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Creativity against fear

About fears and phobias: do you sometimes suffer from them too?

Everyone has fears from time to time. This is normal, human and often even healthy: fear protects us, makes us alert and helps us make choices.

But phobias go one step further.

A phobia is an intense, irrational fear of something that in reality does not pose a real danger. The body reacts as if there is a life-threatening situation.

Adventure with a little mouse

Recently, during a watercolor course I took with a friend, we stood around the teacher with the whole group. She was giving a demonstration, everyone was close together, and I was looking over the shoulders.

Suddenly I saw something moving from the corner of my right eye. I didn’t realize it right away. It could just as well have been a movement of a foot. But when I looked closer, I saw a small mouse slipping between our feet towards the wall.

I doubted for two seconds whether I should mention it… But I wisely kept my mouth shut. The group would have gone into a panic. And the hostess would probably have been embarrassed to death.

So yes, I’m quite proud that I just quietly let that moment pass.

In the evening, during our walk in the park, I told the story to my girlfriend.

Her reaction? Pure hysteria. At first, she didn’t even want to set foot in the teacher’s house.

Little did I know that she has a phobia of mice. This is apparently called murophobia or musophobia. Both terms are used for an extreme fear of mice and rats.

I’m not a fan of mice myself, although, it’s not so bad.

Rats, on the other hand, I find less pleasant, especially because we live in the countryside. Sometimes you see the young ones walking across the lawn, the older rats show less quickly. They are smarter. You only notice their tracks in the grass or in the snow.

Apparently, rats always walk exactly the same route. If you want to set a trap, put it on one of those routes.

Other common phobias

Phobias are common, much more common than people think. A few well-known examples:

• Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
• Acrophobia – fear of heights
• Claustrophobia – fear of small or enclosed spaces
• Agoraphobia – fear of open spaces, crowds or situations that are difficult to get away from
• Emetophobia – fear of vomiting (yourself or others)
• Aviationphobia – fear of flying

A phobia feels extreme, physical and overwhelming. You know it’s exaggerated, but your body doesn’t care.

My own fears: irrational attacks during menopause

I don’t have any phobias myself, but I have had irrational fears, especially during menopause. These were no longer ordinary worries, but real fears that could suddenly paralyze me completely, actually more phobias.

I remember moments when I was in a traffic jam and couldn’t leave. Suddenly I felt a wave of fear take over my whole body. That suffocation, that panic, that feeling that you are nailed down, totally cramped… It’s really intense.

Even during translation work, deadlines or unexpected assignments. For example, that one time when I suddenly had to translate an entire text in twenty minutes. This was in the days when translation sites did not yet exist. Then such an anxiety attack could throw me completely off balance.

The phobias have disappeared. Now my fears are much more generic: fear of the future, fear of death. The big life questions we all have.

Anxiety attack on the plane: everyone is waiting

Recently we took a plane, and experienced a haunting moment.

The plane was ready to take off when a young man suddenly had a severe anxiety attack (aviationphobia). He wanted to disembark immediately, just as we were about to take off.

Something like that is not solved overnight.

When a passenger disembarks, the crew must check all luggage.

First, everyone in the cabin has to indicate which bag is theirs.

The staff must also search and remove the baggage of that one person in the cargo hold, for security reasons.

The whole plane had to wait. There was no other option.

That boy must have felt miserable. It has to be really bad before you make such a decision.

Fear is invisible… until it isn’t anymore.

What can you do about fear? A few gentle suggestions

Everyone deals with anxiety differently, but these are things that do help for many people:

1. Breathing exercises

Calm breathing calms the nervous system. For example: 4 counts in, 6 counts out.

2. Focus on yourself

Feel your feet, your body, your surroundings.

3. Talk about it

With a friend, partner or therapist.

4. Write

Diary, lists, writing down emotions has an enlightening and organizing effect.

5. Be creative

Watercolor, sketches, colors, handicrafts…

Being creative takes you out of that fear circle.

6. Exercise

Small walks work wonders.

Fear is energy that cannot go away, exercise helps.

7. Being gentle with yourself

Fear is not a weakness.

It is a message from your body that it is just too much.

If you would like to share your own story about fear, feel free to send me an email.

You can find more of these stories on my site under my stories.

Emma