![]() John, a former professor of counseling psychology, decided to look for a way to deal with her fear by changing that mental picture. Whenever there’s a catastrophe that’s in the media, exposure to the media makes it a lot worse because we see pictures over and over again of things collapsing.” “We see motion pictures running through our heads. “When we go through some kind of trauma it comes back to us through imagery,” St. For a long time after the quake, she feared the roof of her home would cave in. John of Spokane, a retired professor at Gonzaga University, lived through a California earthquake about a decade ago. “As frightening as the feelings are, they’re not dangerous.” ![]() They’re serious and they’re treatable,” Ross says. And phobias can cause major life disruptions – forcing people to avoid traveling, give up jobs and steer clear of relationships, in some cases. Phobias don’t care about statistics (like you’re more likely to die driving to a bridge rather than across one). “They’re afraid of the fear themselves … The person is always aware it’s irrational.” “It’s a fear where if the person is afraid, the person will avoid common everyday objects or situations that don’t really pose any threat or danger,” she says. ![]() About one in eight adults suffers from phobia, an irrational fear, of bridges, heights, animals, flying, elevators or other things, Ross says. Phobia, though, takes fear to the next level. If a bridge seems structurally unsound, lobby whoever you can to get it fixed. In that case, people should learn what they can about the safety of the bridges they cross, Ross says. It makes sense to be fearful and anxious about bridges immediately after seeing images of one crashing to the ground. Ross is quick to point out the difference between fear and phobia. The Maryland-based Anxiety Disorders Association of America has fielded dozens of calls since the bridge collapse, says Jerilyn Ross, the group’s president and CEO. “It just reinforces the precarious nature,” says Hughes, who lives in the Spokane Valley. “Sixty years later, I can still hear my mother’s scream of fear and remember what I saw looking down the face of that structure.”Īnd the massive bridge collapse in Minneapolis early this month didn’t help matters. “A nearby tourist grabbed my ankles,” says Hughes, a retired Central Valley School District principal. It all started when he was about 5 years old and nearly fell from the top of the Hoover Dam. Stan Hughes has been afraid of bridges for most of his 66 years.
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