a funny cool clown. In conclusion, I became indomitable of clowns and with the help of my mother disciplining me to face my...
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...| My traumatizing fear as a child. | | | | Teresa Wright 11/14/2015 | | | | As a child, I always had a fear of clowns because of their odd, creepy, and evil appearances. In the month of October 2008, that fear drastically evolved into a trauma; Once I watched the movie called, ‘IT’, by Stephen King. From that day forward I found myself screaming and crying at the top of my lungs every time I seen a clown. Imagining that they were evil killers just like the intimidating clown of the movie. The trauma was so intense that when there was a fund raiser event held at my elementary school , Browning Pearce , the clown Ronald McDonald was there to meet and greet every child , including me, and once it was my turn to actually see him I fainted and collapsed onto the floor . As I came to my senses, my mother, Brenda forced me to watch the movie, ‘IT', including a bunch of other clown cartoons. I had to watch them for a whole week nonstop, even before I did my homework or went to church. Watching almost 168 hours of clowns on television; I finally realized that my horror of clowns had vanished into thin air. The next day I told my mother that the anxiety was gone, so she told me to get in the car and she drove us to a local McDonalds where Ronald McDonald was at. She had me meet him again, but, this time I didn't faint; I actually thought he was a funny cool clown. In conclusion, I became indomitable of clowns and with the help of my mother disciplining me to face my...
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...In this article, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” it is talking about the time in David Sedaris's life when he went back to school in Paris to learn the language of French. Sedaris uses fear in this piece. He fears his first day of class as he anticipates his turn to answer the teacher’s questions. This shows that just answering a few simple questions such as your own name in a new environment can cause a great deal of stress. He also recognized he was not alone, many students felt the same as he did. He worked long hours on homework and in the end realized he understood the language, although he couldn’t speak it well. But at his age he thought he would be less fearful of learning something new; instead he realized it only multiplied. That is why he used humor to ease that fear. Sedaris stated how he thought his fears would have disappeared with age. Instead they were amplified. "My fears have not vanished. Rather, they have seasoned and multiplied with age....
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...Period 2 October 26, 2012 Stepping out of comfort zone The warm summer breeze swept by bringing with it the delicious smell of hamburgers, hot dog, and chicken being grilled out in the backyard. As I ate my enormous hamburger, I sat still amazed at what I had accomplished that day. This was one of the best summer vacations I had spent with my cousin and it was one day that I would never forget. Beep! Beep! Beep! I opened my eyes and turned to look at the alarm 4:15 AM, just fivsse more minutes I told myself sleepily. “Come on wake up so you can eat something before you leave” yelled my mom from the kitchen. The morning felt cold so I put on some sweat pants and my favorite black and white long sleeve shirt. Half asleep I ate a warm, toasted, raisin bagel with a glass of milk. By 4:50, everything was packed in the car and we were ready to leave. My sisters, Patricia and Priscilla, half asleep wrapped in their blankets, walked to the car. The cold, fresh morning air hit my face as soon as I stepped out and I was suddenly wide awake. We were now on our way to Los Osos to spend the summer at my cousin Noah’s house. We entered the 10 freeway and it was completely dead, no cars were driving about it. After about an hour of driving the sun began to rise and it seemed to give life to the freeway, cars began driving onto it and before we knew it were stuck in traffic. My sisters woke up about nine so we took the next off ramp and went to nearby Denny’s to have breakfast. We all ordered...
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...Fear is more prevalent than ever in today’s society, even more so in the younger generations. This fear stems to all things from; physical, mental and especially social. Fear in the physical aspect is probably the most common, events like skydiving or roller coasters inspire more pronounced fear in our bodies. Mental fears cover a more broad area of things like Phobias and irrational fears. Deriving from the mental fears, the social aspect of fear can be one of the greatest peril to students in the education system. The fear of being judged, the fear of never being as good as your peers, the fear of failing. Mary Schmich is an author of the poem “Wear Sunscreen”, and in our of her lines she says “Do one thing every day that scares you”. This...
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...When I was six years old, I began to fear the darkness which I slept in, and the result of this got me a night light to sleep with. As the nights went on, I would try different ways to cope with my fears. Nevertheless, I would sneak down stairs and hide in various places to feel safe. Being with your parents may seem safe, but many kids can be easily scared by things they see. The events that led up to my use of a night light caused fear and worry. Twelve years ago my family moved into new house with a high echoing ceiling, and big basement with squeaky steps. At night when it was windy branches would hit our windows and make a knocking sound, the features of the new house didn’t scare me that much. I enjoyed having the luxury of having my own room. What changed all that was a movie that I watched one night called “The nightmare on Elm Street.” The slashing Freddy Krueger terrorized my dreams, and left me frantically on the ground beside my parent’s bed. By the...
