I recently returned from a month-long trip to Alaska. On the way home, the airline messed up our reservation, and we ended up spending the Fourth of July sitting in the Denver airport. An 18-hour layover certainly provides the opportunity to sit and reflect!

Although I do not personally suffer from aerophobia, I have always been a bit of a nervous flier. I prefer to arrive at the airport as late as possible, board the plane as quickly as possible, and be on my way. Sitting in the airport for 18 hours definitely made me more anxious than usual, since I had nothing better to do than dwell on the upcoming flight.

I am curious as to how those of you with a full-blown phobia would handle such a travel delay. Would you be able to continue by air, or would you be rushing off to the nearest car rental counter?

Share your thoughts and personal experiences in the forum, where we can all help each other learn new skills!

Health phobias such as hypochondriasis and nosophobia can be triggered by current events, particularly those that receive massive media attention. The swine flu scare was the latest triggering event, but the recent deaths of three major celebrities -- Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon, are currently clogging news wires.

Although each of these deaths was certainly tragic, it is important to maintain balance and perspective. If you begin to develop anxiety or signs of OCD, be sure to tell your mental health practitioner right away.

Agoraphobia is possibly one of the most misunderstood phobias. Popular culture tends to define it as a fear of leaving home, but this is only one of the possible components. Agoraphobia is an insidious disorder, which may creep up on you without your fully understanding what has happened. For detailed information on this relatively common phobia, take a look at "What Is Agoraphobia?" I also invite you to share your personal stories and experiences at Readers Respond: Agoraphobia Hits Home.

In recent weeks, I have blogged about self-identifying police guns and robot soldiers, both new technologies that could trigger doomsday phobias or automatonophobia. To help ward off panic, however, it may be beneficial to look back at last year's biggest technological threat -- the atom smasher.

As I explained in a June post last year, the atom smasher brings high hopes for answering many of science's greatest mysteries. Opponents brought a lawsuit to prevent its operation, however, as many feared that it could cause black holes, create micro-particles known as strangelets, or otherwise destroy the entire planet. Technophobia reached a fever pitch in the hours before the machine was started.

Despite the hype and fear, the atom smasher worked brilliantly...for nine days, until a simple bad splice in wiring brought it to a halt. According to Discovery, however, it will be back in action this September, bearing even more safety features. Perhaps it isn't the end of the world as we know it.