Don’t be scared
It’s almost Halloween — a fun time to be scared by ghosts, witches and creepy things that jump out in the night. But most of the time, being scared isn’t fun at all.
Everyday fears
It’s normal and OK to be afraid of things. It can be scary to try something new or difficult, like take an airplane ride for the first time or take a spelling test. Sometimes you’ll find that doing the thing you’re scared of will help you get over your fear. You might find you love flying in planes and that spelling tests aren’t so hard after all.
Phobias
Some fears are a little tougher to get over. These fears, called phobias, keep coming back no matter what you do. People with phobias are afraid of things that most people aren’t. Some phobias seem funny, like turophobia, which is the fear of cheese, or anthophobia, the fear of flowers. But to the people who are afraid, the fear is very real. Even if they know cheese or flowers are harmless (and even nice!) they get scared.
Sometimes people develop phobias because they had a bad experience. If you got sick after eating cheese, you just might think twice about going near it again. If a dog bit you, you might develop a fear of dogs and get scared around even nice ones. But some just seem to come out of nowhere, and no one really knows why they do.
Handling fears and phobias
Sometimes, fears help us make good decisions. We don’t climb up a wobbly ladder because we’re afraid we might fall. We don’t reach out and touch a hot burner on the stove because we’re afraid we might get burned. But when a fear is keeping you from doing something you need or want to be doing, that can make things tough. Sometimes the answer is just to do the thing you’re afraid to do, but sometimes you need more help from a parent, teacher or doctor. It’s OK to be afraid, but if your fear is getting in the way of fun, talk to an adult who can help you work through it.