Psychology Archives - the bird on fire

Still Afraid of the Dark? There’s More To Be Afraid Of – According to PVS Lower Schoolers

January 23, 2024 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Freshman Louisa Richardson

If you’ve read my colleague Jackie Padgett’s post about phobias, some people are afraid of clowns, some of tight spaces, some of balloons. I was always afraid of heights. However, something I never feared was cheese–which appears a rampant fear on the Palm Valley campus. Believe it or not, there are Firebird Scholars afraid of cheese on their hamburgers. Fear depends on the person, and, in many cases, their stage of life. I thought that it might be nice to give the middle/upper schoolers a break from my interviewing persistence. So, I took my investigative journalism to the Lower School (with Ms. Spurlock’s permission, of course). Over the course of my surveying, I tried to get as much Lower-School representation as possible, and, in the end, it was revealed what the overall greatest fear in the Lower School is.

In first grade, ten kids stated that, yes, their greatest fear was cheese on their hamburger though they never really specified why; they were too busy screaming over cheese on their hamburger. They were all afraid of roller coasters (to some degree). And, a few of them were afraid of spiders and snakes.

Second grader Theo is NOT afraid of cheese on his hamburgers.

In the 2nd grade, almost every student was afraid of losing their parents. Others were afraid of losing their spine. However, there were still a few of them who were afraid of snakes and spiders.

In the 4th grade, the number one fear of students was meeting their exes and being depressed. One student, Sheldon Kirsh, is afraid of facing all 15 of his exes. The #2 fear was “a skibidi toilet” (stated by student Thomas Washington–then they all jumped in agreeing). I have no idea what that means, but I have been told I don’t want to know. . . .

The 4th-Grade: Can you guess which one has 15 exes?

In the 5th grade, there were many surprising fears, from “being decapitated” to “being unarmed and busted.” The most votes went for small holes, spiders, and snakes. One student shared the idea that she is scared of the holes in the beach. “I hate the little holes that the critters come out of,” said Lena Kakoussian.

Overall, there were around 30 Lower-School students afraid of spiders and snakes (it is a package deal apparently); ten kids afraid of cheese on their hamburger (all in first grade); and every single one of them (except the 1st graders) was afraid of losing their parents to some degree. In my opinion, this should be the greatest fear as many of the kids my age and older are also afraid of this.

Note: I will say that a lot of these kids were afraid of not being able to medal in their sport or were afraid of bad grades. I won’t name these kids, but parents please let your elementary-school children know that your whole life shouldn’t revolve around a sport or a grade.

*No Lower Schoolers were scared in the gathering of this “fearful” information. Louisa, however, was quite scared.

What are you afraid of?

January 9, 2024 by szachik@pvs.org 3 Comments

By 8th Grader Jackie Doyle Padgett

It’s a new year–that time of year many of us make resolutions, affirmations, envision a better life, vow to turn over a new leaf, get over our fears. Jackie’s interested in fears. Turns out, there is a lot to be afraid of in life: heights, dark water, spiders. And a healthy fear helps us survive: keeps us from dangling from high places, entering uncharted waters, getting bit. But, some extend their fear to clowns, mirrors, balloons, the sun. Fear–is it survival instinct? or irrational debilitation? Jackie looks at fear.

Common Fears

This section focuses on common fears you’ve probably heard about before; maybe you even have some of these fears. They might look a little bit different as I listed them by their “phobia names.”

Acrophobia

Acrophobia is commonly known as the fear of heights. Acro comes from the Greek word akron, which means “high point.” Most people get this fear from seeing people get hurt from falling or falling themselves (Forbes Health).

People could also get this fear from a natural survival instinct that inhibits an accidental fall off of something high enough that it could kill them (Medical News Today).

