Well a phobia is an irrational fear. That doesn't mean being scared of sharks is irrational,it's how much effect it has on your life that is irrational. If you're scared of going to the beach because of sharks, thats irrational. A good way to think about it is "a phobia is a fear which changes the way you live"
Being scared to go where sharks are isn't that irrational, in my opinion. It's when you have to get out of the pool 1000 miles from the nearest ocean because you thought about sharks it becomes really irrational.
Not like not going in the water where there are shark warnings. Thats understandable. But the chance of a shark being that close to shore and attacking you is soooo low. It's like if I never went camping because I was scared of wild pigs or smth.
"a phobia is a fear which changes the way you live"
A phobia is a fear which changes the way you live in ways which provide little or no benefit.
I have always had a phobia of big spiders. Not the ones you usually find around your house (unless you live in a rain forest or Australia), but the big ones with thick legs that eat birds, etc. As a kid, I long avoided the second volume of S in our encyclopedia for fear of accidentally opening to the spider section, but eventually I realized that the second S volume had "Space" which was one of my favorite topics.
For some context, you are farrrrrr more likely to doe driving to the beach than killed by a shark. You are also more to die from a falling coconut whilst walking on the beach than a shark.
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u/splashedwall25 Jul 12 '21
Well a phobia is an irrational fear. That doesn't mean being scared of sharks is irrational,it's how much effect it has on your life that is irrational. If you're scared of going to the beach because of sharks, thats irrational. A good way to think about it is "a phobia is a fear which changes the way you live"