can a person who has a phobia, have it once in a while?

Question

there's this one lady that lives in the same apartments as me,who says she has agoraphobia. she says that she doesn't talk to strangers becuz of her phobia. several times i've seen her talking to complete strangers. so i asked her how come she's talking to them if she has agoraphobia. she said that she only gets that phobia once in awhile. is that true? that if someone has a phobia, then they can only have it some of the time? like for instance, she can have it today and not tomorrow?

Answer 1

No. A phobia is an "A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous." -- Dictionary.com

In other words its no a phobia if she has it once in a while. I have a fear of flying. I can't get into an airplane period. I know its safe and that there's nothing to be afraid of, but it doesn't register on that level. I can't control it and turn it off today so I can fly and then turn it back on when I'm on the ground.

You can overcome a phobia over time or if there is a traumatic incident that causes you to face the fear, but those are extreme circumstances.

Answer 2

we are born with out any organic aversion to nudity. having stated that, the straightforward exhilaration that little ones sense at the same time as allowed to be bare, and their utter indifference to at least one yet another's and to grownup nudity, is now thoroughly alien to maximum folk. We forget the countless years of relentless and entirely immersive conditioning it took and it takes to instill and take care of that sense of shame and inadequacy we receive about their personal bodies. We now project offense in the route of all people who dares take such liberties. a cushty baby who hasn't been so unnaturally conditioned will be puzzled by ability of somebody else's unusual compulsion to save themselves coated for all time. i think that the baby would merely sense pity for him, and flow on.