Top Ten Fears

These are the top ten phobias in the United States
A phobia, by the way, is an irrational fear.

1. Acrophobia: fear of heights
2. Aerophobia: fear of flying
3. Agoraphobia: fear of panicking and then not being able to escape (usually explained as a fear of crowds, as in Emily Dickinson)
4. Arachnophobia: fear of spiders
5. Brontophobia: fear of thunder
6. Carcinophobia: fear of cancer
7. Claustrophobia: fear of closed spaces
8. Emetophobia: fear of vomiting
9. Necrophobia: fear of death
10. Sociophobia: fear of people or social situations

Why do we have phobias? And how many of these can you truthfully say you have been stricken with at some point? I can admit to 1, 3, 4, and 6, at least. Do phobias help us in any way? Typically, fear is learned as a helpful response to avoid danger or injury. A fear of say, cancer, is only a waste of energy, and yet why do some find themselves victims to these fears? What can we do to avoid them? Are some of us hardwired for fear?

I think that perhaps our fears are a reflection of an insecurity or a projection of fear onto a common or inane object. For example, perhaps my fear of spiders is a projection of a more rational fear (say abandonment or failure) onto the simple insect? Another thing: no one ever said that the things people fear the most are irrational because they are not scary or dangerous. Perhaps some of us have evolved a super sensitive sense of fear to things with relatively low risk through one bad experience or a simple neurosis. Flying can be dangerous. It is rational to fear heights to stop one from plunging to his death. Crowds can be very dangerous, as a person could be trampled or assaulted, and we all know the dangers of mob mentality. Some spiders are poisonous, (and well the others are downright gross) and should not be touched. I do not need to go into all of the fears, but each has a reason for its legitimacy, and yet the phobia is like carrying this fear past normal boundaries into obsession. Any thoughts?