Britt Jones
If you’re feeling jittery or out of sorts this week, there may be a totally logical explanation for it.
The way we feel doesn’t always have to come down to what we eat, who we see, or the events that transpired on the day.
For some, it’s out of their hands.
In fact, it could be down to phobias.
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OK, so when you think of phobias, you typically expect it to be something like a fear of flying, spiders, or large bodies of water.
However, this isn’t the case here.
Phobias - an intense and irrational fear of an object, animals, feeling, or whatever else - can sometimes be hard to detect.
Sometimes, they are obvious and can even disrupt your life. And, according to the NHS, phobias are considered a type of anxiety disorder.
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It occurs when a person has an ‘exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object’. The sufferer can expect to feel things like nausea, sweating, increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and shaking.
So, what does this have to do with this week?
Well, you could be unknowingly experiencing an early bout of samhainophobia.
Samhainophobia is a fear of Halloween, which is happening next Friday (31 October).
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This extremely rare issue, according to CPD Online, leads to sufferers feeling anxious whenever they think about Halloween.
Whether it’s due to a traumatic past experience around this time of year, or something else, it’s pretty hard for those to manage when Halloween is around the corner.
Even harder on the day, too.
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The name of the phobia comes from the Gaelic word Samhain, a pagan religious festival from an ancient Celtic tradition celebrated from 31 October to 1 November.
This is the day where the dead are supposedly able to contact us from beyond the grave as the line between the two planes are supposed to be at its thinnest.
If you have been having bouts of panic attacks, rapid breathing, nausea, trembling or shaking. Intense sweating, or dizziness whenever you think about next week - it could be this phobia.
For those who experience it, thinking about people wearing Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating, Halloween traditions, knocking on a strangers’ door or going out in the dark during trick-or-treating, Halloween-themed social events, or characters and figures associated with Halloween could set it off.
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Phobias can become so distressing that a person will plan their lives around it, and if this sounds like you, you can ask a GP for help manage your symptoms so that you’re not overwhelmed each year.