Tattoos are cool and it seems that almost everyone has them nowadays.

But the ink is applied using needles.

Let’s face it, there’s nothing wrong with being scared of needles. They’re sharp and they literally get under your skin, which as we’ve evolved would be a good reason to avoid them. There are lots of plants with needles that do anything from hurt us to poison us. So if you’re afraid of sharp objects being put into you, you’re normal.

But that doesn’t help when you actually want needles to be used on you.

So how can you get a tattoo if you’re afraid of needles?

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Lots people around the world suffer from fears that significantly harm their quality of life. One of them is the fear of food. This phobia, technically called cibophobia, is an anxiety disorder that manifests in an exaggerated fear of eating.

Cibophobia differs from anorexia and bulimia because people don’t eat because they think all foods have toxins in their food. People who have bulimia or anorexia do not eat out of an aesthetic fear of fattening.

If you suffer from an irrational fear of eating, here are good ideas about how to get over your fear of food.

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Some people believe that photographs steal their souls. This fear is deep rooted and goes back to before cameras came into use. Which means there’s almost certainly something, deep down, that is causing this fear.

But whether or not you believe in you have a soul, let alone whether or not an inanimate photograph can steal it, today’s world has cameras everywhere. Sometimes a very exclusive club or restaurant will take people’s phones before allowing them to enter. But the rest of the time, you’re open to having your photo taken.

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Ants are a lot smaller than us but they’re normally not found alone. And, depending on the type of ant, when they bite or sting your reaction can range from just being irritated by the fact they’ve done it through to an allergic reaction which, in some cases can be dangerous.

Which means there’s a good survival instinct reason to be afraid of ants, even if the ones closest to you don’t do anything nasty.

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If you’re not careful, fear and anxiety can take over your life.

Which has some serious, negative, repurcussions on your health and general wellbeing.

So, if you’re unfortunate enough to be suffering from fear and anxiety, what can you do to get rid of it?

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Fear of maths was identified as a separate fear in the 1950’s.

Maths is one of the core topics at school and you’re expected to take the subject, regardless of whether or not you’re scared about it.

One of the biggest problems with maths is that – unlike most other subjects – answers are either right or wrong. There’s little, if any, middle ground. And that can be quite off-putting.

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Money fears are common – which is probably not reassuring if you’re unfortunate enough to be experiencing them.

The fear of not having enough money can come from lots of different places in your life but it’s usually to do with employment – either you’re not being paid enough or you’ve been made jobless or your pension and savings aren’t going as far as you’d expected.

Whatever the reason, what can you do about this fear?

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Fear of spiders is normal – some of them are dangerous, so it’s part of our survival instinct. We tend to generalise things (otherwise you’d have to work out what a car was every time you encountered a different make or model or colour) so, even in countries where spiders are just regular creepy crawly things, the fear is common.

But how do you stop being scared of spiders?

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Mistakes happen. And they’re not always negative – Post-It notes were the result of a mistake making a super strong glue.

So the short answer is that you shouldn’t be worried about making mistakes.

In fact, your whole life has probably had a series of mistakes that haven’t adversely affected you. You didn’t walk the first time you stood up – you made mistakes until you learned how that worked. Likewise you almost certainly didn’t achieve perfect balance on your bike. And when you learned to drive a car, it took a while and not everything you did was perfect. The list goes on.

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The quick answer to the question “can claustrophobia be cured” is a resounding yes.

So if you’re unfortunate enough to be claustrophobic – whether mildly or more deeply – then there are some things you can do to lessen your symptoms and overcome it completely.

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