Матеріал для читання. Reading for A2-B2 students. Phobias. Discussion.

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the adult afraid of the light?                                           —Maurice Freehill

Causes

Phobias usually develop in late childhood, adolescence, or early          adult life in response to a frightening event or situation. However, it is not always clear where phobias come from.

      The cause of simple phobias is not always known. Occasionally a simple phobia can be traced to an earlier experience.

For      example, a child being trapped in an enclosed confined space may develop claustrophobia when they are older.

Sometimes, certain phobias, such as a fear of spiders, run in families. This is probably because children learn to fear, rather than inherit the phobia from a family member.

The causes of complex phobias, such as agoraphobia and social phobia, are unclear. Social phobias may begin due to an anxious and intense experience in a social situation. Or it may be that your social confidence did not have the chance to fully develop past the normal stage of shyness of a young child.

• Do you have a phobia?
• What are the main causes of a phobia?
• What can we do to prevent a phobia?
• What is a phobia?
• What would you advise those who have a phobia?

1. Which phobias are the strangest for you?
2. Which ones you hear for the first time?
3. Which ones are familiar to you?
4. Why do people get water phobia?
5. What other phobias do you know?
6. What is your childhood fear?
7. What is the strangest phobia you have?
8. Which is more unnerving, spiders, snakes, millipedes or some other creepy crawly?
9. What do you think: do genius people have any phobias?
10.                     What is the fear of books called?
11. What are the symptoms of a phobia?
12.                     What is the outlook of people with cynophobia?
13.                     Do you believe you have more than one phobia?
14.                     Are you afraid of dentists? Is it a phobia?