The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-10-06
FEAR AS A DISEASE.
The Doctors Have Named Several Spe.
cies of Phobia.

Fear as disease had not received
serious attention until recent years Now il
is recognized by the medical profession
that there is whole list of phobias, a:
they are called, which are quite distinct
from a normal and legitimate condition o.
fear due to some natural cause. Thus
there is the fear Of open or closed places
fear of high places, fear Of men or WON
en-, fear of crowds and Of solitudes, fear
of animals, fear of insects, fear of dark
ness, fear OF accidents, fear of fire fear
OF travel, and in fact, fear of ANYTHING.
| There is no end to the absurdity Of
acts which may be oecasoned by these
| persistent Ideas of fear Those who pos
sess the fear of riding on a train find
no pleasure in travelling; those who have
fear of closed places do not enjoy going
to church, and generally always sit near
the door ready to fly at the first sign of
danger, Various fears may also develop
IN connection with the occupation of the
patient; for instance, BARRIERS sometimes
suffer these attacks whenever they see
a razor or telegraphers when they catch
sight OF their instruments, which finally
neoessltateS giving up the occupation.
Among women especially there occurs
the fear of dirt, eontagion or infection,
The countless bacteria always present in
the AIR are the chief source of ANNOYANCE
The patients are always .complaiuing Of
bad air and are always throwing omen
the windows. Books are especially avoided
as possible source of contagion, Patients
with fear Of injury will throw away all
needles in the house or they will not wash
windows Tor fear that the glass might
break and cut them. The intellect in these
cases is not only undisturbed but NAV
be unusually good Patients exhibit
throughout pronounced feeling of mental
illness and frequently a clear insight into
the morbidity of the individual SYMPTOMS
The more common Of the various phobias
as classified by Beard are as follows;
Claustrophobia, fear Of narrow or closed
places; agoraphobia fear of open places.
astraphohia, fear of lightning; monophobia'
fear of being alone; pathophobia. fear of
disease: mysophobia, fear Of contamina-
ton; siderodromophobia, fear of railroad
travel; aerophobia, fear of being al
height or looking. over precipices: thana
tophobia, fear of death,
1t is to be emhasized that the phobias
IN question are not normal fears, based
as normal or natural fears are, on some
reasonable lustifying experience. A reason.
able ar@ justifable normal fear Of light.
nlng r.ght arise after the experience of
having been at some time in a house
struck by lightning.
Other fears, such as the fear Of riding
IN buggy after having been in a RIM
away, or the fear of a voyage at sea or
railway after a frightful shipwreck or
railway accident, is a more or less natural |
or reasonable fear as the fear of hoodoos |
and ghosts Is among the superstitious mr. |
those accustomed to ghost stories and ira
dltlon of goblin visitation
These fears. do, not require warped
brain for their Judgment, though the
weakened brain may be more wildly i'm
pressed by them To be regarded rs
of disease these fears mnst he
Troundless so far as influences external
o the BRAN are concerned. They must
proceed from a morbid state of the brain
md not from. properly exciting external
'auses: They must be fears peculiar to tba
Individual under peculiar circumstances If
cerebral disturbance and not fear common
Q Others and due to causes that naturallv
'roduce alarm and frighten-Medical Rec
,rd i'ee