In your brain the amygdala recognises this is a danger situation.

在你的大腦中，杏仁核識別出這是一個危險的情況。

The hypothalamus triggers your fight or flight response.

下丘腦會觸發你的戰鬥或逃跑反應。

And the hippocampus takes note of your fear.

而海馬體會注意到你的恐懼。

It will remind you next time.

它會提醒你下次。

Your breathing gets quicker, your pulse speeds up,

你的呼吸變快，脈搏加快。

you sweat, your muscles tense,

你出汗，你的肌肉緊張。

there's more glucose in your blood, increasing your energy.

血液中有更多的葡萄糖，增加你的能量。

For most people, the pre-frontal cortex,

對於大多數人來說，前額葉皮層。

the rational, uniquely human part of the brain,

大腦中理性的、人類獨有的部分。

can calm the amygdala down.

可以使杏仁核平靜下來。

But if you have a phobia, that process doesn't quite work.

但如果你有恐懼症，這個過程就不太行得通了。

Your brain's constantly stuck in tiger attack mode.

你的大腦一直停留在老虎攻擊模式。

The first phobia in history belonged to a man who was absolutely terrified

歷史上第一個恐懼症是屬於一個絕對恐懼的人的

of flute music, but only at night.

的笛子音樂，但只在晚上。

This was described 2,500 years ago by the Greek father of medicine,

這是2500年前希臘醫學之父所描述的。

but Hippocrates didn't use the word phobia,

但希波克拉底並沒有使用恐懼症這個詞。

this came 500 years later when the Roman author Celsus

這是在500年後，羅馬作家塞爾蘇斯

used it to describe a disease.

用它來形容一種疾病。

...which we now know as Rabies.

...也就是我們現在所知道的狂犬病。

Celsus took the word phobia from the Greek god Phobos,

塞爾蘇斯把恐懼症這個詞取自希臘神菲比斯。

who was so terrifying that warriors would paint his face on their shields

梟雄

to scare their enemies.

來嚇唬他們的敵人。

One of Freud's most famous case studies was a boy called Little Hans

弗洛伊德最著名的案例之一是一個叫小漢斯的男孩。

who developed a terror of horses

恐馬症的人

after seeing one collapse in the street.

在看到一個人倒在街上後。

Freud thought that this was really an unconscious fear of his father

弗洛伊德認為，這其實是對父親的無意識恐懼

and related to sexual feelings for his mother.

並與他對母親的性感情有關。

Modern psychoanalysts still believe that phobias can be caused

現代精神分析學家仍然認為，恐懼症可以引起

by secret internal conflicts like this.

由這樣的祕密內部矛盾。

Another theory is that at least some fears are innate.

另一種理論是，至少有些恐懼是天生的。

One study showed young infants images of spiders and snakes

一項研究向幼年嬰兒展示了蜘蛛和蛇的影像。

and found that their pupils dilated, a sign of fear.

並發現他們的瞳孔放大，這是恐懼的表現。

Or intense focus.

或強烈的專注。

The theory is that fear of spiders and snakes

理論上說，害怕蜘蛛和蛇。

gave us an evolutionary edge.

給了我們一個進化的優勢。

Around 5% of people have these phobias.

大約有5%的人有這些恐懼症。

And perhaps the same mechanism left us with other common phobias,

而或許同樣的機制也給我們留下了其他常見的恐懼症。

a fear of heights, darkness, confined spaces,

恐高，黑暗，密閉空間。

all dangerous when we were evolving.

都是危險的，當我們在進化的時候。

A huge number of phobias have been spotted and named since Little Hans.

從小漢斯開始，大量的恐懼症被發現並命名。

There's...

有...

...the fear of doctors.

...對醫生的恐懼。

...the fear of beards. And...

...對鬍鬚的恐懼。還有...

...fear of dinner conversation.

...害怕晚餐的談話。

We may not know the root cause of phobias,

我們可能不知道恐懼症的根本原因。

but we do know how they develop.

但我們知道他們是如何發展的。

You can catch a phobia by seeing other people's fear.

你可以通過看到別人的恐懼來感染恐懼症。

You can be taught a phobia,

可以教你一個恐懼症。

learning about germs can lead to bacillophobia.

學習細菌知識會導致恐菌症。

Or you can get a phobia by having a traumatic experience,

或者你有過創傷性的經歷，就會得恐懼症。

especially in childhood.

特別是在兒童時期。

Despite all that, common phobias are quite similar across cultures.

儘管如此，不同文化中常見的恐懼症還是很相似的。

But one of the few that's culturally specific is taijin kyofusho,

但是，少數幾個有文化特色的是太極拳法。

the Japanese phobia of embarrassing other people.

日本人的恐懼症，害怕讓別人難堪。

All the phobias we've mentioned are classed as...

我們提到的所有恐懼症都被歸類為...

Fear of specific things.

對具體事物的恐懼。

But there are two complex phobias.

但有兩種複雜的恐懼症。

Social phobia is triggered by being around people you don't know,

社交恐懼症是由在不認識的人身邊引發的。

and agoraphobia by being away from home,

和因離家而產生的恐曠症。

especially without escape routes.

尤其是沒有逃學生通道。

Whilst these are serious conditions,

雖然這些都是嚴重的情況。

they can be treated with therapy and medication.

他們可以通過治療和藥物治療。

Simple phobias, despite the suffering they cause,

簡單的恐懼症，儘管它們造成了痛苦。

are easier to treat.

是比較容易治療的。

The NHS recommends Cognitive Behavioural Therapy,

NHS推薦認知行為療法。

with a therapist helping you to gradually get used

在治療師的幫助下，你會逐漸習慣。

to whatever it is you fear.

不管你害怕什麼

So if a phobia's getting you down, why not pop in and see your doctor?

所以，如果恐懼症讓你心煩意亂，為什麼不進來看看醫生呢？

Unless of course you're iatrophobic,

當然，除非你有恐高症。

in which case, it's probably better to have a word with the nurse.

在這種情況下，它可能是更好地有一個字與護士。