e in the United States suffer from phobias of one kind or another. Of these people, as many as 1 million cannot function well enough to leave their own homes. Eventhough many of the fears may seem bizarre or even eccentric, we see from the very clear statistics, that it is important to take all phobias seriously, no matter how unimportant or weird it may appear at the moment. Normal avoidance behavior occurs when a person seeks to minimize possible disaster by staying away from potential danger. This behavior is natural. For instance, if people know that there have been assaults on a dark street in a violent neighborhood, they will avoid walking on that street. Similarly, reported sightings of sharks near a public beach will convince a majority of people to stay out of the water even if they themselves have not seen the sharks. For most people, avoidance behavior is simply a matter of thinking sensible precautions.Phobic people also practice avoidance. Similar to the case of Anne T., a claustrophobic does everything possible to stay away from closets, elevators, and other enclosed spaces. A person with aviophobia - fear of flying, practices avoidance by refusing to set foot on an airplane. According to doctors, avoidance is not a problem if the behavior succeeds in eliminating phobic reactions and does not significantly disrupt the person's life. However, with phobic people there is always the danger that avoidance behavior will increase. The person may became so obsessed with staying out of harm's way that fear begins to control his or her life. First, the subject avoids only those object s or situations that are directly related to a specific phobia. But little by little, the person perceives that other seemingly harmless situations might somehow lead to "dangerous" ones, so he or she beings to form a very elaborate pattern designed to stay as far from danger as possible. Finally, as one phobic person explained, " "You a...