Arachnophobia

This is one of the phobias everyone knows, the fear of spiders. I have met many people who have a disliking of spiders or who are outright afraid of them. Researchers think this fear comes from multiple things, the main ones being the spiders could hurt us, or the fear is passed through scary movies (Psychology Today). The probability of someone getting hurt or dying from a spider/spider bite is very low, around one tenth of a percent. While there are around 43,000 species of spiders, a very small amount is dangerous to us–only around 30 of those could be deadly to humans (Britannica). Movies do capitalize on the scariness of spiders. There are so many where spiders will kill people–that’s literally one of the main plots for a movie called Arachnophobia.

Coulrophobia

When I was a kid I definitely had a mild version of Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, especially at theme parks. There have been multiple studies to see why people fear these, supposedly, happy mascots. Researchers found that this fear comes mostly from pop culture and not being able to see the clown’s emotions (Scientific American).

Since they have so much makeup on, the person behind the clown face could be frowning, but we wouldn’t be able to tell. Similarly the eyebrows (which are pretty good indicators at what a person is planning/thinking) are covered. Movies/books, like IT, promote the horror of clowns. There was even a serial killer clown named John Wayne Gacy (Britannica).

Claustrophobia

I definitely have a very mild version of claustrophobia. I can’t stand being in an elevator, or a locker. It makes me feel like I’m going to be stuck there forever. Researchers think people have this fear from getting stuck in a tight space as a child. This can also be passed on if your parents have claustrophobia. Most parents will keep their child with them at all times, so if a parent has this fear, their child likely will avoid the enclosed spaces their parents have so carefully kept away from (NHS UK). I think I have this fear from getting stuck in an airplane’s bathroom, twice. I couldn’t figure out how to undo the lock (okay, I know it’s meant to be super easy, but the lock got stuck or something).

Thalassophobia

If deep, dark, empty water has ever scared you, you might have a bit of Thalassophobia. It sometimes relates to the fear of the unknown, which makes a lot of sense. Around 95% of the deep ocean is unexplored (Ocean Wise), so that’s a lot of stuff we don’t know about just living in the ocean we swim in–how fun. This fear can also come from having been close to drowning, seeing a creature lurking in the water (sharks, whales, big fish etc…), or even hearing about someone’s bad experience with deep water (Health Line).

Unique Fears

Most of these are fears I’ve never heard about before or knew little about. You’ll notice I use their most common name, but they have multiple names depending on where you’re from.

Eisoptrophobia

Eisoptrophobia (or catoptrophobia, or spectrophobia) stands for the fear of mirrors. The Greek word eisoptro means mirror, and phobia, of course, means fear. There isn’t too much knowledge as to why people have this fear, but it’s probable that it comes from someone scaring you (Health Grades). For example, you entered the bathroom and were about to fix your hair when you saw something in the corner of your eye. You look into the mirror, and there is your friend creeping up behind you as a joke, and now you’re stuck with this fear of catching something creepy in the mirror. It could also do with self image problems, like you’re scared of seeing yourself in the mirror (Very Well Mind).

Globophobia

This is the fear of balloons; sometimes this fear comes with an attachment of the noise it makes when the balloon pops. Imagine going to the Winter Formal last year with this fear….Anyways–this fear is commonly started at a young age, whether you got hurt by a water balloon or someone scared you with the pop of it (Louis Laves Web). People with this phobia can also be frightened with any type of balloon including hot air balloons (Hot Air Flight).

Heliophobia

A lot of fears are unfortunate/annoying to have, but this fear, the fear of the sun, is definitely one of the worst. People have to go outside to see the sun everyday, and it’s very hard to avoid it. The word helio comes from the Greek word, hēlios, which, of course, means sun. Researchers think people who have this fear are scared of getting skin cancer or wrinkles from the sun (aka photoaging) (Lybrate).

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Whoever came up with this name definitely thought they were funny. This is the fear of long words. It’s called hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia because sesquipedalian means long word. Somewhere along the way they added hippopotamus and monster (Verywell Mind). This fear is considered more of a social phobia because it commonly gives people anxiety to pronounce these long words in front of people, scared they will get judged if they mispronounce it. Most people get this fear when they are young and learning how to pronounce, for example, antidisestablishmentarianism. Maybe the teacher was being too harsh with them mispronouncing the word, or the students made fun of this person for it (Health Line).

