Other than a fear of hard work, I have no phobias. Nevertheless, I grew up with my mother and older sister, both of whom have acute fears.

My sister, for example, is deathly afraid of spiders. I can still hear her countless shrieks when she abruptly discovered one darting across the room or along the wall. I was often called in for dispatch duty, which was terribly annoying when I was busy playing video games.

Although I'd have to ask her, I think her fear was born from watching the movie "Arachnophobia." In the 1990 classic, an all-star cast is terrorized by an outbreak of deadly poisonous spiders. Young siblings, we watched it together one summer night a long time ago. I don't remember feeling the slightest bit of alarm, but she was unable to sleep for about a week afterward. Although younger, I had to tuck her in every night during that time.

The whole experience impressed upon me how funny it is how people react so differently. Her fear seemed unreasonable at the time; however, as a mother of two, she still struggles to deal with the creepy crawly.

Along those lines, illustrator Sazanami (@3MshXcteuuT241U) recently posted a piece discussing phobias. She examines her own fears, as well as those of a former colleague.

It seems there are many things that people can be afraid of. Also, the underlying reasons for a phobia can be surprisingly complex.

Followers of Sazanami understood. They sympathized with the piece:

If you can relate to Sazanami’s situation, check out her Twitter or Instagram for more content.