From Velveeta to roadkill, Kent State students face fright every day

Story by Tony Lombardo
Photo illustration by Erin Galletta

Nearly everyone has some sort of fear. Something that increases the heart rate induces sweating and causes general discomfort and nervousness. But what happens when this mild fear becomes unmanageable?

Now it is a phobia.

Catherine Cherpas, a licensed psychologist at the DeWeese Health Center, says that a fear has reached the level of a phobia “when it becomes destabilizing and it is significant in your everyday function.”

It is not always clear why people have these somewhat irrational fears, Cherpas says.

“Some of us are predisposed to developing fear and anxiety disorders,” Cherpas says. “We are wired that way.”

No matter what the cause, the following Kent State students have severe fears that Cherpas says sound like possible phobias.