I am one of those people with a deep phobia of stinging insects. I’m told I was stung on the eyelid as a child, but I don’t remember it. I haven’t been stung since and I have no evidence I’m allergic.
I have, through considerable effort, trained myself to suppress the response to scream and flee, although once in a while I still do it. I can’t stop my heart from pounding, or my breathing from moving towards hyperventilation. My SIL the Head Shrinker tried to calm me down once after a wasp nearly landed on me, and part of that was to put her hand on my thigh (I was wearing shorts). She told me later that my face had gone white and my leg was like ice. 
I will freely admit that this is not logical. I mean, dragonflies freak me out, because they look like they have ten-inch-long stingers. And dragonflies pose no danger to humans at all. I know this. I know other people consider them beautiful. I just see a flying organic heat-seeking missile. :eek:
Anyway - I convinced myself to suppress the visible parts of the panic reflex because I didn’t want to pass the phobia on to my kids, nor to panic the kids at the daycare where I worked for four years. I had motivation. But I can’t stop the response inside of me. Please believe me that I wish I could. I live in wasp country and I dread those weeks every fall when the wasps are hungry and humans smell good :(
