Do you have a phobia? What is it?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by laylo

My other phobia is violence by a stranger. I've had it all my life (but being a Sopranos fan really did not help). Whenever someone I'm in the car with gets road rage I beg them to shut up because I'm afraid the other person will pull out a gun. I always wonder where this fear came from.

Don't be too disturbed. The average person has some level of fear of violence by a stranger. I guess yours is a phobia because you're more than cautious because of it, you're basically obsessed with it. Is that correct?

This is no consolation but the reality is you have a higher likelihood of being victimized by family, friend, close acquaintance, or someone who is somehow part of your daily routine. Also, women are more likely to have a fear of violent victimization while men are statistically more likely to be violently victimized with exception for violence such as rape and sexual assault because men are socialized to be less cautious (i.e. they are taught that being a man means they can come and go as they please and wherever they want to go). Stay cautious and keep in mind that violent victimization is relatively rare when your daily routine does not create the environment for such victimization. As you noted in your post, even the angry road raged stranger is uncommon if people are cautious and don't go out of their way to entice crazies.

[laylo]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Don't be too disturbed. The average person has some level of fear of violence by a stranger. I guess yours is a phobia because you're more than cautious because of it, you're basically obsessed with it. Is that correct?

Yep, it's an obsession. It's more about violence to my loved ones than myself. My parents always used to have to console me when I had "bad thoughts" about something happening to them. Now it's transferred to my chronically late boyfriend who always finds me in a panic. I'm hoping to cure myself before I have kids, or Lord help them. Thanks for the info!

[LouisaMay]

Throwing up or being near someone who throws up.
I know no one likes to get sick, but I have panic attacks if I think that I might be sick or if my kids or someone near me seems sick.

[AGDee]

Mine are mellowing with age some.

First is spiders: I used to be so terrified that I was paralyzed by them. That had to change when I became a single mom. I have to be able to protect my babies (even as teenagers) from them, so I am able to kill them now. I still freak out inside though.

Bats: I didn't know this was true until there was one in my bedroom when I was doing an internship way back in 1987. Freaked the hell out of me. I didn't really have a fear before then.

Heights/bridges: These go together. I'm ok if I'm high up and sitting somewhere stable, far from windows. When I went to the top of the Sears Tower (don't care what it is called now, it is the Sears Tower to me), I had to kneel to be by the windows and look out. That's crazy because what's a foot or two lower when kneeling compared to high up you are? I can look OUT, but I can't look down, if that makes sense. I'm ok on a ladder. I would not be ok on a roof. Bridges absolutely terrify me, especially if I have to be the one doing the driving while going over them. I had to drive over the Mackinac Bridge once and it was the scariest thing ever. I had to stay on the inner most lane. If someone else is driving, I just close my eyes. One bridge near my house, which I have to use several times a year isn't that high, but it is still scary to me. Thank goodness it isn't too long. It's MUCH worse when the bridge is a gate and not concrete too.

ETA: As a child, I was terrified of fire. That's totally gone now, but when I was little, even an insurance commercial on TV or the witch setting the scarecrow on fire during the Wizard of Oz sent me into an uncontrollable panic. My brother and parents used to have to get me out of the room or distract me if fires were on TV.

I also used to be afraid of geese because I was feeding some when I was 2 1/2 and when I ran out of bread, they kept trying to get more, trying to get into my pockets, etc. I shouldn't remember anything from that age, but I remember that.

[sceniczip]

Bridges. I hate when you can feel them move. All I want to do is run away as fast as possible.

Also hate the deep end of swimming pools. I love to swim and swim laps all the time but only in pools that aren't deep (ie 4-5ft max). No idea why! I was on swim team for years and never had a problem.

[DiamondAthena]

Reading this makes me realize I really am not afraid of much, but the one thing I am afraid of is being stuck in a nightmare where I'm afraid. Typically, I am quite brave to the point of being stupid in dreams. I take on the biggest, scariest home invaders while my husband and child run to safety But sometimes I have nightmares where I am afraid and I know it's a dream but I can't wake myself up and those dreams can keep me up all night from fear of them "coming back".

I just moved into a new house and I think subconsiously I might be scared of someone breaking in cuz I dream about it often

[excelblue]

Don't think I have any real phobias, even though there are some things that I really fear:

1.) Driving -- first time I ever drove my parents let me have at it before I had my permit, just as luck would have it, a tire blew up. I can still drive, but I can't be comfortable unless I give it 100% attention: no radio, nothing in coffee holder, cell phone off completely, no small talk with passengers, and both hands on wheel with conscious scanning of all gauges. Oddly, I don't have the same issues when I ride on the bike on the same roads, despite the fact that I've actually been seriously hurt on bike accidents but never in a car accident.

2.) Anything without predictable results -- this stems from my work with computers; if I don't completely fireproof everything, something catastrophic will go wrong. Before I do anything, I do a thorough risk analysis and even come up with what to do in the least likely plausible cases (eg. I even have a plan for what happens if my apartment burns down suddenly). When this analysis becomes to complicated, I simply don't do the thing in question. You can imagine a ton of things that I simply won't do (i.e. dating).

[KSUViolet06]

Public restrooms. You have no idea how good I've gotten at avoiding using them.

Garbage cans. I cannot sit near them anywhere. My trashcans are all under sinks at home so I don't have to see them. They gross me out. A lot. If I go somewhere (e.g. to someone's home) and there is one in sight, I will focus on it and it'll gross me out to the point that I get sick. That's my only weird one.

[HannahXO]

Originally Posted by Jen

I forgot to mention my number one phobia ... probably because I don't even like having it anywhere in my consciousness. I am terrified of people throwing up. For any reason.

I can't even read about it, I'm having trouble typing this. Just no. I've had panic attacks over it. I don't drink or like being around people who are drinking because of it, I'm edgy at theme parks because of it, I can't watch movies or TV shows with it in it (even if it's not shown), I can't be around anyone who has even the slightest symptom of a cold without being petrified it's something more that could cause it ... just ugh. Do not want.

OMG this is me. If I go out, I literally leave parties early in the night so I am nowhere near the aftermath. I also can NEVER take care of anyone who is throwing up- I run away and cry.

My roommate was sick with a nasty virus and slept with her garbage can next to her the other night- I couldn't sleep. Literally every sound she made had my heart pounding, and she never even threw up thank god. aughhhh gross. It's by far my worst fear.

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

This:



.. made me think of this:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co...be-afraid.html

on an unrelated note, hyperbole and a half is my favorite website ever! she is so funny

[LouisaMay]

Originally Posted by Jen

I forgot to mention my number one phobia ... probably because I don't even like having it anywhere in my consciousness. I am terrified of people throwing up. For any reason.

I can't even read about it, I'm having trouble typing this. Just no. I've had panic attacks over it. I don't drink or like being around people who are drinking because of it, I'm edgy at theme parks because of it, I can't watch movies or TV shows with it in it (even if it's not shown), I can't be around anyone who has even the slightest symptom of a cold without being petrified it's something more that could cause it ... just ugh. Do not want.

I posted my reply before seeing yours! I get so mad when there is a "sick scene" in a book or a movie. I have major anxiety about seeing a movie for the first time because of this. I hope that I can at least ask someone before hand. Especially if I have to be in a theater. The yucky scene in The Sixth Sense almost killed me. And YES...no one understands how I feel about amusement parks and carnivals!!!!!! I haven't been on an airplane since I was eleven for this very reason. Someone might get air-sick!