Do You Have Any Real Phobias?

[Zurrz]

Oh!
I almost forgot: Bridges.
Not a fan of elevators either.
I'm okay with bridges if we don't stop or slow down while going over them.
Elevators just freak me out, I don't like anything about them. I tend to just wedge myself in the corner and hold on for dear life. Even when they stop I feel unsafe in them.

I think it's because there's no escape path so if I get stuck then I'm stuck and there's nothing I can do to help myself. Unfortunately since I have so many medical issues I have no way to avoid elevators (because I guess hospitals are worried about letting their patients get healthier so they hide the stairs.).

 

[whitelop]

Oh!
I almost forgot: Bridges.
Not a fan of elevators either.
I'm okay with bridges if we don't stop or slow down while going over them.
Elevators just freak me out, I don't like anything about them. I tend to just wedge myself in the corner and hold on for dear life. Even when they stop I feel unsafe in them.

I think it's because there's no escape path so if I get stuck then I'm stuck and there's nothing I can do to help myself. Unfortunately since I have so many medical issues I have no way to avoid elevators (because I guess hospitals are worried about letting their patients get healthier so they hide the stairs.).

My mom is TERRIFIED of large bridges. I remember when I was like 14 or so, we were in Charleston SC going over the old Cooper River bridge (if anyone knows that bridge, the old one WAS terrifying.) It was 4 (2 one way, 2 the other) lanes of wooden bridge, it rocked and swayed. It was crazy scary. So when she was forced to go over the bridge by taking the wrong way and you couldn't turn around at the bridge or get off or avoid it from this one road. So she rode in the middle of the two lanes doing 30 mph crying hysterically and screaming the whole time. It took like 10 minutes to get over the bridge because she was going so slow, so she drug it out. It didn't help that she was blocked passing traffic and they were all honking because they were backed up. I sat in the back and laughed like a crazy person because it was SO RIDICULOUS! She has a hard time with the bigger bridges like that. Like in Jacksonville FL, that big bridge, she hated that one too, but at least its a newer suspension bridge not a wooden freestanding bridge.
Thats my mom's fear. Me, I could care less about bridges. But dented cans, don't even mess with me.

 

[agnesthelion]

......

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Agnesthelion, I am exactly the same way and always have been, even as a little 2 year old. Of course I work with little kids so am around vomit on a fairly regular basis. Lucky for me the emetophobia is not as bad with kids (the younger they are, the less bad) and I'm good at outwardly holding my composure. Heck, earlier this week a 2 year old I was taking care of for the first time threw up 5 minutes into our day together when she choked/gagged while eating her breakfast! Small kids at work aside, it seems like people go out of their way to get sick around me- I've been vomited on 4 separate times in my life and have been next to pukers on planes and at school so many times!

It's interesting how much it's affected my life, though. Won't go on rides or boats or any other things like that in case someone gets sick, hated having roommates in case they got sick, always bring ear plugs and an mp3 player on buses and planes in case someone gets sick so at least I don't have to hear it (and worry the whole time that someone will vomit near me, especially on planes since I can just get off the bus if that happens), I find myself looking around at people to see if they look nauseated, hate being around drunk people, worry about watching movies/shows I haven't seen before, have always been HUGE on hand washing (to the point of having OCD with it twice in my life during very stressful times) and am way over the top when it comes to food safety and handling raw meat. Oh and I absolutely hate any sound a throat can make- burping, coughing, gagging, etc. The list goes on but I think you get the gist! Oddly, vomiting doesn't bother my husband. To him it isn't any grosser than someone sneezing or whatever. Thankfully he's respectful of me and has always been careful to give me time to get away (go upstairs and turn on a loud fan) if he's going to be sick since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to kiss him for about a month if I ever had to see him vomit! He's also agreed to be in charge of vomit duty/clean up when we have kids (if he's home when it happens, of course).

 

[Kyva]

My biggest fears are fires and...storm drains.

For fire, I'm okay with fireworks and bonfires, but I've only ever lit a match once--in 4th grade science. I don't like to hold lighters or flicksticks, and if I need to gas on for the stove, hubby must turn it on, light the stove, then turn on a burner so it doesn't whoosh when i put my pot of water on. When I'm done making food, I turn off the stove and the gas, even though leaving the pilot light on is okay...


Storm drains and grates, I don't even know where this came from. If we're walking, I refused to walk on them. I walk around them for fear of the support on the grate breaking, then me falling down into the sewers.

 

[i_wanna_blue]

I have been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder, so i get troubled by most things. My biggest specific phobia will probably be.... people lol. :shock2:

 

[Kyva]

I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety years ago. I rarely leave the house unless hubby goes with me. I am very uncomfortable in large groups, and if I go to the mall and there's a large group of (loud) individuals, I'll walk in the other direction.

I've been like this for around 14 years now. It took me 5-6 years to get enough guts to walk down the grocery store aisle on my own, so I completely understand.

