What Do You See?

If I tell you that this is the 9 a.m. view from our bedroom window, you may think me lucky. You probably see this as beautiful, even peaceful.

But at the other side of the house the view tells me that roads are snow-covered and that's a huge problem for me on any day when I or someone I care about has to drive. I recognise that this has gone beyond nervousness. I am phobic about large dogs and can trace that to small childhood but in some ways my fear of snow -disrupted driving is more crippling. It affects all my thinking about life between October and April ... invitations to visit, theatre or concert bookings, even planning to be away on holiday (what if the roads to the airport are snowy?) You can imagine my stress levels last winter. This winter I have to take on my phobia and do something about it.

Biggest aggravating factor ? The Met Office's total inability to forecast accurately two hours ahead of the weather!



A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. However, we can develop phobias of virtually anything. Most phobias develop in childhood, but they can also develop in adults.

If you have a phobia, you probably realize that your fear is unreasonable, yet you still can't control your feelings. Just thinking about the feared object or situation may make you anxious. And when you're actually exposed to the thing you fear, the terror is automatic and overwhelming.