• Question: Why do some people have phobias and other people do not?

    Asked by pokemaniac to Emma, Jimmy, Janet, Niall, Simon on 18 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Niall Crawford

      Niall Crawford answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      Some phobias are ingrained into humans due to our ancestors probably being wary of them, for example heights, spiders and snakes. Our ancestors will have survived by having a carefullness about them, and for some that could have spilled over into phobias. Other things we can get ourselves from bad experiences or their portrayal in the media

    • Photo: James Holloway

      James Holloway answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      Yes like lots of people are scared of sharks, I have a friend who wont even get in the English sea because of it! there was a film called Jaws which made a lot of people scared of sharks. It seems that people can also ‘catch’ phobias when they are young – we can learn to fear things by watching other people being scared.

    • Photo: Emma Ashley

      Emma Ashley answered on 19 Mar 2013:

      Yep, I also think it may be due to experiences that have happened to ourselves. I’m a bit claustrophobic because I got trapped when I was little.

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