 

[i_wanna_blue]

I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety years ago. I rarely leave the house unless hubby goes with me. I am very uncomfortable in large groups, and if I go to the mall and there's a large group of (loud) individuals, I'll walk in the other direction.

I've been like this for around 14 years now. It took me 5-6 years to get enough guts to walk down the grocery store aisle on my own, so I completely understand.

I rarely leave the house as well. This problem has been with me all my life so I've had to deal with it for many years too. I'm glad there's someone that understands If only the world was filled with rabbits instead of people

 

[linsssey]

I am absolutely terrified by ladybugs. I cannot think, look, or talk about them without cringing. They are horrible little things and i cannot stand being around one of them. Someone on facebook posted a picture of one made out of flowers and I couldn't go on Facebook for a few days.

I think the reason is when I was little my house would fill up with them in the fall. The corners would be covered in colonies of them and they would fly all over. Oh and my little brother would eat them and they made a horrible crunching sound. ugh.

 

[flemish giant]

I have chlostrophobia. One time when I was little I had a dream that I was a power ranger and I was crawling through a vent and it kept getting smaller and smaller. I woke up shaking and sweating. It was horrible.

 

[agnesthelion]

......

 

[holtzchick]

Hmmm... I'd say I'm okay with other people puking, it's just really myself puking that I feel. I get horrible horrible pains in my stomach if I think about it and extremely sweaty palms. I still have to put headphones on or earplugs in if I can hear someone puking though. It started as a kid, my mother used to drink and throw up a lot and it was VERY traumatizing for me!!

My only other horrible fear is spiders!! If I see one near me and I am forced to stay near it (ie. when working) I will start freaking out and cry. I will NEVER kill one because it makes me go way too close so someone else always has to do it... One time, when I was 14 or so, I was laying on my mothers couch eating soup and a spider crawled across me... I spilled hot soup all over myself and the couch and threw the bowl across the room... I was hyperventilating and everyone was yelling at me because it was just a "tiny spider".... euuugh it's just the way they crawl so quickly it's disgusting!!!

 

[whitelop]

Michelle, you made me think of a few weeks ago when I was in the car with my husband. We had just left the store and we went under a street lamp and I saw a spider on the window next to me. I flipped out! Hahah. I was pretty much in my husbands lap as he was driving, because I wanted him to kill it but he wouldn't because he said it was a "tiny spider". So I tried to kill it with a napkin but I missed it and it ran in the crack of the window at the top and I sat in the middle of the car the whole way home.
I normally don't have a problem with spiders BUT I do have a problem with them in the car with me. I feel like I'm TRAPPED in the car with them and I can never kill them and there is always somewhere for them to hide!

 

[Imbrium]

It took me two years to have the guts to turn on the stove here as well! And even still, I'll only light the oven if my partner is around (of course, if she's around, I make her do it).

I have the normal fears, spiders and public speaking, especially bad, but I do have a weird phobia.

I'm terrified of feathers.
Yes, I know, I live with a bird. But I watch said bird take baths every day so he doesn't freak me out, but if one of his feathers comes off and is on my floor, I am not touching it. But that's nowhere near as bad as a feather from outside. You can pick me up and chase me with them because I'll do anything to avoid being touched by one. Over break, I was organizing my partner's desk, and I accidentally touched a feather (why there was a giant feather under some of her clothes, I'm not sure...) and I started screaming and flipping out and washing my hands obsessively and made her not only move the feather, but wash the shirt that it was under, and scrub the desk.

And yes, people laugh at me when I tell them I'm afraid of feathers but not birds.

you're an odd one, lol. when you guys come down here in may, make sure you remind me to leave the feather teaser put away when I take you into the tent to play with the gliders! it's normally insanely adorable to watch them play with the feather teaser but I have a feeling it would be a lot less cute with you sitting next to me, screaming bloody murder

Severed hands.

uhh... I don't think that's a phobia so much as being human. trauma surgeons and such aside, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people would freak the hell out if they ever saw an extremity that was no longer attached to the person it belonged to - I know I sure as hell would!
honestly, I find it hard to believe that there are actually people who see combat and *don't* come home with PTSD of some sort - pretty much every war vet has seen things that no one should ever have to see.

Otherwise, the only thing I've ever had a panic attack for was a rollercoaster. They absolutely terrify me.

oddly enough, I used to be terrified of roller coasters, but at some point in my mid teens, I suddenly started to LOVE them (the line can still give me a bit of a panic attack at times, but that has nothing to do with the roller coaster and everything to do with how I hate people and loud stuff).

I know exactly where my former fear of roller coasters came from. when I was 4/5 (I turned 5 during the vacation), we went to disneyworld for christmas. my parents apparently thought that "space mountain" would be some sort of educational ride about space or something... who knows. all I know is they did NOT know that it was a roller coaster (my mom loathed them).

my first memory EVER is of my dad carrying me as we stood in this insanely long line... I dozed off after a while. you'd think it would've clued my parents in when we got in the ride and they strapped us in with the lap bar and everything that roller coasters always have... but apparently not. anyway, my mom was in the front of the car and I was still asleep; they had me leaning against my dad in the back of it.

