nonfiction/Health

When

FEAR
iStockphoto.com

Takes Over
Your Life

Scholastic Action | May 5, 2014

LEXILE 940

Everyone feels afraid from time to time. But

millions of people suffer from phobiaspowerful
fears that keep them from living normal lives.
For years, Kyle Hargreaves,
13, had a secret fearand
it wasnt of spiders or of
heights. Kyle was terrified
of mascotsthose silly,
costumed characters you
see at sporting events and
amusement parks.
Just seeing a
mascot caused Kyle
anxiety: His heart
would hammer
as he perspired
and struggled to
breathe. Once, at a
hockey game near
his hometown in
Pennsylvania, mascots
caused him such distress
that his father thought he
was having a stroke.
Whats wrong with

iStockphoto.com (Dentist, Cat); Shutterstock (Clown)

Vocabulary
anxiety: a feeling of
worry or nervousness
irrational: not based in
reality; not making sense
hereditary: passed
down from parent to child
before the child is born
triggered: caused
suddenly to happen
interact: to talk or do
something with another
person or thing

Dentophobia
Fear of Dentists
consciousness. Scientists
arent sure exactly what
causes phobias. Some could
be hereditary. Others
could result from negative
experiencesfor example, if
a dog bites you, you might
develop a fear of dogs.

Fear vs. Phobia

obia
Ailuroph
ts
Fear of Ca
me? Kyle wondered. He
felt powerless to overcome
his terrorand as time
progressed, the problem
only escalated.

Total Terror
Kyle suffered from
masklophobia, a fear of
mascots. More than
19 million Americans
suffer from some kind of
phobia [FOH-bee-uh]an
extreme, irrational,
and long-lasting fear
of something.
When people with
phobias encounter
the object of their
fear, they may panic,
vomit, or even lose

To understand phobias,
its necessary to understand
fear. Fear is caused by
a reaction in the brain:
When we detect something
potentially dangerous,
like a snake, part of the
brain signals us to react
immediatelyso we jump
back or break into a sweat.
Soon afterward, another
part of the brain helps us

phobia
Coulro lowns
C
Fear of

www.scholastic.com/actionmag | May 5, 2014

Aviophobia
Fear of Flying

Turophobia
se
Fear of Chee

Arachnophobia
Fear of Spiders
decide what to do next: If its
actually a snake, it signals
us to run away; if its only a
stick that resembles a snake,
it signals us to relax.
But being afraid is different
from having a phobia: When
a person has a phobia, fear
is triggered by something
even though the person
realizes it isnt threatening.
Also, the feelings of terror
dont recede. People with
phobias often understand
that their fear is illogical
yet they cant overcome it.

Dont Avoid It
People with phobias take
extreme measures to avoid
whatever it is that they fear.
People who are afraid of
small spaces may climb 30
flights of stairs rather than
step inside an elevator, and
people who fear public places
may be homebound for
decades.
But avoiding what youre
afraid of exacerbates
phobias, according to Amit
10

Scholastic Action | May 5, 2014

Etkin, a professor at Stanford

University. If you dont
interact with the object of
your fear, Etkin says, your
brain will never recognize
that its harmless.

Kyle was nervous every

step of the way, but his
terror had disappeared by
days end. To prevent his
phobia from returning, Kyle
interacted with mascots on
several other occasions over
the following month.
To celebrate Kyles
accomplishment, his
family took a vacation in a
place thats famous for its
numerous mascotsDisney
World!

Matthew Hutson

Facing Fear
After the hockey game,
Kyle was determined to
overcome his phobia. His
father took him to a clinic,
where Kyle was treated
with a method called
exposuremeaning he was
forced to confront the object
of his phobia step-by-step.
First, a man carrying
a bunny costume
appeared. Kyle
started to panic, but
he controlled himself
and didnt run away.
Next, the man put on the
entire costume except for
the head. Then he played
basketball with Kyle.
Eventually, the man put
on the head. Additional
mascots appeared and
joined the game.

Kyle, inset,
is no longer
afraid of
mascots like
this one.