What's Your Phobia?

[NotSoonEnough]

After reading these posts, I think my phobia list is starting to grow.

Oh yeah, the fears multiply with suggestion. My number one fear (needles) tends to wash out my public speaking fear, fear of skydiving, fear of money loss, and fear of the police. Of course, the police know about my fear and want to exploit it to their advantage...whether I'm guilty or not...oh the humanity!

 

[SecondCor521]

I'm not really afraid of much, and what I do fear is mostly reasonable things such as severe injuries; I don't really consider those "phobias". However, two items that come to mind that I would call "phobias" are conflict with my former wife, and the wind when it makes a particular variable low whistling noise in my house late at night.

2Cor521

 

[youbet]

Years ago I had been in a small float plane flying up in Canada and the pilot had plane trouble and we almost crashed when taking off. .

But what a way to go!! Your canoe strapped to the floats of a float plane headed "Up Nort" to Quetico. Excellent. And by crashing on the way, you avoid bears entering your tent at night and chewing off your left arm!

Oh yeah...... did I mention my fear? Bears! Don't know why. I camp in bear country frequently but feel compelled to bring along bear spray, an air horn, fire crackers, a whistle and a friend who can't run as fast as me!

 

[Goonie]

I have a situational fear of heights........But climbing on a ladder more than 10 or 12 feet high is uncomfortable. More that 15-18 feet is a no go. .....Four areas go 20' or more and I could not force myself to let go of the ladder with one hand to paint at that height.

When I was a kid I was afraid of some heights. I could climb up on the garage roof, but the house roof which is just 1 or 2 feet higher was a no go. We had a 75' radio tower in the backyard with my Dad's HAM radio antennas mounted on it. I could go about 8' up it, and then I'd have to get down. I watched Dad climb it to the top a few times, and thought he was nuts 'cause there was no way I could do that. Well, as he got older and less able to ascend the beast, I was recruited (without a choice of my own) to climb it for repairs. The first time or two were 'white-knuckled' climbs, but after a while it became pretty easy to shinny up there and hang on with one hand, or hook my arm through the tower, and work 2 wrenches to remove and replace parts and nuts & bolts.

So since then I have no fear of heights at all. In fact I was able to go to some rather precarious places when I was out at the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago. I still want to get out on that new 'Skywalk' out there. It's 4000' above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. That's 4000' not 400'. I think that would really rock!

....fear of skydiving......

I have absolutely NO fear of skydiving! 'Cause there ain't no way in h*ll that I'm ever going to jump out of a perfectly good airplane without any reasonable or apparent NEED!!! Those people are NUTS!

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Fear of low heights. Looking off the roof 9' up makes me woozy. Looking down out a 2nd story
window is just as bad. 1000' down the Empire State building, 3500' down off Half Dome or
Yosemite Point, no problem.

 

[TargaDave]

Without question my #1 is Public Speaking.

In a conference room, no problem, but at a podium, . I actually do OK with tons prep and lost sleep, but as I got older I just said the heck with it. About 4 years ago the governor blew into town on an impromptu PR mission to hand out 3 of those silly big cardboard checks to local startups that won state grants. Two days notice with all the local TV crews and reporters showing up. I just sent one of my extroverts to say thankyou, yadda, yadda. And year before last just after we were acquired the CEO wanted me to make a pep talk to a group of 250 on our first visit to the new home office. My sales guy did that one and loved the limelight anyway.

At least I'm slightly more courageous on the athletic side, and have the damaged body parts to remind me daily

 

[lets-retire]

Robert--If the tarantulas aren't wearing only their underwear your doing it wrong.

I have no phobia's, because that would presume my fears are unreasonable. My list of reasonable fears is: Falling: I have no problem getting to the high places, but as soon as I start thinking of falling I'm useless. Losing my mind/memory. That about sums it up.

 

[Outtahere]

I had an unnerving flight where the pilot had to abort the take off 3 times, half the people got off and took another flight, I stayed but it was the last flight I ever took. Then 9/11 sealed my fear of flying forever.

Spiders! Spider webs! I've gotten to the point I can deal with some enough to dispose of them but for the most part even seeing pictures creeps me out. Dh has to go to the cellar several times a year to "deweb" as he puts it or I won't go down there to do laundry (think old stone cellar). He use to make fun of me until he had to go up a ladder to fix something on the garage roof and his fear of heights kicked in, he then understood my fear and cleans the cellar with no complaints.

My third is fear of the dark, I don't know where it comes from but it keeps me from walking alone at night in my neighborhood. We live in what most would call a safe neighborhood but it still bothers me. Horror movies just reinforce that fear so I don't watch them. I also don't like being alone at night here in the house and hate it when dh goes on trips, I'm fine during the day.

Those are the main phobias ruling my life. I have others that "bother" me but they don't cause me to alter my life for them.

 

[W2R]

Heights.

This was of some concern to me some years ago, when my dissertation defense could only be scheduled in a 10th floor corner room with floor to ceiling windows on two walls and dizzying views. Surprisingly, it turned out that I was able to channel my terror and use it to my advantage. I thought I might completely fold up and collapse. Instead, I found that defending on (essentially) a precipice of tremendous height increased my level of alertness, and helped me to focus and counter the toughest of questions. I am absolutely certain that because of my phobia, my defense was the best that I could possibly have provided under any circumstances.

Who would have thought a phobia could turn out to be a strength?

