Johnny Depp won't enter a circus for fear of getting a glimpse of a clown. Butterflies petrify Nicole Kidman. Orlando Bloom is terrified of pigs. Billy Bob Thornton calls hotels ahead of time to make sure the inexplicable object of his fear, antique furniture, is not present at his arrival. Yet these occurrences aren't so rare, with phobias affecting an estimated 19.2 million adult Americans, as cited by the National Institute of Mental Health. Students find themselves part of the statistic through their own experiences with this psychological phenomenon.
UP TOO HIGH
Sophomore English education major Josh Welk has a common fear — heights. He said has experienced this recently on campus. When in certain circumstances, he said he finds himself unable to physically look up at high objects.
"There was a hanging art piece in the Atrium, and as I was walking downstairs I stopped to try to look at it above me, and couldn't bring myself to do it," Welk said. "It freaked me out and I could barely angle my head upwards."
Welk said he becomes terrified if he is high up.
"If I'm in a higher spot myself, I stay in the middle or near a wall," he said. "When my girlfriend made me go on a roller coaster, I can just remember absolute fear. My knuckles were white, my eyes were bolted shut, and when we had our first drop, I screamed a scream of pure terror. All I could think is that I am going to die."
GOING IN CIRCLES
Some students have less common fears. Kathleen Anderson*, junior education health major, and her younger sister have trypophobia.
"My sister is afraid of small circles close together," Anderson said of her sibling. "The first time I noticed this was when I was making lunch for her when she was in the fourth-grade, and we were home alone. I made SpaghettiOs, and I had burned them and it made a pattern of circles on the bottom of the pan, and I showed it to her because I hadn't seen that happen before. She looked, turned around and screamed all the way back to her room."
According to the American Psychiatric Association, a phobia is an irrational and excessive fear of an object or situation. Some psychologists believe the cause lies in a combination of genetics mixed with environmental and social causes. Anderson said her sister's small-circle phobia could be inherited.
"I myself feel uncomfortable with seeing a pattern of small circles together, like when you get the heebie-jeebies," Anderson said. "Since then we've talked about it, and my mom agrees it bothers her, too. Like she's told me that she doesn't like knit clothing because of all of the holes in it. And it's not like I'm afraid of circles, it's just that when they're tiny and clumped together that creeps me out. It's the same reason I don't like bugs; too many legs, too many eyes."
When Anderson asked her sister about the reasoning behind this fear, she responded that it reminds her of a rash, and she get's paranoid about the rash getting onto her skin.
"I've experimented with my sister's phobia since then, seeing which patterns bother her," Anderson said. "I'll find something that resembles that pattern and be like ‘look at this!' and she'd look and then scream and yell at me and look away immediately after. Now she knows my tone of voice when I'm about to do that and avoids it."
IN COSTUME
Freshman social work major Renee Osmeyer has had a phobia perpetuated by a Ball State mascot.
"I was terrified of the Late Nite owl," Osmeyer said. "The thing about mascots that scare me is that you never know who is in there."
A CSI episode involving mascots added to her fear, she said.
"One time, I pushed someone in between [Hootie, the Nite Owl] mascot and me and almost knocked someone over trying to run around the corner," Osmeyer said. "I warned my friends that if that owl comes near me, I am running."
Yet, seeing mascots in a different light has helped her overcome that fear.
"At one event, there was my favorite character, Winnie the Pooh, and all of the mascots were acting so adorable that I couldn't resist liking them," Osmeyer said. "At first I was apprehensive, but I found they were really cute and friendly. Now, I kind of feel silly about it, it's just a costume."
FEARING EMBARRASSMENT
Knowledge of phobias has grown, providing treatment and ways for individuals to overcome their phobias. According to the AllPsych Journal, there are three classes of phobias: agoraphobia, specific phobia and social phobia. Agoraphobia is the anxiety of inescapable situations and includes panic attack symptoms. Specific phobias are those that are geared to specific situations like coulrophobia, or fear of clowns. There are more than 350 different types of specific phobias to date.
Social phobias are the excessive fear of embarrassment in social situations. They are extremely intrusive and can have debilitating effects on relationships. A study of 10,123 American teenagers this year concluded that, of the students who called themselves shy, 12.4 percent actually met the criteria to be diagnosed with social phobia, according to Fox News.
"We do live in a social world and because of that, people are more self-conscious about that part of their lives, while some don't care about social standards, others have a need to be accepted and it becomes an issue," Osmeyer said.
*Name has been changed per request of the source
Read More
The Muncie Area Career Center has two programs for learning how to teach pre-K
By Hannah Amos / April 21, 2025Current early childhood educators can pursue credentials, while high schoolers learn early childhood education hands-on.
Doechii’s success shows authenticity always wins
By Hannah Seipel / April 10, 2025Doechii’s story tells us that being true to ourselves is the only way to find success. From choosing sobriety to deciding that a mixtape was the best path for her free artistic creation and even sharing with her fans that it’s okay to not be okay, Doechii proves that authenticity always wins.
History of: ‘The Legend of Zelda’ franchise
By Sam Jasionowski / February 28, 2025With The Legend of Zelda’s franchise reaching its 39th anniversary, the stories that build up the franchise are chalked full of in-game history that make each game an important addition to the entire timeline.