I woke up partway through the ride, terrified out of my mind and screaming bloody murder... mom said she was SO scared I was going to try to climb into the front with her (though I'm not surprised I didn't - I was always a total daddy's girl).

even after I started to like roller coasters, it took me a while longer before I was willing to try suspended roller coasters or any that had you upside down at any point... now I love those, too

I remember when mom and I were on vacation when I was maybe 15 and we went on this roller coaster somewhere called "the big bad wolf" (this was shortly after I decided I liked the less scary kinds of roller coasters)... it was the suspended kind and looked fairly tame, which is why we were willing to go on it. well, at one point the ride goes downhill really fast, then curves out over this little river for a 90 degree turn... we were caught by surprise when the ride flung us sideways (parallel to the ground) as we went over the river. after we got off the ride, we saw how the track was actually designed to force you up to the side like that... mom was so pissed at "those b*stards" for that. I begged and begged to ride it again, but she absolutely refused, lol.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I have a fear of heights. Though this isn't really one of those, out-there, crazy phobias. Getting near the edge of anything with a sheer drop/fall (even the second story floor of a house, overlooking the steps, etc.), going up on Ferris Wheels, and some ladders will cause me to hyperventilate and get away as fast as possible. Ferris Wheels are really one of the one carnival rides that make me scared. The funny thing is I willingly put myself into that situation because I will want to go on it, and it's only after I'm on it and it's too late, that I start getting scared. Hate it when people rock the chairs. Or when we stop at the top. *shudder*

While I'm not afraid of fire, persay, I have PTSD from a brush fire that I almost lost everything to (including about 14 rabbits) 4 years ago. I still have horrible nightmares because of it.

My craziest fear, however, is my fear of losing too much blood. Scratches, abrasions, cuts, I can deal with those, but if I bleed a LOT (and to me, a lot is a few tablespoons) then I'll hyperventilate and get shaky, etc. I think it's because I have hypoglycemia, so losing blood equals low blood sugar. The low blood sugar thing also makes me nervous to puke (though I haven't since long before I found out I was hypoglycemic) because if I don't eat, my levels will drop, but if I eat, I'll get sick. So it's a lose/lose situation. lol.

 

[MiserySmith]

I am agoraphobic and have needle phobia. Also a fear of scabies. I had them once and I was considering cutting my skin off. I hate hate hate hate them since before I ever had them even.

 

[holtzchick]

Oh wow, I completely forgot, one of the things I am terrified of are nosebleeds!! I start freaking out (not obsessively or anything) whenever my nose bleeds. Mine has only bled twice in my life and I can recall both times very vividly. I just felt as though I was going to faint and it didn't feel natural at all.... it terrifies me.... :-/

 

[Yield]

Oh gosh this is a great topic.

I have an intense fear of puking. Like, MYSELF. I don't like when other people puke, but when I feel like I have to, I completely panic. Sobbing, shaking... I haven't puked in about seven years now, and I don't plan to anytime soon.

Claymation too. Totally wonks me out- looking at claymation for me is like looking at a "scary" picture. It freaks me out and I usually have to look away. I only got .. almost halfway through the movie Paranorman before I had to stop watching it. Wallace and Gromit, that video by Killswitch Engage? You can forget it.

Things enclosed around my face. I panicked when I put a gas mask on my head. I felt like it was tangled in my hair and I practically ripped it off my face. I was nearly hyperventilating.

Pigs. Good god PIGS. I can sort of handle them at a distance, but if they get close and aren't being controlled (and this is JUST potbellied pigs).. it scares me. But it's when they start squealing me that turns me into a shaking mess. Big pigs- yeah never.

I also fear heights now (never used to)... but mainly just if I have nothing to hold on to or nothing to prevent me from falling down (a fence or what have you).

Being alone in an unfamiliar place. (the dark too) If I have someone there to be with me, I'm okay, but when I get left alone, I start crying and panicking, especially in airports.

I have a lot of phobias.. that I probably would never know about if I hadn't had that first experience with all of them.

 

[Anaira]

uhh... I don't think that's a phobia so much as being human. trauma surgeons and such aside, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people would freak the hell out if they ever saw an extremity that was no longer attached to the person it belonged to - I know I sure as hell would!
honestly, I find it hard to believe that there are actually people who see combat and *don't* come home with PTSD of some sort - pretty much every war vet has seen things that no one should ever have to see.

There I would disagree. Squeamishness is different from a phobia. And if she doesn't freak out about a dismembered foot, or head, or any other dismembered part, then I think it counts as a phobia.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Yes....Spiders....and Clowns (don't judge me).....and the "popping" sound from a can of instant rolls (Jason has to open any can of premade dough, seriously don't judge me)