Fear Factors

There are plenty of people who coast across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge without even a flicker of anxiety, never giving a thought to any greater calamity than whether they forgot the sunscreen or made an error in judgment in packing the Speedo.

But for some people, the 4.3-mile span sparks feelings from mild consternation to outright panic. What if the bridge sways or collapses? What if an erratic driver forces them out of their lane and into the drink? Or worse still, what if they completely freak out and in a state of panic accidentally drive themselves into the bay?

Some can't even express exactly what it is that terrifies them; they just know how they feel: heart racing, back of the neck on fire, irresistible urge to flee at the mere mention of the b-r-i-d-g-e.

Of course, it's natural to have a little fear. "Some level of anxiety helps warn us when there's danger or motivates us to behave in a certain way," says Jerilyn Ross, a psychotherapist and director of the D.C.-based Ross Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. "It's healthy."

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