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There are fears that come as a result of childhood trauma that we may never get over. Here are a few from a list of several thousand. I chose those beginning with the letter "B" as a manageable list there are about 4 times as many under "a" or "e" for example
Bacillophobia- Fear of microbes.
Bacteriophobia- Fear of bacteria.
Ballistophobia- Fear of missiles or bullets.
Bolshephobia- Fear of Bolsheviks.
Barophobia- Fear of gravity.
Basophobia or Basiphobia- Inability to stand. Fear of walking or falling.
Bathmophobia- Fear of stairs or steep slopes.
Bathophobia- Fear of depth.
Batophobia- Fear of heights or being close to high buildings.
Batrachophobia- Fear of amphibians, such as frogs, newts, salamanders, etc.
Belonephobia- Fear of pins and needles. (Aichmophobia)
Bibliophobia- Fear of books.
Blennophobia- Fear of slime.
Bogyphobia- Fear of bogeys or the bogeyman.
Botanophobia- Fear of plants.
Bromidrosiphobia or Bromidrophobia- Fear of body smells.
Brontophobia- Fear of thunder and lightning.
Bufonophobia- Fear of toads.
3. But sometimes fears strap us and keep us from doing God's will.
4. One fear we all deal with is the fear of life's uncertainties.
5. It is normal and okay to be afraid, but we can't let it strap us. Ps. 56:3 says, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."
Charity Chill: Donor-financed organizations report flat or declining giving year-to-date. Reasons are economy jitters, stock market gloom, lower consumer confidence and election uncertainty. Wealthy donors are waiting to see if the estate tax is rolled back¾a Bush promise. Pledges of $1 million or more are down 14% since August. (WSJ 12/1)
Cell Phone Codependency A growing number of experts have identified and begun to study a distinct downside in that: cell phone use may be making us less autonomous and less capable of solving problems on our own, even when the answers are right in front of us. The ease of obtaining instant advice via cell phone encourages users to respond to any uncertainty, crucial or trivial, by dialing instead of deciding. They foster a curious dependency and may erode self-reliance. Oddly, being able to keep constant track of friends and family can introduce a whole new kind of insecurity. The more available you are, the more worrisome it is when you can’t reach people. (NY Times 10/10/04)
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Bible Market Shifts: Devotional Bible sales are declining and study Bible’s are increasing says Tom Mockabee, Zon-dervan Sr. VP. People buy 9 or more Bibles because of life’s tensions, uncertainties and crises. They are searching for something they can rely on. Bibles for children are one of the hottest moving categories in the market while the teen ma...
THE STRESS OF UNCERTAINTY
Daniel Gilbert (a psychologist at Harvard), citing a recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, said "that Americans are smiling less and worrying more than they were a year ago, that happiness is down and sadness is up, that we are getting less sleep and smoking more cigarettes, that depression is on the rise."
The real problem is not financial, he said. It’s not that people don’t have enough money. It’s that people don’t know what’s going to happen. Will I have a job next week? What’s ahead in the future for me?
The future seems ominous, or at the very least uncertain, and that uncertainty puts people on edge. Professor Gilbert referred to a Dutch experiment where researchers told one group of people that they would receive 20 strong shocks. The researchers then told a second group that they would receive only three strong shocks along with 17 mild ones, but they wouldn’t know when the strong shocks would come. The results? Subjects in the second group sweated more and experienced faster heart rates. It was the uncertainty that caused their discomfort, not the intensity of the shocks.
Another study showed that colostomy patients who knew that their colostomies would be permanent were happier six months after their procedures than those who were told there might be a chance of reversing their colostomies. Once again, uncertainty caused the unhappiness.
Daniel Gilbert concluded, "An uncertain future leaves us stranded in an unhappy present with nothing to do but wait...Our national gloom is real enough, but it isn’t a matter of insufficient funds. It’s a matter of insufficient certainty."
(Daniel Gilbert, "What You Don’t Know Makes You Nervous," The Week magazine, 6-5-09, p. 14. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Dungeon and Dreams, 9/8/2011)
