Phobias

A phobia is an intense fear of something that poses no actual danger. Phobics often find that facing, or even thinking about facing the feared situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety. Then they may feel shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying. All phobias are created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. They can spring up from a real life-scare of some sort, but also they can emerge from seeing someone else experiencing trauma. Serious phobias often significantly impact the quality of life.
Catoptrophobia is a special kind of fear in which people start fearing looking into mirrors, specially larger ones. Sufferers may fear mirrors for a variety of reasons, usually because of some emotional trauma involving mirrors, but also superstitious fear of being watched through mirrors, or because of a low self esteem and avoidance to see and judge themselves.
Ailurophobia is a persistent, irrational fear of cats. People who suffer rom this phobia may fear physical contact, such as bites and scratches, the sight of a real life cat and cats in pictures and television, the imaginable supernatural nature of cats. This phobia could be obtained by a real life scare of some kind that has to do with cats and emotional trauma. What is strange, many corageous men had suffered from this phobia: Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar.
According to the American Psychological Association, phobias are one of the most common mental disorders, affecting over 11 percent of men and women. The most important is to appeal to psychiatrist or other therapy specialist for help.