Phobias

Phobias are unsound or illogical fears of objects or events. It is thought that phobias are learned or conditioned responses from early childhood experiences. For example, I know of a person who is uncontrollably afraid of birds (known as Ornithophobia - not bad, eh?). After speaking about her fear, I found that her mother used to put bird feathers on furniture, in rooms and other areas where she was not allowed. To this day, she refuses to go into pet stores where there are birds or sleep on a down pillow. Her mother unknowingly conditioned her to believing that birds are dangerous!