Firearmophobia: A psychosis that can be treated.

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Phobias are persistent, irrational fears of certain objects or situations. They aren't just fears, they are irrational fears. No one knows just what causes them, though they seem to run in families. People with mild to moderate phobias realize their fears are irrational, but often facing, or even thinking about facing, the feared object or situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety. Severe phobias are true psychosis. They take a person from irrational feelings to irrational action. Actions that effect themselves, their loved ones and everyone in their sphere of influence. http://www.anxietypanic.com/specificphobia.html So let's look at a very persistent and irrational fear of a certain object... fire arms. Before we look into the irrational fear, let's look at the difference between a healthy awareness of what an object can do and a phobia. A gun is an inanimate object. It is niether good nor evil. On its own, it poses no danger to anyone. Concealled in a purse, or under a jacket, it poses no danger to anyone or anything. Unloaded and checked, it poses no danger whatsoever. But no rational person would try to convince anyone that a gun is completely harmless. Yes, they can kill, they can injure, and if left loaded (and unchecked), it can accidentally go off... but it can't do any of these things in a closet, gun case, on a coffee table or concealed in a purse or under a jacket. When phobias only effect the person suffering from them, they are no one's business but the people they choose involve. If the only other people effected by them are their friends, family and practitioners, then they aren't a problem society need worry about either. However, when any phobia takes so much control of a person's thought processes that they push for laws banning the object of their irrational fear, it becomes everyone's concern. When that phobia infiltrates the halls of government, it becomes a real threat to liberty. Firearmophobia meets every definition "specific phobia". It is as persistance as it is irrational. People who have never even known anyone harmed in a gun accident are completely sure that any gun within 1000 yards of them is going to lead to their doom. The very thought that a person standing next to them has a gun secreted on their person causes extreme anxiety, even if no person in the history of people has ever been harmed in such a situation. This particular psychosis is so irrational that many who suffer from it are thrown into panic attacks at the mere sight of something shaped like a gun. They rob their kids of the fun of squirt guns, dart guns and even toys with no function at all that are just shaped like guns. In the most extreme of cases, the victim of this psychosis is so imprisoned by their irrational fear, they can't fall into hysteria when a kid holds there thumb straight up and index finger straight out. But folks, don't dispair, the same people who define specific phobia so eloquently have come up with a treatment that has a fairly decent success rate. "When phobias interfere with a person's life, treatment can help. Successful treatment usually involves a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapy called desensitization or exposure therapy, in which patients are gradually exposed to what frightens them until the fear begins to fade. Three fourths of patients benefit significantly from this type of treatment. Relaxation and breathing exercises also help reduce anxiety symptoms." I recommend this treatment to any and all of you who suffer with the psychosis of Firearmophobia. Please, if you don't do it for yourself, do it to keep your irrational fears from harming everyone else. A person with a gun might hurt others. Your phobia has and will continue to harm everyone.