If fear is the compulsion to avoid something, then mania is the compulsion to do something.
Phobia, originating from the Greek word Phobos (the god of fear and terror), is a type of anxiety disorder (in the context of clinical psychology) typically defined as a persistent fear of a specific object or situation that an individual consistently tries to avoid.
On the other hand, mania (Greek: Mania, meaning “madness” in the context of societal trends) represents the compulsion to take action.
In her book, The Dictionary of Fears and Manias, author Kate Summerscale takes us on a journey to explore the origins and psychological mechanisms of these phobias, contributing to the understanding of human strangeness from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The author presents 99 fears (phobias) and manias arranged alphabetically by their English names, from Ablutophobia (fear of cleanliness) to Zoophobia (fear of animals). They can also be categorized into themes such as animal phobias (fear of dirt, fear of cats, fear of spiders, fear of dogs, fear of insects, fear of snakes, etc.); phobias related to texture (fear of cotton, fear of fur, fear of feathers, fear of holes); body-related fears (fear of blood, needles or wounds, fear of childbirth, vomiting, etc.); concerns about new technologies (fear of flying, fear of trains, fear of phone calls); noise phobias; fear of isolation, and more.
At the same time, the author provides explanations and some effective treatment methods for the most intense fears and manias.
Fear of holes is one of the texture-related phobias. (Source: Flickr).
Symptoms of Anxiety and Defense
Referring to the origins of phobias and manias, the author notes that in 1786, Benjamin Rush, one of America’s founding fathers, initiated the movement to name these sensations. He combined both phenomena into a psychological framework and defined phobia as a fear of something monstrous arising from delusion, or an excessive fear of something real.
After Rush, psychiatrists in the following century developed a more complex understanding of these traits. They viewed phobias and manias as intriguing characteristics in the history of evolution, as well as of each individual, reflecting the faded animal instincts and suppressed desires.
In the book, Kate Summerscale cites scholar David Trotter, who argues that “Phobias embody anxieties,” to the extent that their specific characteristics become tangible and recognizable, and thus can be confronted or avoided.
Manic phobias, similarly, can integrate various fears and desires. These personal phobias can be seen as the manic expressions of rational individuals; perhaps, these manias help us maintain our sanity by crystallizing our fears and desires, allowing us to continue functioning normally as if everything is reasonable.
The author also highlights the views of evolutionary psychologists, asserting that phobias are part of humanity’s evolutionary heritage, where fears are “biologically prepared” to protect us from external threats. The reaction to phobias is somewhat similar to instinctive reflexes. Upon detecting a threatening object or situation, the primal brain releases chemicals that prepare us to fight or flee, and our physical responses—shivering or hesitating, sweating or feeling nauseous—seem to take over.
However, the evolutionary explanation of phobias is based on the premise that evolution precedes all, and it does not account for every phobia, nor the reasons why some individuals have phobias while others do not. In 1919, American behaviorists James Broadus Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted an experiment demonstrating that a phobia can be formed through circumstances.
Subsequently, in the 1960s, Albert Bandura proved that a phobia can also arise from exposure to the irrational anxieties and fears of others, such as parents. Family transmits fears similarly to genetic inheritance. While they are often influenced by specific anxieties, they still require stimulation from experiences or education.
Obsessive Behaviors
If phobias represent the compulsion to avoid something, then mania represents the compulsion to do something. Most of the manic phobias discussed by the author in the book (such as community manias: book mania, mania for the band The Beatles, possession mania, laughing mania, etc.; compulsive manias: wandering mania, writing mania, killing mania, screaming mania, shopping mania, etc.) are obsessive behaviors focused on a particular object, action, or idea.
Like phobias, they are often attributed to chemical imbalances in the brain and sometimes to negative or forbidden emotions.
Typically, they exaggerate common desires—wanting to laugh, scream, shop, steal, deceive, set fires, engage in sexual activity, get high, pick at wounds, surrender to suffering, or seek praise.
Along with individual urges, the author also mentions community manias, where people jump, laugh, tremble, or scream together.
“Phobia or mania is akin to a spell, bestowing an object or behavior with mysterious meanings and powers to form obsessions and transform us.
These states can create oppressive feelings, but they also enchant the world around us, making it as terrifying and vibrant as in fairy tales. They produce a tangible impact, much like magic, revealing our strangeness,” the author writes.
