Phobias @ Work

Which Ones Are Yours?

A phobia is a paralyzing, irrational and intensified fear. It is an anxiety disorder in which the sufferer has an overwhelming dread of a situation, living creature, place or thing. People with phobias go to considerable lengths to avoid a situation which is much bigger in their minds than in reality. The person suffering knows that their phobia is baseless but they have a very meager transformational strength. They actually think that their condition is incurable.

Most phobias have technical terms that start with a Greek or Latin phrase and end in the suffix – phobia. It can also be said that a phobia is like a protective gear even when no danger exists in the real world.

In researching this subject and the prevailing milieu, I had to go through a lot of published data and a very long list of phobias. While some made me cringe; others made me smile in disbelief for what it represented. 

The following is a small selection of phobias, from a business perspective; fears people commonly have which we carry to work each morning.

• Aerophobia – Fear of air travel or simply fear of flying
• Angrophobia - Fear of anger or of becoming angry
• Arithmophobia - Fear of numbers, as in Accounting or Finance
• Decidophobia - While some of you may just be indecisive, there are people who are genuinely terrified of making decisions. They are known as decidophobes.
• Ergophobia – This is probably one of the most convenient phobias on this list. Ergophobia is the fear of work or the workplace environment. On a serious note however, psychologists believe it is a combination of various fears such as failing at assigned tasks, social anxiety and public speaking
• Catagelophobia - Fear of being ridiculed
• Cleptophobia - Fear of stealing (Temptations vs. Weaknesses)
• Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces
• Doxophobia - Fear of expressing opinions or of receiving praise
• Demophobia – Fear of being in crowds or crowded places
• Ergasiophobia - Fear of simply functioning - Surgeon's fear of operating on a patient
• Glossophobia - Fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak
• Heresyphobia - Fear of challenges to official doctrines or of radical deviation
• Hypengyophobia - Fear of accepting responsibility
• Mastigophobia - Fear of punishment
• Mechanophobia or Technophobia - Fear of office machines, computers etc.
• Metathesiophobia - Fear of changes
• Phronemophobia - Fear of thinking
• Panthophobia - Fear of suffering or mental anguish
• Stenophobia - Fear of narrow places, hallways, seating arrangements as in tight cubicles
• Testophobia - Fear of taking tests
• Verminophobia - Fear of germs which make people constantly wash their hands etc.
• Xenophobia - Fear of strangers or foreigners
• Zelophobia - Fear of jealousy
• Here’s a full list of phobias for your edification.

Oddly enough, all of us are Polyphobic and nicely packaged in multiple fears.

Statistically, women are more prone to fears than men. In eastern cultures, women mostly suffer from social-phobia. It is the prevailing fear of being embarrassed publicly; may also be connected to feelings of inferiority and deficiency in self-esteem. When they are assigned a power position, women shy away from due confrontations which involve disciplining or reprimanding employees. This avoidance drastically curtails one’s chances to shine at work and can drive a person to entirely give up the position voluntarily. Friendships are hard to maintain and one remains sequestered in one’s own mind prison.

Mayo clinic reports that there's no laboratory test to diagnose social anxiety disorder. There is no Psychometric test which can fully detect a disabling fear of an applicant. And chances are that the one administrating the test is also under the influence of a deep seated fear. Hence, it disqualifies the whole approach in ascertaining the psychological stability of a prospective employee. Wouldn't that be blind judging the blind...?

Starting from top in organizational hierarchy down to the blue-collar worker, it is clear that we all have fears and anxieties with variables in severity. Our collective outlook, beliefs and mindsets are well connected to the bottom line of a company, so how can we, as intelligent beings, resolve this behavioral problem.

The ripples of organizational actions reach far and wide by the participating employee base. If that base has foundational crevices or operational defects, how will it impact the organizational destiny, is a genuine concern indeed. 

But do take a sigh of relief. There are many holistic solutions available at your disposal. They directly deal with the seat of all activity; the subconscious mind, and eliminate not just the symptoms, but root causes of all discomforts.