Fears/Phobias?

[Girl_On_Fire]

What are you afraid of? Public speaking, tight spaces, spiders? Here's the place to discuss your fears and phobias...if you dare. ;)

[StrongButch]

I do not like snakes. I dont care what anyone says im not touching that damn thing. TY

[JustBeingMe]

I do not like snakes. I dont care what anyone says im not touching that damn thing. TY

I second that motion and raise it one by adding that the only good snake is a dead one and I don't care what kind of snake it is either.

[always2late]

I'm afraid of heights. Well...actually afraid is a bit mild, I have full-blown panic attacks. The strange thing is, I love roller coasters, and have no problem on them, no matter how high they are, but it is only recently that I was able to force myself to ride escalators. And I can only step on the down escalator if I'm not looking down. I can't climb high ladders without starting to shake, or look over the side railings of staircases, and when driving across a bridge I have to be on the inside lane and white knuckle it until I'm across. But...I have no trouble flying and love to sit in the window seat on planes. My fear of heights is totally bizarre and arbitrary and without logic or reason.

[Katniss]

I fear one thing and one thing only....any kind of harm coming to my child. I once read having a child is like letting your heart walk around outside your body. This is so true.

If I were to list a second fear it would be to cause another harm. Especially in a vehicle accident, etc.

Katniss~~(as to snakes, heights, speed, heartbreak, etc.....bring it!)

[Massive]

1. Crane Flies
2. Heights
3. Losing the ability to take care of myself.

[Gráinne]

I'm afraid of heights. Well...actually afraid is a bit mild, I have full-blown panic attacks. The strange thing is, I love roller coasters, and have no problem on them, no matter how high they are, but it is only recently that I was able to force myself to ride escalators. And I can only step on the down escalator if I'm not looking down. I can't climb high ladders without starting to shake, or look over the side railings of staircases, and when driving across a bridge I have to be on the inside lane and white knuckle it until I'm across. But...I have no trouble flying and love to sit in the window seat on planes. My fear of heights is totally bizarre and arbitrary and without logic or reason.

I don't feel so alone or illogical!

*Love roller coasters, but down escalators or super steep up ones make me search for the elevator (which I also don't like, but dislike the least?). It's only been in the last few months that I can do a down escalator at all.

*Hate bridges, ladders, narrow cliffs (hard when most of your rocks are on cliffs), narrow stairs, stairs with the back of the step knocked out so it's just the step.

*Balloons. I don't like it when they pop. I can't stand next to a carnival game with balloons of any kind. I forbid anyone to bring a balloon in my house.

*I think the balloon thing is related to my fear of explosions and loud noises. Even in a movie, when there's a threat of an explosion (nearly any action movie, anything with gasoline, fire, etc.) I'm plugging my ears and whimpering in my seat like a puppy until explosion all gone. Needless to say, this limits the movies I'll watch.

*Mushrooms. I can be around mushrooms in the store, but start to get antsy around the ones with big caps. But out in the wild, forget it. I will go to any length to go around a mushroom, or to avoid sitting on a log with fungus on it.

[always2late]

I don't feel so alone or illogical!

*Love roller coasters, but down escalators or super steep up ones make me search for the elevator (which I also don't like, but dislike the least?). It's only been in the last few months that I can do a down escalator at all.

*Hate bridges, ladders, narrow cliffs (hard when most of your rocks are on cliffs), narrow stairs, stairs with the back of the step knocked out so it's just the step.

*Balloons. I don't like it when they pop. I can't stand next to a carnival game with balloons of any kind. I forbid anyone to bring a balloon in my house.

*I think the balloon thing is related to my fear of explosions and loud noises. Even in a movie, when there's a threat of an explosion (nearly any action movie, anything with gasoline, fire, etc.) I'm plugging my ears and whimpering in my seat like a puppy until explosion all gone. Needless to say, this limits the movies I'll watch.

*Mushrooms. I can be around mushrooms in the store, but start to get antsy around the ones with big caps. But out in the wild, forget it. I will go to any length to go around a mushroom, or to avoid sitting on a log with fungus on it.

