What fiends lurk within our hearts?

By: Dino Odobasic

Sohpmore Ami Ikanovic: Fear of tests (Testophobia)

Case History: Ikanovic has been scared to get into ninth grade ever since he heard that there are final tests about everything that you learned at the end of the semester.

Nothing has ever scared him so much in his life. “Just thinking about a huge test makes me feel nauseous,” Ikanovic said.

As the end of the ninth grade year came by, he got progressively more scarred. Then the day came. Finals were here, and Ikanovic was as scared as can be. “My mind was throbbing,” he said. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he was going to completely fail his tests. “I’ve never experienced so much fear,” he said.

Prognosis for Recovery: Ikanovic doesn’t ever plan on overcoming his fear for tests since it’s something that he is going to have to deal with.

Junior Jordan Taylorson: Fear of mascots/ costumes (Masklophobia)

Case History: In a trip to Disneyland with her parents back when she was six years old,

Taylorson was filled with excitement and the thrill to be at the best place a kid can go, but as soon as she got to Disneyland and her parents paid at the gate, she saw the most horrendous sight she had ever seen.

Standing right by the entrance, waving at people, hugging children and posing with visitors were Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Daffy Duck. “I don’t think I have ever been so scared in my life,” Taylorson said.

She glued herself to her mother’s side and avoided every single character that whole day.

Prognosis for Recovery: Taylorson said she will try to overcome her fear in the near future because she wants to enjoy the mascots and character costumes and not be so freaked out by them.

Sophomore Dejvid Husidic: Fear of flying (Aviophobia)

Case History: Husidic has been scared of airplanes ever since his parents decided to visit Bosnia.

He got on the airplane and had no idea what was going to happen. “I had no idea what we were doing,” he said.

Time went on and finally the plane started to move. Husidic started to get a little scared at this time, but his mother calmed him. The plane got liftoff and he was not having any of that. He was the only one screaming in the whole plane. “I’m pretty sure I passed out from screaming, so hard at one point,” he said.

His mother and father tried calming him down for a long time. He fell asleep for a while, but woke up during the night.

Husidic woke up and forgot where he was but needed to go to the bathroom. Asking some of the people around him, he managed to find his way, passing a window. As soon as he looked out the window, he felt nauseous. The screaming started all over again.

Prognosis for Recovery: “I plan on overcoming my fear of plane rides as time passes on since I go to Bosnia quite a lot,” Husidic said.

Junior Ben Louviere: Fear of spiders (Arachnophobia)

Case History: Watching television back when he was five years old, Louviere was flipping through the channels, and Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets was on. Not knowing what he was really watching, he decided to just leave it on and continue watching.

Time goes on, and he is really starting to enjoy the movie, up until the scene when the giant scary spider, Aragog, started talking. “It completely traumatized me,” Louviere said.

Ever since that day, spiders have given him the ”heebie jeebies,” he said.

Prognosis for Recovery: About a year ago, Louviere was getting ready for a shower, like he does every morning. He pushed his shower curtain to the side, and lying right in the center of the tub was a massive brown spider.

“I fled from my shower screaming in panic,” Louviere said. He has never seen a bigger spider in his life. He fled to his mother telling her to go kill it.

To this day, he doesn’t plan on ever trying to overcome this fear. He said he believes that there are some things that you just can’t change, and spiders being “very scary creatures,” he said he won’t even try.

 

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