Submechanophobia

This is the fear of underwater/partially underwater human-made objects, for example, planes, submarines, statues, ships, or any other machinery. Similar to Thalassophobia, this fear also could come from a fear of the unknown, fear of losing control or bad past experiences (Very Well Mind, India Times). These experiences could include being on a ship/plane that crashed and sunk (Dove Med).

Trypophobia

Last but not least, the fear of holes grouped together in some sort of pattern. If someone with this fear sees a cluster of holes in food or flowers, etc… It might cause them to have a gag reflex. This is under the phobia category, but people with this fear aren’t really scared of it, they’re mostly disgusted (Cleveland Clinic). Researchers think that people get this fear by a survival instinct in their brain telling them that these patterns could be dangerous. For example, the holes are reminiscent of spider eyes, or a deadly skin disease, etc…. Another reason for the fear could be that it takes a lot of brain power to look at complicated patterns, which could cause people some distress (Osmosis).

I find that fear is such an interesting thing–look at all these different fearsome phobias. Of course, I missed a lot; there’s practically a fear of everything and anything. If you know any fun facts about a fear I didn’t cover, I’d love to know about it. Tell me about your favorite phobia!

Solitudes of which are dreadful

November 17, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Middle-School Blogger Penny Andreas

PVS Bloggers went in search of a compelling photograph. They were asked to tell the story behind the photograph. To answer, Why does this photograph pull you in? Penny pulled this photo because it made her afraid. To me, it looks like a scary scene out of Severance. For Penny, it’s a jumping-off place from which to discuss phobias.
Blog Advisor Zachik

Photo Source: Luanna Strawbridge at Pixy.org

Imagine yourself walking in this empty hallway. Does anything seem wrong or scary? This photograph, to most people, seems as though this is a regular hallway, with a regular ceiling, and a regular set of walls. For myself, and some other people in the world, this is absolutely terrifying. Though this might sound ridiculous, this is an actual fear, or “phobia.” This is called “Autophobia.” Autophobia is the fear of being alone, or in solitude. And, no, this is not about relationships. It is about literally being alone in any situation, and being afraid. However, people have even reported having autophobia attacks in crowds, though it is rare.

What is a phobia?

A phobia is pretty simple, and this word dates back to ancient Greece. “Phobia” comes from the Greek word “Phobos,” which is a Greek god that summons human fear. So, it’s pretty self explanatory; a phobia is what you simply fear. Want to read more about phobias? See what Healthline has to say:

https://www.healthline.com/health/phobia-simple-specific

How to figure out your phobias and find anecdotes

First, there are so many phobias in this world–from the fear of long words, (Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia) to the fear of holes (Trypophobia), or even something super common such as Claustrophobia, the fear of tight spaces.

To deal with your phobias, the first thing I would personally do is just walk around town, or around your house. If you come across something that scares you, or makes you freeze up, and makes it hard to breathe, try to find out what that object is. Keep in mind this could literally be anything: spider, a bird, a tight space, a cliff. Once you know the source of the disturbance, I suggest researching things to help when you are scared. One thing that helps me with my autophobia is simply staying close to something I love: such as my family, my dogs, or even a heavy blanket to comfort me. Of course, do whatever comforts you the most, and what makes you feel a little less scared.

Liar Liar Birds on Fire

March 16, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Ani Madanyan, Social Observer & Communicator

Have you ever wondered if someone was lying to you? I personally hate liars, and there have been cases where I wondered if someone was telling me the truth or not. What if you could tell if someone was lying? Oh this is about to go down…

