By Taylor Perkins

Scary movies, haunted corn mazes and costumes can all make October feel a bit spookier. What’s scarier than the aforementioned items? Failure.

According to a Mirror Twitter poll with 72 responses, 67 percent of people said that they are fearful of failing. Public speaking came in second with 14 percent of the votes, heights was third with 13 percent, and other got six percent of votes.

Failure:

The scientific name for fear of failure is atychiphobia.

“Fear of failure causes [people] to unconsciously sabotage their chances of success, in a variety of ways,” according to Psychology Today.

Psychology Today suggests that people with a fear of failure do not fear failing itself but rather the shame that comes from failing. This shame could be rooted to many different emotions: disappointing people in their lives, anger, frustration.

For others, it’s more personal.

“I personally fear failure because my parents ingrained it in me from a young age that failure is unacceptable,” junior Kendall Stockard said. “I have watched other people I know fail and I do not want to deal with the negative consequences.”

This fear of failure can be overcome, though. Vanessa Loder, a contributor with Forbes, wrote in an article, “How to Conquer the Fear of Failure- 5 Proven Strategies” some guidelines by which people can reclaim how they live their lives. She said that by reclaiming your fear of failure you can use it to your advantage in the work force. This is largely accomplished by redefining how you measure your goals.

Public Speaking:

For others, public speaking is their biggest fear. The fear of public speaking is formally known as glossophobia. According to Statistics Brain, 74 percent of people were reported to have had speech anxiety in Sept 2016.

The fear is not within speaking itself, but being fearful that you look anxious, according to Anxiety Coach.

Anxiety Coach reported that people with this fear make it worse by actively avoiding speaking in front of groups. This can be more harmful because a person can miss out on many opportunities in their lives because they do not want to speak out.

Heights:

Heights were the third ranking fear.

“I’m afraid of falling and there is a great chance of getting hurt, the thought of getting hurt scares me,” sophomore Megan Merseal said.

According to Psychology Today the fear people have associated with heights has to do with our body processing reactions to different senses. This can be disorienting and create an unsettled feeling- fear.

Other

Some people have completely different fears.

Sophomore Alexis Shuler has a fear of people leaving her life.

“I understand that people come and go but it’s a lot harder for me especially in relationships because I’m scared of giving my whole self,” Shuler said.

She handles this by trying to be really self-reliant.

“I’ve always been very independent and try to do everything on my own so I don’t have to depend on anyone,” Shuler said.

Handling Fears

Fear should not rule your life. Learning how to overcome your fears is important to living a healthy and happy life. It can be easy to become complacent in your everyday routine and accept how things currently are, but there are steps to help you overcome the obstacles. Talk to a professional counselor or therapist if you feel like any of your fears are ruling your life.