Ohhhh...those stairs! I know just the kind you mean (I call them hollow stairs). Ugh!

[Girl_On_Fire]

I'm afraid of heights. Well...actually afraid is a bit mild, I have full-blown panic attacks. The strange thing is, I love roller coasters, and have no problem on them, no matter how high they are, but it is only recently that I was able to force myself to ride escalators. And I can only step on the down escalator if I'm not looking down. I can't climb high ladders without starting to shake, or look over the side railings of staircases, and when driving across a bridge I have to be on the inside lane and white knuckle it until I'm across. But...I have no trouble flying and love to sit in the window seat on planes. My fear of heights is totally bizarre and arbitrary and without logic or reason.

It could be a sensory processing thing. You seem to be okay with heights when you're strapped in but not when you're in control. Believe it or not, that makes sense to me.

[always2late]

It could be a sensory processing thing. You seem to be okay with heights when you're strapped in but not when you're in control. Believe it or not, that makes sense to me.

You may be right....I've noticed that when I'm sitting it seems to be less of a problem than when standing. Who knows? Maybe the processing area of my brain is just a tad off when it comes to heights and height perception.

[Girl_On_Fire]

Mine:


Hornets/Bees - (I can't stand the buzzing sound. Arrgh!)
House Centipedes - (The way these things move is just unnatural!)
Being Questioned - (I pretty much go all wide-eyed and mute when someone questions me. It's a trigger.)
Driving on Highways - (Sensory processing thing.)

[girl_dee]

places with a lot of people, i feel like they are sucking the air out and the walls are going to implode

being in the back of a building.. i always check to see where exits are

[Velvetkitten]

Spiders...I don't care how small YOU think it is to me it's the size of a tarantula(which I had fall on me once in my car..yes jumped out of a moving vehicle tvm)..please take it outside...

Heights but depends

Tight spaces like tunnels especially underwater ones...trust me you don't want to be a passenger as I am driving through the tunnel from Logan airport in Boston.. Passenger: Did that speed limit say 45? ME: Umm No It's 80

Clowns..No Thanks

But snakes, bugs or snarling animals bring it on...

[Semantics]

Getting a paper cut in my eye.


It could happen, it's possible, although I worry over it way more than is necessary considering the likelihood.

[femm_cb]

Living in Florida, my biggest fear is aligators and snakes. :blink:

When my son came to visit me last summer, he wanted to go to Gatorland Zoo. I had to put my big girl panties on and take him. But before I walked into the park, I took a xanax to calm me down. True story!

[Daktari]

Big things in the sea. I won't name them because then I'll be thinking of them

Heights - sitting or standing. Standing is worse though and have had some scary bouts of vertigo in beautiful places :|

Snakes


All totally irrational.

[Ascot]

I'm with Daktari re. big things in the sea. When something unseen bumps my leg it freaks me the hell out. Having said that, it doesn't keep me out of the water; it just propels me quickly out should an encounter occur.

[Miss Scarlett]

I've got several. A couple years ago a special friend helped me conquer a major one. That gave me the strength and determination to decide to face the others and conquer them too as they surface or I have the opportunity...

[always2late]

In addition to my sporadically bizarre fear of heights that I've already posted about....I have another totally irrational fear. Sharks. I've never encountered a shark (outside of an aquarium...and we won't go into the problems I caused in the "shark tunnel" at Seaworld), however, the fear is so real to me that when I go swimming in a pond, lake, river, or stream....I make sure someone else goes in first (my theory being that the shark will get them first...and then I'll know not to go in LOL). And yes...that is totally irrational behavior, because I'm even compelled to do it in bodies of water where my rational, logical mind insists that it is impossible for a shark to exist there. Doesn't matter...the illogical, lizard brain takes over. And I NEVER swim in the ocean....ever (which grieves me because I LOVE the ocean).