Body Language

“Liars tend to use gestures with their hands after they speak as opposed to during or before a conversation,” says Tracy Brown (author of seven books, professional speaker, and business leader). “The mind is doing too many things including making up the story, figuring out if they’re being believed and adding to the story accordingly,” she adds. In other words, “Normal gesturing that might normally happen just before a statement happens after the statement” (time.com). When people lie, they flip their palms away from you. It’s a signal that they are holding something back, aka the truth. “They may put them in their pockets or even slide them under the table.” Some people tend to rock their body back and forward, or itch themselves. They fidget with their hands, legs, and face. When people fidget it shows that they are nervous. For example, when they shake their legs or cross their arms–this is a Red Flag (time.com). These are worthy measurements of a liar, but personally when I look for a lie I stare the speaker straight in the eye, and I just know if they’re lying or not. It might be my superpower…

Facial Expressions

I always thought that when someone looks to the left, it means they’re lying. But, this rumor is surprisingly wrong. Livescience.com says that you cannot sense a liar from where they look (livescience.com). However, when people fidget with their mouth (bite lips, lick lips) this could show that they’re holding back the truth. Most people get either really sweaty or really dry. This is why they lick their lips. Some people get dry in their eyes and this is what causes them to squint or blink excessively (psychologytoday.com). I know for a fact that I’m not a good liar, so you can tell by the look on my face if I’m lying or not. I bite my lips, bat my eyes, and stutter. Is this transparency good or bad? Not sure.

Voice

When people are anxious, the muscles in their vocal cords may tighten as an automatic response to stress, resulting in a high-pitched voice. Some people get voice cracks when they lie (I’m guilty of doing this). People tend to clear their throat or cough out of nervousness or discomfort. Some people try TOO hard to convince the other person so they use phrases such as “I swear” or “honestly.” When people stutter or say “uh, um, like” this is another Red Flag you’re confronting a liar (time.com). Most people also repeat the questions that they were asked. They do this to think of a lie in their head, or simply just because they are nervous. For example, “When did this happen?” “When did this happen? Well, uh, I…” Keep this in mind when interrogating people. Personally, when I lie, my voice tenses up and I get SO nervous.

I’m not sure if I ruined friendships or relationships or fixed them here, but either way, you’re welcome. Now, you can easily detect a lie in your friends and loved ones, unless you’ve got a manipulator on your hands. But that’s a lesson for another time…

Has Levi Been to Area 51?

January 20, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Ever wonder how it would feel to float above your body and look down on it? Levi Kassinove goes in depth on astral projection. Levi, true to form, goes on to explain his thoughts on the matter. Is it all just a mind trip, or is it time travel? Maybe you would like to try it yourself. – Editor Abigail Horwitt

By Levi Kassinove, Conspiracy Theorist

Astral projection, or an out-of-body experience, is when someone gets the sensation that they’ve detached from their physical body. We’ve seen it on Netflix documentaries like Surviving Death; we’ve heard people say in surgery they watch themselves from above; maybe you’ve traveled outside the confines of your physical self. Oftentimes people feel like they’re dying when their “astral self” floats above their body; this may be where the idea of a soul comes from. When people from thousands of years ago experienced astral projection, they may have explained it by thinking we had souls. This could also be the cause of alien abduction stories. According to an NBC News story, what people believe to be alien abduction might actually just be a lucid dream or out-of-body experience. Michael Raduga, lead researcher at the Out-of-Body Experience Research Center in Los Angeles, designed an experiment to “test his theory that many reports of alien encounters are actually instances of people experiencing a vibrant, lifelike state of dreaming” (amazon.com). He surmised, if he could “coach people to dream of a realistic alien encounter, . . . that could prove that many reports of such encounters . . . are really just products of peoples’ imaginations” (NBC news). Astral projection is indeed a real phenomenon, but its true nature is not entirely understood. What exactly is astral projection?

Many of you have heard of lucid dreaming, which is the event in which sleepers become aware of the fact that they are dreaming. Most astral projectors you talk to (Jesse Denyer) will tell you that lucid dreaming is completely different from astral projection. Countless people on Reddit support this anecdotally, and some even claim that “lucid dreaming is controlled hallucinations while astral projection is a true vision” (Reddit thread).

