Ever suffer irrational fears? (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

Same here as a kid. I did swimming lessons for three years. In my 7th grade year, I was about 4'9", and I weighed about 70lbs.. I was -tiny- (I've always been that way, very fast metabolism) the teacher swore I could not sink "you won't sink" and threw me off the diving board. I dropped to the bottom of the pool and -ran- on the bottom of the pool (with some big, moonlike bounces) down to where it became 5' or so so I could bounce my head above water. I went home and said "no way".. my Jr. year of college I was 5'9, 104lbs. Lowest weight quotient of my life (I was taking meds to help my metabolism, but didn't seem to help, could eat like a horse and still lost weight :frowning: went to a pool in a hotel, teammates threw me in, and I just froze, sank to the bottom until someone got me.. scared me to death. Just no desire to do anymore then "wade" at this point.

(BTW, Irrational fear in this sense, as this thread started goes like this: you go months without a good diagnosis, and all the sudden, using WebMD, you're coming up with insane diseases you have "oh Jesus! I do work a day a week in a drug rehab/homeless facility.. I could have TB.. my last test is over a year ago (symptom: cough over a month; problem: still gaining weight, no other symptoms) or "Oh my god! What if I have HIV? (problem: been married 8 years, through two kids.. been tested four times in last two years for work. ) or really insane ones "What if I have Whooping Cough?" (Ok, no need to go into that).

 

[NickSo]

I belive the definition of a Phobia is an intense irrational fear of something. So anybody have any phobias?

 

[Dome Vongvises]

If I see it in a movie or read about it on paper it doesn't bother me in the slightest, but I hate it when doors open into pitch black.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Let's see, I would have to say that my three big fears are...

1. Heights and skyscrapers. I can't even look up at a tall building without feeling my knees start to buckle and I feel a little faint. They are too tall to stay stood up, they will fall any minuet, this is what goes through my mind. And you can forget getting me up in one! If you knocked me out, dragged me up to the top floor of the Empire State building, put me in a broom closet, waited for me to wake up and then tell me that i'm on top of the Empire State building, I will still pass out because I realize that beneath my feet are 100's of feet of steel and concrete! :frowning:

2. Insects. Especially Water bugs and centipedes! We used to get both where I used to live every summer, and I used to freak out when I saw one. Centipedes I could sort of deal with, except the big ones, they're huge, hairy and FAST, but they're very easy to kill. If you want to have some fun, try spraying one with Aqua Net hair spray, they'll run but then the hair spray will harden and they will freeze in place!

Water bugs OTOH I could not handle, they are big, black and ugly! The way I dealt with them was if I saw one, I would simple toss the telephone book on it and be done with it. Thankfully, since I now live in an apartment on the top floor, we don't get either one!

3. Lightning. This one is the worst of them I think. If i'm inside during a storm i'm cool, but if i'm caught outside in one, a lightning flash causes me to sieze up and I can't even move, I actually become petrified with fear! I can feel the power of the storm around me, I can smell the power and I get absolutly terrified at the power of nature. Lightning kills many people a year, add that knowledge to what I just said and I think my fear is justified.

 

[Haggai]

Uh, John...aren't you forgetting something?

 

[Lynda-Marie]

Leila, I know where you are coming from in terms of the fear of toilet flushing. Actually, most folks will probably laugh at me, because it is really weird, but it is true.

For years, when I was little, I had a mortal terror of flushing the toilet, unless I was looking down into it, standing a few feet away with a plunger in my hand. The reason? I was afraid of the werewolf in the toilet. The plunger was simply a convenient weapon that was usually in the bathroom. I didn't have the nerve to ask my folks for a gun with silver bullets.

You read it right, the werewolf in the toilet.

It wasn't until my mid teens that I was finally able to overcome it, namely because of the strange looks I got in high school when I would come running out of the stall, and reach my left leg in to kick the flush, and watched it carefully as it did so.

I also think I may have figured out where this particularly weird phobia came from.

When I was small, my parents let me stay up late on Friday nights and watch the "monster movies" that were shown on channel 7, "Nightmare Theater". The majority of these were classic Universal horror movies, as well as some really cheesy monster movies from other studios. It was this, combined with the occasional news bulletins about snakes or alligators I overheard, as well as trips on the odd Friday night to get pizza before watching "Nightmare Theater," I think, that may have triggered this.

Yes, the image of the werewolf in the toilet was none other than Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolfman.

It wasn't until my first attempt at college in the 1980s that I ever acknowledged this problem to anyone else, and by this time, I was laughing about it. My English 102 teacher said it had to be the most original childhood fear he had ever heard of, and he was the father of rambunctious, imaginative toddlers at the time.

 

[Michael Warner]

My ex-brother in law was like that and he also had claustrophobia. We lived near Detroit and made frequent trips to Canada. Well, going from Detroit to Windsor you have two choices -- a big bridge or a long underwater tunnel. He always chose the bridge but he had to lie down in the back seat and cover his head with a jacket until we got to the other side.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I used to have a fear of bridges when I was young kid. The town where I grew up was surrounded on three sides by a large lake and there were bridges galore and I used to always freak out. Then, we moved to Jacksonville, FL which has huge bridges across the St. Johns River. Within a year, though, I had gotten over my fear and now I love huge bridges. In fact, whenever I'm in San Francisco I make a point to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Haggai,
oh yes, how could I have left that off!

Kevin,
now THAT'S progress, congrats for getting over it.