[Rockinonahigh]

Snakes and spiders poping up out of the blue can cause a panic attack,but if I see then first I can deal with them for the most part.High places,the higher I get the worse my vertago gets...people who startle me suddenly will kick in flight or flight defence with me that can get then a telling off, I haven't punched anyone out over it...yet.real close tight places...I have an MRI comeing up Thursday so loud music and breathing exersises usely work.

[cinnamongrrl]

I have a phobia about SPECIFIC bugs...generally speaking, anything with more than 8 legs..and I'm none too partial to those wood louse bugs... but centipedes are prolly the only thing that will send me running and squealing like a girl....

I've come to realize I am NOT afraid of heights like I thought. I'm scared of falling. Big difference. If I feel secure, heights don't bother me at all...this is great since I have always wanted to learn to rock climb :)

[femm_cb]

I'm with Daktari re. big things in the sea. When something unseen bumps my leg it freaks me the hell out. Having said that, it doesn't keep me out of the water; it just propels me quickly out should an encounter occur.

I'm the same way. I will Jesus across the water.

[Apocalipstic]

Teeth
Worms
Dating

[Happyfemme]

I am very afraid of spiders. I think they scare me the most when they are somewhere above me, like on the ceiling in my bedroom.

[JustBeingMe]

In addition to my first post I will that I now cannot stand crowds, like when you go grocery shopping.....I have to take ativan just to go into a crowded store. My ptsd and anxiety are much worse than it's been in last few years, and they upped my ativan to 3xday now, just to help curtail my anxiety. UGH... I also have a fear of falling.....I often have dreams of falling from great heights like a skyscraper and falling in mid air just wakes me up before I hit the ground and I'm balling like a big ass scared kid. I wonder what would happen if I hit the bottom and didn't wake up? I often think I would die in my sleep if I actually saw myself hit the bottom. IS that even possible?
I don 't know, but I dunt wanna find out. I am also afraid of pitbulls that have been fought before. I just don't trust them at all. But on the other hand, if it's a pitbull someone raised from a pup and wasnt' abusive to them, I'm not afraid of them then. Make sense? I dunnno, just is what it is.
OH and going into the ocean and learning to surf, I"m deathly afraid of sharks attacking. It's on reason I never learned how to surf, I don't want any missing body parts.........just sayin.

[Girl_On_Fire]

Teeth
Worms
Dating

So you could never date a worm with teeth. :sunglass: *laughs* Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

[VintageFemme]

Phobia: Cats - I've gotten better about it as I've gotten older [it used to be full on frozen fear and anxiety ridden] but I still cringe for the most part when one comes near me.

Fears: I'm afraid of the dark. I always have been and I probably always will be. And any kind of rodent. Including ferrets. I'm dying just thinking about them!

[Gemme]

I'm not particuarly fond of heights and especially not fond of the fall.

[MysticOceansFL]

I normal don't talk about my fears but I have one its spiders and when I see one I usually don't say anything I just kill it.

[dixie]

deathly afraid of heights
sometimes have a fear of being in a car/driving (comes from a past wreck, I suppose)
fear of rejection (which keeps me from some romances, employment, group events, and even friendships, etc)
slightly agoraphobic - I prefer not to be put in situations where social interaction will take place and will avoid it at all costs. Anyplace where people will look at me, talk to me, or even know I exist....I don't wanna be. (Even at work I will get very uncomfortable if people stand or talk too long, and will excuse myself even if it's just to go stand in the records room and regroup for a bit. Getting over this shit has been a work in progress for years...without much progress. I'm just better at hiding it these days.)
fear of big nasty hairy spiders *shudder*

I seem to be developing a lot more weird and unusual phobias as I age, most of which I won't bother naming since even to myself they sound/seem ridiculous. :seeingstars:

[tantalizingfemme]

I am also deathly afraid of heights.... will start tearing up at the thought of being near the edge of something tall.

I also have a fear of bridges.... I dream of driving off bridges and have this fear that something with force me off a bridge or there will be a hole in the road and my car will fall through.

[The JD]

Spiders (though my reactions to spiders have great entertainment value, I'm told)

Those creepy flat slow-moving bugs- shield bugs, I think they're called. I call them stink bugs, even though they don't all stink.