A lot of the things people claim to be able to do during astral projection are similar to what’s possible in a lucid dream. You can visit any place you want, eat any food you want, meet any person you want, and pretty much anything else. However, in lucid dreaming, you need some frame of reference. Some people say that you can’t project to forbidden places. For instance, one anonymous internet user said, “since 99.9% of people on earth have never been inside Area 51 and haven’t the slightest idea what it is like inside, it’s a sort of blank area in their minds”(I sincerely apologize for having to crawl to Reddit, but it’s astral projection so what did you expect?). So it may just be a dream after all where your brain could only fill in what you could already visualize. Maybe Lilah, who claims she has aphantasia, should try astral projection. Maybe, astral projection is a form of lucid dreaming. The methods I’ve read about for astral projection all indirectly or directly say that you have to be half-asleep for it to work. You have to either attempt it immediately after you wake up, or relax your body to the point where you’ll fall asleep.

I don’t believe that lucid dreaming and astral projection are the exact same thing, as lucid dreaming involves awakening in the middle of a deep dream, but they are certainly related. Astral projection seems to be, like lucid dreaming, a weird, in-between state of lucidity and dreaming while the person is awake. Try it. Some people claim to be able to time travel and visit dinosaurs, so why wouldn’t you want to try that? If you’re interested in attempting astral projection, Michael Raduga outlines various ways to do so in his free ebook, titled The Phase. It’s a 400-page mind-labyrinth that crosses theory with reality a bit too much, but it explains ways to hallucinate. If you’ve already had an out-of-body experience, tell me about it in the comments.

Levi projecting what astral projecting looks like.

*The views presented by Blogger Kassinove do not represent the views of thebirdonfire.org.

Aphantasia: Do You Count Sheep . . . and Actually See Them?

January 19, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Lilah Nick, Blog Staff Writer

Is your mind’s eye awake? In this blog written by Lilah Nick, she talks about the wild phenomenon in which people are unable to see or visualize things in their minds. — Editor Oliver Martinez

Aphantasia is the natural phenomenon where people are unable to visualize things in their head or their “mind’s eye.” While most people are able to think about different images in their head, about 2% to 5% of people can not.

If I tell you to close your eyes and think about the beach, you’ll picture a beautiful sunset, warm golden sand, and bright blue waves crashing against the shore. If I ask you to think about a bright red apple, the image will pop right into your head. And, when I ask for your family’s faces, of course you’ll see them. You may experience this differently of course. Some people will see something that looks like a photo; other people will see a dimly lit cartoon style; others only see a beach they have visited.

I don’t. I’ve never been able to visualize anything. If you asked me what my mom looked like, my bedroom, or the cover page of the book I’m currently reading, I wouldn’t be able to “see” it. When people told me to count sheep or to close my eyes and imagine myself on the beach, I had always thought it was a metaphor. If you were to ask me to imagine a beach, I would think about all the different details. I can tell you that there are waves, sand, sea creatures, and people. I know the concept of it, and I could go on and on with details. It is like stringing together a bunch of different details like a puzzle.

Although I could list details about a beach, I have no visual, audio or any sensory experience. I can only imagine ideas, not images. I also remember what things look like because I understand conceptually how things look and most of my “visual” components in my head are just from recalling past experiences.

This is how I thought it was for you and everyone else in the world until I watched the TV show Space Force with Steve Carell. In one episode, a character named Duncan was talking to his love interest, and he mentioned that he had something called aphantasia. He went on to explain it, and I was so confused. I thought that it was some joke. When he said, “I don’t have an imagination,” I immediately looked up what aphantasia was, and I was shocked. I jumped out of bed and ran to my mom’s room and asked her if she could see images in her head; of course she said yes. I then ran to my brother and asked a few of my friends. I was completely and utterly shocked. I had no idea that I was a part of the 2% of the population who couldn’t “see” anything in my mind.

In 2005, a 65-year-old man was unable to see mental images after a surgery. Neurologists at the University of Exeter in England showed the man a photo of Tony Blair, and his brain scans showed the visual parts of his brain lighting up (prospectornow.com). Then they took the photo of Tony Blair away. The man knew the characteristics of him like his eye color, hair color, etc., but he said he couldn’t “see” him in his head (vox.com). His brain scans this time show that the visual parts did not light up at all. The neurologists also took other men and showed them the same photo, and both times the right part of their brains lit up (exeter.ac.uk).

