Ever since I was a kid I have the fear of getting painfully injured, like being cut by a very sharp knife.

 

I think this type of phobia is called agliophobia. Angliophobia (the fear of pain) can be a serious problem and can even paralyze a person.

 

Agliophobia is a psychological disorder that can be described as the fear of experiencing pain. In most cases, the person fears an event that may potentially cause pain. The fear may be worse than any real potential injury that could actually occur, making the fear illogical.

 

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-agliophobia.htm

I guess it's only a phobia if it is an irrational fear? Seems like a rational fear that of being seriously injured - will become a phobia if fear is disproportional to the situation maybe? Is this how you describe it for you?

P

I guess it's only a phobia if it is an irrational fear?

 

I've always understood phobias to be extreme but not necessarily irrational. Is it irrational to fear being in high places with no guardrails? No, but if your fear of them keeps you from being able to climb more than ten stairs without freaking out, it's probably more of a phobia. Same thing with knives, they can be very dangerous, but there's a difference between being overly cautious while handling one and not being able to open a drawer in the kitchen because there might be knives in it.

 

I suppose you could say it's irrational to fear knives so much, they aren't that dangerous in every situation, but compared to some phobias this one seems at least grounded in reality. I knew a woman once who got a piece of paper from a ticker-tape parade in NYC caught in her eye as a child, and now she can't stand it when someone tears a piece off a sheet of paper. That seems more irrational to me than a fear of falling or being cut, but I suppose she really believes the paper could seriously injure her eyes.

As for heights I'm not the biggest fan, not phobia - just ... mind definitely alerting to focus on that!

 

I saw one on TV with a woman who had a phobia of any fish - pretty much cured with hypnotic suggestion / therapy