Puzzled by irrational and inexplicable fears

While she was at high school, my daughter arrived home at the end of the day. Instead of the usual cheerful greeting, she burst through the front door at high speed and ran through the house peeling off her uniform as she went. The reason … she thought she had a spider on her coat.

That was years ago and we’ve encountered many spiders since that event. I really thought she was over her phobia until she arrived home in her car. Usually, she graceful uncoils but, on this particular occasion, she rocketed out of the door, threw her coat on the floor and proceeded to jump up and down. While she would never hurt any creature, she was quite hysterical.

This behaviour attracted the attention of the neighbours, the dogs leapt around thinking it was a game and I was left to give everything a good shake.

What puzzles me is why she is so afraid of spiders when no one in the family has ever show a fear of these creatures in front of her.

Could it be some in-built historical memory designed to protect her from creepy crawlies? Fears can occur because of previous experiences, for example a visit to an unsympathetic dentist, and isn’t always a rational feeling.

One of my friends is absolutely terrified of buttons (which she cannot explain) while another avoids zips. Presumably, she got stuck in her anorak as a child and, having been tied into my pixie hood for an entire day (no one thought to use scissors), I quite understand her terror.

Another friend confessed a fear of heights, although I suspect this is more a fear of falling, while a work colleague declared that he was afraid of water and disliked showers.

Our ancestors were right to be fearful of sabre-tooth tigers and inexplicable events, such as a volcano erupting or an earthquake, but where on earth does a fear of cotton wool come from?

Personally, I’ve managed (as a mum) to control any qualms I may have had about insects, reptiles and other living things. I don’t particularly have a fear complex about anything, although I do suffer a repulsion that is borderline on the “afraid” list.

While I love the taste of beetroot (which is very good for you), I cannot eat anything if it has “bled” into the other foods.

I think this is a direct result of staying school lunches as a child and enduring the great spoon slop, when cooks, faced with a multitude of whining school children, dollop the food on the plate at high speed. I remember my beetroot splatting on the plate and contaminating my mashed potato. I freaked out, never stayed for lunch again, and it has stuck with me ever since.

Fear is personal, it’s a necessary mechanism to protect us from potential harm and can often be quite debilitating.

I’m not afraid of flying, but if they serve a beetroot salad during the flight, I may just need a tranquiliser.