Sunflowers.

[Cailin]

i have quite a few fears, but the ones that will absolutely petrify me:


Spiders. I dont mean, i just scream and say "kill it". My heart races, i sweat, I can almost not breathe and yes- I may cry and hyper ventilate based on how close and big it is. I will kill the small ones and I'm fine. but ones that are the size of a penny or larger, and they hop? I will start crying and hurt myself to try and get away from it.-- oddly, i LOVE snakes.



Not being able to save myself. Alot of people think I have a fear of planes/flying. Its not that, essentially. Its the fact that when I'm in an aluminum can, 50 million feet in the air, if anything goes wrong I am absolutely helpless to save myself. All I can do is sit there and wait to die. I can't flap my wings etc. However, I am fine with getting in a helicopter. You can jump out of them, if need be. I avoid any situation where I think I cannot save myself.



Living a life without cause. (self explanatory)

[Cid]

I could say that I have a fear of heights, but that's not exactly true. The fear that I have is falling from them.
Or more exact...the fear of landing after falling from them. :seeingstars:

[Ascot]

Maggots. Yeah, no. I don't that it is truly a fear as much as it is soul crushing revulsion. Were I ever faced with a medical situation that could best be treated with maggot therapy I would have to be rendered unconscious and never told about it. Ever. Knowledge would lead to immediate institutionalization.

[puddin']

ticks
leeches
extreme heights (vertigo)
australian spiders (they jump fo' gawds sake!)

[Gemme]

I heard a DJ on the radio talking about phobias while on the drive home today and a top 5 list that someone compiled. Number one: heights. Number two: dentist. Number five: spiders.

Numbers three and four got lost in me fussing at the other drivers.

:blink:

[girllikeu2]

Gotta say my fear of bridges has abated a bit since I now cross several dozen (including the thrilling 7 mile bridge) every few weeks. The first few crossings of said uber long bridge sent me into full blown black out, hyperventilating spasms, which were a boat load of fun with my kid in the back seat.

Good good times.

[Daktari]

I'm not particuarly fond of heights and especially not fond of the fall.

It doesn't hurt when ya fall...only when you land!

:| <<< Mr.Obvious face

[candy_coated_bitch]

Caterpillars. I am not afraid of bugs in general at ALL, just caterpillars. I had a very traumatizing childhood incident when I was about three.

My Dad decided it would be a good idea to burn down all the tent caterpillars out of the tree in the front yard. (He's not too bright sometimes.) Result being--a literal carpet of both burned and alive caterpillars all over the front lawn.

My three yeard old oblivious self ran outside to play the next day. With bare feet. Standing in inches of squishy caterpillars and alive ones that were crawling up my legs. I was fucking paralyzed and SCREAMING my head off. I will NEVER forget it.

If I so much as SEE a caterpillar. OMG. It's not pretty.

[femmeInterrupted]

I don't LIKE spiders, and they scare me ( especially the big meaty Dock Spiders that live near the lake/water) but I don't have an unreasonable fear of them.
I feel stage fright just prior to public speaking, but it quickly goes away as I 'get into' it.
Worst of all is being in small, cramped spaces. I watched the Descent and could barely stand watching them crawl through those caves and passages. Yikes!


http://itthing.com/wp-content/uploads/Phobias_blog.jpg

[Gemme]

It doesn't hurt when ya fall...only when you land!

:| <<< Mr.Obvious face

It does if you hit a few things on your way down....tree limbs....awnings....a roof....your mailperson.

Technically, until you hit that last one; it's not landing. It's falling, with pauses.

:blink:

[chris1life]

Mice and heights both make me freak out. I figure I was supposed to be 10 foot off the ground I wouldnt be only 5"4. And mice are sooooo nasty.

[PoeticSilence]

Definitely heights AND confined spaces.
Being in a huge building with many offices late in the evening after everyone is gone, like a ... horror movie waiting to happen.

[uglyboi]

Beasley would tell you I have a fear of bathing!

I would object!

