When I was about 9 years old I was chased and bitten by a puppy. That incident traumatised me so much that until now I'm afraid of puppies, no matter how cute and adorable they are. I'm also afraid of dogs as a result of that wretched puppy who bit my leg.
I've also known a friend who got into a really bad accident and it took him years before he could get into a car, let alone apply for a driver's license. We would sometimes kutuk him (behind his back of course) and say that it is sooo tak macho for a man who is in his late 30s who cant drive a car and expect his date to pick him up everytime. I guess he got over his fears now becoz I heard he got his license and bought himself a Volvo.
What is it about traumatic experience that leaves us paralysed with fears? Is it really all in our mind? How do we overcome such fears? I've always heard people say, "it's mind over matter". Oh well, it depends on how strong a person's mind is I guess. And it would also depend on whether they are willing to get over that fear.
There's also this friend of mine who is supposedly afraid of cats. Some would say it's a stupid thing to be afraid of, I mean come on! How scary can a cat be right? We would always teased her and say that she's "mengada-ngada" because everytime she sees a cat she would scream bloody mary and jump on a chair. And because she's so pretty guys would always come to her rescue and chase the cat away. Pfffftttt! We would talk amongst ourselves and say that she's pretending to be afraid of cats and was only doing that to get attention. Thinking back now I genuinely believed that she was not really afraid of them cats. She was just "geli" with their "bulu". Hehehe...
So anyway, what I am trying to say here is that I'm not willing to get over my fear of dogs and cockroaches. Lantaklah apa korang nak cakap. Word.