BIZARRE: Fear gigantic things pics megalophobia - What They Never Told You

The subreddit has been around for over a decade now, and we were curious why it continues to be so popular to this very day. "I feel that the sub has continued to grow over the years because it attracts both people who have an interest in unique and awe-inspiring images, and people with megalophobia," moderator u/Hoogs explained to Bored Panda.

"The latter may seem counterintuitive, since you would expect people to avoid things they fear, but think of it like a horror movie. You watch it for the thrill. It provides a unique sensation that's a break from the mundanities of everyday life while allowing you to explore your fears in a safe environment," he said.

"I also suspect that even people who don't classify themselves as having megalophobia still get that little touch of vertigo when seeing some of the sub's content."

We were also interested in getting the moderator's thoughts on how megalophobia might impact a person's day-to-day life. "Megalophobia might impact a person's daily life negatively if they are regularly exposed to things like large buildings, structures, statues, vehicles, and even geographical features like mountains and canyons," u/Hoogs told us.

"It might prevent them from doing certain things they'd like, having unique experiences, or even just living their life in a world with so many things that are larger than us," he said.

"Humans are small, and I think this phobia cuts right to the heart of that fact we all know to be true."

Around a tenth of people living in the United States have specific phobias. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), around 9.1% of American adults have had specific phobias in the past year, while around 12.5% of all adults in the U.S. will experience a specific phobia at some point in their lives.

Additionally, 48.1% of people with phobias had mild impairment, 30% had moderate impairment, and over a fifth (21.9%) had serious impairment. The number of people with phobias may be underreported because there is a certain stigma attached to mental disorders.

As per Verywell Mind, phobias are overwhelming, irrational, and persistent fears that lead people to avoid certain situations or objects.

These fears can have a huge impact on your life depending on the context. For example, if you’re scared of flying but have to go on a ton of trips abroad for work, you’ll have a very hard time logistically unless you put in the time and effort to get over your fear, whether by yourself or with the help of a therapist. Similarly, being scared of open or deep bodies of water is going to be awful for you if you live near lakes or the sea.

Phobias are mental disorders that are classified as anxiety disorders. Generally, people with specific fears avoid the things that scare them, but they might feel anxious even thinking about the things they’re afraid of.

If you’re scared of public speaking, for example, you might start panicking just imagining having to get up in front of a large crowd for an important speech. Or you might cringe at the mere thought of holding a spider if arachnids scare you.

A variety of factors can influence whether someone will develop a phobia and what it will be, ranging from your genetics and culture to your life experiences. Your home environment has a massive impact, too.

If your relatives were all terrified of dogs, it’s likely they passed on a similar fear to you, even if you may have never personally had a negative interaction with these animals.

Or a family member might pass on their general sense of anxiety to you, making you feel scared of leaving home. Specific phobias often appear when you’re around 7 years old.

Someone who is in a situation or around an object that irrationally scares them might feel dizzy, nauseous, breathless, and may have a distorted sense of reality. In some cases, they might have a full-on panic attack.

Specific phobias are grouped into five main categories: animal, natural environment, situational, blood-injected-injury, and ‘other’ types.

Some of the most common phobias, according to NIMH, include the fear of closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, dogs, animals, insects, thunder, public transportation, injuries involving blood, and dental and medical procedures. If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you or a loved one may be at least partly scared of one or more of these things.

Beating your fears probably won’t happen overnight. It can take weeks, months, or even years of dedicated and focused effort to reframe how you see the world.

One approach to reducing the severity of your fears is using self-exposure to gradually desensitize yourself. When you spend time around an object or situation that makes you uncomfortable, you adapt and get used to it. Eventually, you realize that you’re not in any danger.

In more serious cases, you may need long-term counseling, psychotherapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Therapy can be incredibly helpful here, but you have to understand that counselors aren’t wizards; they can’t wave a magic wand and make all of your problems disappear. They’ll guide and support you, but you have to be prepared for a lot of (unpleasant, uncomfortable) emotional heavy lifting.

The Megalophobia online community was created over a decade ago, in late April 2014. Over the years, it grew to around a million members in size. If you plan on joining the group and sharing photos of huge objects yourself, take some time to familiarize yourself with what’s already been posted by other members.

Long story short, reposts are frowned upon. You shouldn’t share photos that are in the top 25 of all time or images that have been posted within the past 90 days.

Which of these photos impressed you the most, dear Pandas? Were there any that genuinely seemed foreboding? What are the biggest objects that you’ve personally seen with your own eyes?

What phobias, if any, do you have? What do you do to reduce the impact they have on your life? Let us know what you think in the comments!