[Orema]

– heights
– bloody horror films
– roller coasters
– overpass on the freeway
– snakes, rodents, creepy crawly things

[girl_dee]

elevators
underground parking
bridges sometimes get me panicked
i have a fear of drowning

[Gayandgray]

I have a bathtub phobia! I shower with no problems but just cannot soak in a bathtub due to childhood trauma. I'm not real crazy about hot tubs either, unless I'm drunk.:jester::jester:

[VintageFemme]

Omgosh I'm afraid of everything! The short list:


Escalators
Birds
Cats
Rodents
Snakes
Lizards
Men
Night
Crowds
Fair/Carnival rides
Butterflies
Heights
Closed in spaces
Deep water
Gas stoves/heaters
Driving
Bridges/Tall overpasses
Flying
Guns
Hospitals
Germs
Movie Theaters
Clowns

[Katniss]

Good grief, I posted in this thread four (yes 4) years ago! I also see a post from one of our dear ones who has left this world we currently inhabit. :fastcycling:

Which brings me to a fairly new fear....running out of time. Watching my aging parents slip into ill health, my teen really start to mature into her own person, the city growing by leaps and bounds, meeting personal goals and making new ones. All these reminders of tick-tock. Fear of running out of time to do everything I wish to do, travel to all the places I want to see, all the museums, art, concerts, classes. Never enough time. I've never made a bucket list because there was always time...or not.

I also need to add another new-ish fear. Fear of losing faith. Faith in the goodness of humanity. Faith in my own humanity. Fear of losing that connectedness now that groceries and entertainment and social interaction are just a click away and I don't have to "deal with people." Fear I'll stop wanting to be kind (takes effort after all) or will become more impatient because now if I can't "click" and get "to the door delivery" in under two hours then....deep exasperated sigh. I'm afraid all this "screen life" will screen me *from* life. No smiling at a little kid who looks afraid in a crowd, or clapping for the other team even though mine didn't win, or bending down on the MARTA to tie a heavily pregnant woman's shoelace, or just a quick smile or joke with a stranger. I'm afraid of becoming jaded and losing faith in, well, all of us. But especially myself.

Katniss~~(also add afraid I am waaay overthinking these threads)

[Tuff Stuff]

I still fear the dark.

Well,not the night it self but what may lurk in it. :vigil:

[hopelessromantic69]

Drowning is my only fear. My brother shoved my head under the water when we were little and I have not gotten over it. The month and a half I was in Hawaii helped get over it some by snorkeling.

[Deborah*]

Fear of the dark.. I have to sleep with a small light on.

Deborah

[Tuff Stuff]

Fear of the dark.. I have to sleep with a small light on.

Deborah

Weekends are spent in hotel rooms alone,so I always leave the bathroom light on.When I'm home,my wife thinks it's childish,but I have terrible nightmares if I sleep alone with the lights out,but only if I sleep alone.
:vigil:

[akiza]

claustrophobia

[FireSignFemme]

I know I've said it before, but I feel it bears repeating – Clowns!!!

[Tuff Stuff]

I hate heavy winds...anything over 15 miles scares the crap out of me.:eatinghersheybar:

[indigo]

It's not a real phobia but I feel uncomfortable when it's dark in the street and someone is walking behind me; had a bad experience in a similar situation years ago.

[imperfect_cupcake]

wasps: I freak out and leave. I will seriously panic. And if one lands on me I freeze and inwardly go berzerk.
Heights: I get vertigo and start panting a bit. I do eventually calm down if it's under a certain height.
sidewalk grating: can't walk on them. terrifying. sometimes force myself for being an idiot and then freak out while I'm doing it.

New! Social anxiety in lesbian spaces. Never happened in London. Happens here. Badly. I think all those times I got completely ignored and people barely spoke to me even when I spoke to them, when I went out after I got home, I took really to heart. So I panic now if I go to lesbian events. So I don't go anymore.

[ksrainbow]

Those few/rare fricken dreams of falling and drowning OMFG!
Wake me up in a sweet ridden bed!

Ks-