On The Other Hand ...

By Jocelyn Geboy in Miscellaneous on Jun 15, 2007 8:12PM

Just yesterday, we told you that the cicadas were terrorizing the suburbs. Funny that, because some people haven't seen a one. We're in that camp, and lord-a-mighty, we are so happy. We were talking about these babies way back in April, and they were actually making it sort of okay when the temperatures would dip back down into winter mode, because we thought it would delay the onslaught of the plague.

Turns out that due to a less extensive tree root system and a lot of construction around these parts (gentrification, what?), those crazy critters aren't citified. Yee-haw! Maybe there really is something to that idea that the universe really only gives you what you can handle. Or there's always the camp that believes that you get put to the test sometimes. For instance, people who suffer from entomophobia are having a really bad time right now.

Entomophobia is a "specific phobia." It is defined as an "intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger." Touching about 9 percent of the population, specific phobias also afflict twice as many women as men. Entomophobia is the fear of insects, people. And if you suffer from it, a mega-cicada invasion is not cool. According to Karen Cassiday, a clinical psychologist with the the Anxiety and Agoraphobia Treatment Center in Northbrook, "[some people] think the insect is looking at them." And with those eyes, can you blame them?

There's a storefront meeting place down in Tinley Park where people are meeting to help discuss their bug fears. It's called Help Our Panic End, and people are finding themselves in more distress with the cicadamania, as some have happily (?) put it. They're located at 17729 S. Oak Park Ave, so if you're struggling with bug freakout, you can join them.

"Cicada shells" by cubish