Tuesday july 10th is Teddy Bears Picnic Day.

This not only raised a smile, and of course, had me singing ‘If you go down to the woods today’ for about.. ooh half an hour (and the rest) after reading this.. it also got me thinking about unusual fears and phobias.

I mean, it’s so easy, when talking about fears and phobias, to come up with the usual suspects: spiders, heights, small spaces… but what happens, when your fear or phobia is of something completely different…

Today, I am talking, fears and phobias of cute, fluffy and cuddly things.

Such as teddy bears…. and cats.. and dogs…. and rabbits, and hamsters.

It’s so easy, to take for granted, that the majority of us, when it comes to anything remotely cuddly, will simply want to cuddle it. But I am frequently approached by clients with a dog phobia, and I have to be honest and say, that this really baffles me.

Being ‘Dad’ to my own fluffy four legged friend Lexi, I find it hard to imagine what it must feel like to be scared (as in phobic scared) of animals.

But such a phobia is real, and there are of course, some totally understandable explanations – perhaps your Auntie had a dog when you were little, and it tried to bite a chunk out of you.. Or maybe one of your parents was scared of large dogs and would panic every time one came near them.

These kids of phobias, are super easy for me to work on, and what’s more, for the person who is then set free from such a phobia, they are able to go and enjoy the benefits that come from having some fun with animals.

But what if your fear or phobia is of teddy bears? We’re talking Agrizoophobia.

Yes, get your chops around that one. Agrizoophobia – a phobia of teddy bears. It’s a real condition and those who experience it find teddy bears terrifying. 

Now where this comes from, will be totally and utterly personal It could be that an older sibling used to use a certain teddy bear as a tool with which to frighten you. Or it could be that you experienced something when you were younger and a teddy bear was somewhere in view for you.

Like with any fear or phobia, we are not talking about anything LOGICAL here. Any phobia is based on the illogical, and so a fear or phobia of Teddy bears is not going to be any different.  However…

A fear of Teddy bears can be really embarrassing to talk about….

Think about it… most people find teddy bears ADORABLE. How in the world do you bring up in conversation that you have a fear of teddy bears?

The idea of saying that you are afraid of Teddy Bears can bring up all sorts of issues for people… particularly for the males around us – it can really have you question your masculinity, and have your mates poke all kinds of fun at you.

But for the person on the receiving end of the jibes, and the phobia, this simply makes things even harder for them. Not only do they have to live with a crippling, all controlling phobia (because let’s face it, we see teddy bears everywhere...), they also have to live with their phobia in secret. 

Living with a secret phobia can make asking for help even harder.

You’ve probably spent most of your life trying to hide it, which means that you’ve become great at repressing emotions. This makes the phobia even harder for you to speak about, because you yourself have perhaps gone into denial a little.

You may find that you avoid certain social situations, and have even begun to believe the excuses that you make about things.

My advice is to take a step back, and ask yourself – if a phobia is NOT based around logic, then why are you embarrassed here?

Working on your phobia can be super easy and you get results in as quick as one session. SO, if you are living with a secret phobia, and the mere thought of a Teddy bear’s picnic scares the bezeebus out of you, then it may time to contact a therapist.

I don’t need to remind you, that I am of course here for you.

And to anyone who reading this who may know somebody with a fear of Teddy Bears, or anything else cute and cuddly, please remember, that a phobia is serious and is not a laughing matter. Thousands of us have a lesser life quality because we are controlled by a fear or phobia, but to find yourself living with a hidden one, must be even more painful. 

Until the next time,

Chris.