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...dog in a pattern, every time he fed his dog he rang a bell. Eventually the dog associated the bell with food and would begin to salivate just on hearing the bell. That is the original experiment proving classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can cause a phobia. A phobia is a fear that is so irrational that the amount of fear is not warranted by the cause, and it interferes with the daily functioning of the sufferer. If one were to see and hear something that naturally produces a great deal of fear they may develop a phobia to similar sights and sounds. For example, if a car is heard honking and then seen and heard crashing at an intersection one might develop an irrational fear of car horns or crosswalks. Though a crosswalk at an intersection can be considered a dangerous place; if someone is so afraid to use one that they go completely out of their way to avoid it or change their plans all together, this would be considered a phobia because the level of fear is irrational and hinders the persons confidence. A phobia can be defined as an irritating fear of a stimulus that gradually evolves into a severe anxiety which can heavily disrupt and interfere with one’s daily activities. Fear naturally begins to surface in childhood, though gradually dissolves as a child ages. If a child enters...
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...Public Speaking: Fear at its Finest The day when I spot a big, black, hairy spider and refrain from screaming will most likely never come. But, the day when I am one hundred percent confident to give a public speech is somewhere in the near future. How do I know this? Through my public speaking course this semester, I completed an anxiety survey. Although I was already aware that I have a slight fear of public communication, this self-examination revealed to me my speaking apprehension score that was labeled with a specific level of anxiety. Not only, though, was I faced with a given intensity of anxiety, I was learning things about myself that I never thought I would obtain such an insight to. Moderate: the level at which my public speaking apprehension score happened to fall. I recognized right away that I wasn’t necessarily in the higher or lower range. This assisted me in looking at the glass as half full, which happens to be an obligation if I plan to eliminate this category of anxiety from my life. As I sat and thought about my score, it hit me that I over emphasized my partial fear of publicly speaking in front of large groups of people. What I thought was going to be the end of the world was really just normal amounts of tension, stress, and anxiety that I was way too easily letting get to me. Seeing these results brought to my attention strengths that can assist my in kicking public speaking anxiety: I radiate optimism, am smart and energetic, and I have confidence...
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...through my life, I was characterized as the shy girl who blended into the background like a wallflower. I never did the talking and let the others talk. It was not that I did not have anything to say, but I found it difficult on every level to vocalize my thoughts. I always feared what others would say, think or what if I failed etc. It was a never-ending list of 'what-ifs'. It grew to such an extent that I would avoid instances where I had to face people like competitions, student council interviews, elections etc. What I did not realize was that over time, the fear had become a bubble in which I was trapped and could not get out. Teachers and friends had started assuming that I had nothing to say. I realized that the only way to get my place in the society's pyramid was by doing the work assigned to me to the best of my capabilities and having excellent manners. I inculcated both in myself that I became someone whom all teachers and students depended on to get the work done. The turning point of my life came, when I decided that it was time for me to burst the bubble and face my fear of facing people. In Grade 10, I decided to join the student council of the school. It was a long process that included an interview by the coordinator and other teachers. The day they called us for interview, I was terrified. I felt like I was slipping back into the bubble without actually taking a step forward. But an old teacher of mine had told me these words which I will never forget...
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...Fear of an Apocalypse Shalene Walsh Professor Sanpierto ENG 151-07 04/27/2015 Table of Contents Abstract Page 3 Annotated Bibliography Page 4 Introduction Page 6 Fear of an Apocalypse Page 7 Conclusion Page 13 Abstract People have many fears in the world whether it be heights, bugs, death, etc. I fear an apocalypse, just knowing that one day all we have come to love and enjoy can be gone in an instant. I fear that happening and the many different things that can cause the end of the world. Some people fear the end of the world and others don’t really care about it. I know for me if there were zombies coming after me or any other scenario I wouldn’t know what to do. I have wrote about each individual scenario that could cause the end of the world. I talked about how each one affects us. Some people fear an apocalypse so much they have either killed themselves over it or even dwell on it so much their life becomes surrounded by it. I wouldn’t say my life is surrounded by it, but just knowing something, anything, could happen is scary. I feel all the different...
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