The neurologists gave this rare phenomenon a name. They used the prefix “a,” which means “absence of” and “phantasia,” a Greek word meaning fantasy. So, together, the word means absence of fantasy.

If you’re wondering how I dream, so am I. Explaining aphantasia to people without it is like trying to prove you have a conscience. When most people ask me how I dream, they usually think that it is like reading a book. The best way I can describe it is like my inner dialogue suddenly has different voices and they are put to faces. I never dream about people I’ve never seen before or places I have never been.

If you’re reading this and suddenly thinking that you might have aphantasia, the graphic below is a spectrum example for aphantasia. If I say “apple,” and you envision an apple as vibrant as that seen in Head #1, congratulations!!! You have a really good “mind’s eye.” If you seen nothing, like in Head #5, you may have aphantasia–just like me.

Analyze My Dream

May 23, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Holden Hartle

Recently, I had a dream, and I thought I would leave it up to the readers of the blog to analyze it and figure out what’s wrong in my life.

____________________________________________________________________________

You’re sitting on a hill. You are midway between the base and the top. The hill itself is grassy, but not the typical green, lush grass. It’s dirty and faded. The dirt isn’t soft or cold either. It’s dry and sandy. As you stand up, you have to wipe the dirt off of your shorts. Looking out in front of you, you see a landscape of that same grass and scattered trees.

At the base of the hill, two lions come out of hiding. You inhale sharply. They walk towards you ever so slowly. It feels like an eternity before they reach you. Their fur is golden and shiny, and their eyes are so brown one could mistake them as black. As they approach, you see their white teeth gleaming in the sun. They are ready to kill.

The moment they are at arm’s length, you give a swift smack to each of their noses. That seemed to do the trick. Seemingly in fear, they rush back to the base of the hill. You take a big sigh of relief.

To relax, you lie down on the grass. It’s crunchy and dry, but the sun feels nice on your skin. As you lie, you take a deep breath of fresh air. With your eyes closed, you have to rely on your other senses to feel the world around you. Doing this, the world seems different. You notice that it’s rather warm, and you begin to perspire. Your relaxation keeps being interrupted by an itching sensation caused by the unpleasant grass. As you sit up to itch your leg, you open your eyes to see that this landscape that was once covered in dry grass has been replaced by a hoard of snakes. You inhale sharply.

There is nowhere to run. As far as the eye can see the world is covered with snakes. These snakes are silver with teeth that are ready to kill. Their eyes are black. You turn around to face the top of the hill. At the very top is a school desk. You figure that snakes can’t climb, and so you decide to rush to the desk. The desk is only about fifty feet away, but it’s uphill. You can’t risk falling down into the snakes, so you walk briskly, but carefully, with your arms spread out beside you like a tightrope walker.

Upon reaching the desk, you climb on top of the chair. The snakes seem to realize that they can’t get you, so they slither away.

You slide down in the chair and sigh with relief. You can once again feel your surroundings. The air feels warm again, but the desk is cool and feels pleasant against your skin. You are facing the opposite direction you were facing before. On the other side of the hill, the trees are much more plentiful. The grass gradually turns lush and green as it disappears behind the trees.

A friend walks up behind you. She stares in the same direction you are. Upon noticing her, you ask, “Are you okay? Did you see the lions and the snakes?” She doesn’t respond. Instead, she turns to you and exclaims, “This is what you get!” She reaches into her pockets and grabs handfuls of beetles. You can’t examine them because as soon as she dumps them on you they crawl towards your face. You feel their mouths biting your skin. You close your eyes. Everything turns black.

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At this time, I woke up in a cold sweat shaking profusely. This happened several weeks ago, and I am still trying to pinpoint what the different animals and landscapes could mean.

Editor: Makena Behnke