• Question: can u have a phobia of a person?!

    Asked by drstilesjlstermerrygold98 to Damien, Rachael, Suzi, Tim on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hi @drstiles
      I’ve answered this as your comment on the other question
      http://ias.im/58.1677
      Unfortunately, I’ve just said I’m not sure, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to you.

      Do you think you have a phobia of a person? Maybe you just don’t like them?!

    • Photo: Tim Fosker

      Tim Fosker answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hi @drstilesjlstermerrygold98

      I would say yes! You can have a phobia of anything if it is associated with an unpleasant experience. As Suzi has said in her many answers to questions about phobias, they may not always be learnt from bad experiences, but they can be.

      There is quite a famous experiment that seems unkind now, but in the experiment a small child is conditioned (trained) to have a fear of a rat (I thought it was a rabbit), but the wiki says a rat. You may find this interesting:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Albert_experiment

      I hope that helps.

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