According to the internet, the definition of fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Being afraid is a beyond normal experience that everybody in the world has. Fears can range from being as big as being afraid to talk on the phone during a storm because of the chance of lightning striking you, or as small as the fear or walking around in the dark because of the chance of tripping and falling. From spiders, to storms, to heartbreak, different people have different things that they are afraid of. There is no fear that is any bigger, or any smaller, than another fear. The sad thing is that some people, whether they mean to or not, tend to tease others and make fun of them for having a fear that they cannot understand, or that they think is completely silly and ridiculous. And that, my friends, is WRONG.

You may be asking yourself, “why is Whitney writing an article over such an unusual topic?”, and my answer to you is: I know what it’s like to have what is considered to be an "irrational fear" that most people don’t understand and therefore make fun of me, talk about me behind my back, or think of me as being less of a person than I am. My fear is something that is common among everyone, people all over do this action every single day. My biggest fear, believe it or not, is driving. The very thought of getting behind the wheel and driving a vehicle makes me so nervous that I find myself getting sick to my stomach, sweating and trembling.

It’s a very uncommon fear, I know, and I’m probably one of the only teenagers/young adults in the world who absolutely hates to drive. I can get behind the wheel and drive up and down my road at home, but I can’t seem to be able to warm myself up to the idea of driving on the main roads. People have told me that I am a coward, free-loader, even lazy, because of my fear of driving. And that hurts more than anyone could ever begin to understand; to be thought of in such a negative way or treated badly because of a fear that I can't help. I’m no stranger to the fact that I need to know how to drive. Some people feel the need to remind me of that fact of which I am already full aware of. When people have get made fun of because of what they are afraid of, they can experience a great deal of sadness, depression, hurt feelings, and a constantly broken heart. In fact, for a very long time, I suffered from depression because of how people reacted toward my fear. I’m getting better, but every time someone makes a comment about myself and my driving, those negative feelings come rushing back to me. I would give anything in the world for someone to understand how hard it is for me.

I think of my fear of driving as being a phobia, or an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. In fact, the phobia of driving is known professionally as vehophobia, and can be comparable to comparable to amaxophobia, the fear of riding in a vehicle, or hodophobia, the fear of traveling. Driving phobias are actually common but can cause serious problems, especially for people who need to get to work or school by car, drive for a living or live in areas with poor access to public transport. No one should ever have to feel like they are being made fun of, looked down upon, or that they are any less of a person than they really are.

Despite of how it may seem, please don’t think that I have written this article for the sole purpose of using it as an opportunity to rant about my personal troubles. I just feel that not enough people really understand how important it is to not pick on somebody or look down on them because of what they’re afraid of. Instead, why don’t we all lift each other up with support and encouragement? Why don’t we all try to understand each others' fears, and try to help each other get to the bottom of what is causing them to feel that way? I think that would help a whole lot more than hurting others because of what they may be afraid of in their lives would. I hope that this article will give some insight to those who may not know how to properly react to fears that others may have, and that it will provide a voice for those who feel the same was as I do.