 

[ERD50]

My greatest fear is that someone will find out my greatest fear and use it against me. So I won't tell.

Or did I just tell? Oh no!

-ERD50

 

[Meadbh]

Public speaking. The thought of it absolutely makes me freeze.

They say one tip to help you deal with the fear is to imagine someone in your audience, or all the audience, in their underwear. Instead my whole audience becomes a bunch of tarantulas!

Good strategy!

I read somewhere that public speaking is the commonest fear, rating higher than death for many people.

If you don't need to speak in public, it doesn't matter. If you do, consider starting small, e.g. introducing the speaker. Or try Toastmasters.

I used to be shy, but now I really enjoy public speaking (as long as I know what I'm talking about). I get a lot of invitations to speak. Problem is, I usually have to get on a plane to get there. I am not as scared as Martha, but I completely understand!

 

[Meadbh]

Was always paranoid of a shark.

I wouldn't call that paranoid. I'd call that rational.

 

[happy2bretired]

Heights, tornados/storms

 

[TromboneAl]

People who post like chicken little. I'm getting over it but it has taken alot of therapy.

No, no. This is a valid fear. Experts predict that people posting like chicken little will lead to a collapse of the Internet, and a great depression.

 

[Helen]

My phobia is of people who wear a mask of charm. The ones who compliment you and seem so nice, but then after a while you catch them doing something shady or harmful and you realize they aren't who you thought they were.

I've met two people like this in my life and they've both caused me damage. They both had personality disorders. Both of them also doled out compliments like candy on Halloween. It now gets my attention if a person is constantly complimenting me.

 

[Khan]

I wouldn't call that paranoid. I'd call that rational.

In the ocean: yes; in the pool: no.

 

[Khan]

My greatest fear, which is always there somewhere on the edge, snickering at me, is living too long; past any purpose or meaning, lying there dieing bit by bit, smelling of death and decay.

 

[Meadbh]

MooreBonds, is that you?

Sharks: I don't know why, but when I was little, I was afraid of swimming by myself in my parents' swimming pool. (No, it wasn't cloudy with algae where you couldn't see the bottom ). Was always paranoid of a shark. Same with being in the ocean. Have since gotten over the pool thing, but still a little weary of being in the ocean.

From the plot of Live and Let Die: Live and Let Die: Information and Much More from Answers.com

Later, back in San Monique, Bond interrupts the voodoo sacrifice and frees Solitaire. Bond shoots at least three Baron Samedis. But the real one rises from a grave with a machete, leading to a fight. Samedi ends up being killed in a coffin full of poisonous snakes. Bond and Solitaire travel below ground into Kananga's lair. In the end, Kananga cuts Bond several times, drawing blood to bait some sharks. But Bond puts a gas pellet in Kananga's mouth, forcing the dictator to turn into a balloon and explode.

 

[bright eyed]

tsunami's - i have a recurring dream/nightmare where there are tsunamis/giant waves involved a couple times per year.

I am a soCal girl who grew up in the pool and at the beach but i'm a terrible swimmer. even got pulled out of the ocean once by a lifeguard cuz of a rip-tide, another time got sucked under at a beach w/ a very strong undercurrent - couldn't get up for air - when i did there was a wave, pulled back down, came up, another wave - it was terrible! crowded beach, nobody noticed... i finally got a toe to touch the floor, and let a wave push me closer to shore, then dragged my butt back on land! i still go in - but i guess my sub conscious is freaked out!

 

[toofrugalformycat]

Oh yeah...... did I mention my fear? Bears! Don't know why. I camp in bear country frequently but feel compelled to bring along bear spray, an air horn, fire crackers, a whistle and a friend who can't run as fast as me!

When I lived in a remote cabin in Alaska, I discovered my unreasoning fear of bears. I made many solo hikes 1.5 miles down to the RR tracks and back, carrying my worldly goods through virgin forest, bells ringing on my pack in the hopes it would scare the bears away. The many piles of bear poop on the trail made me even more scared. At least none of them had bells mixed in.
Then we went into Anchorage and saw a movie. It had a cartoon first, of Bongo the Circus Bear. I nearly passed out when I realized that I remembered reading that Little Golden Book when I was a child, and feeling so sorry for Bongo when the wild bears made fun of him and hurt his feelings. Scenes from the book flashed in my memory that weren't even in the movie.
Two days later when we hiked back into the cabin I realized my phobia of bears was gone.
Years later when I was alone at the place watching a grizzly through the window, I was scared but in a reasonable way, not a phobia.
What a stupid way to get a phobia - a Little Golden Book!
Did you read Bongo as a child? Maybe that's your problem?!

 

[Walt34]

I have a situational fear of heights. I was a military pilot and have no problem with flying. No problem with bridges, high buildings, etc. But climbing on a ladder more than 10 or 12 feet high is uncomfortable.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. While I have no military experience, I think aerobatics are fun, but I don't like ladders or scaffolds. I can force myself to do it but I don't like it.

 

[Walt34]

Public speaking. The thought of it absolutely makes me freeze.

I had that problem. The cure was becoming a police officer and addressing a crowd that was literally throwing rocks and bottles at me. After that, any other public speaking is easy.

 

[Walt34]

Blindness and/or paralysis hold terror for me, which is really about loss of independence.

 

[MooreBonds]

Ah yes - one of my favorite Bond flicks. A staple of my high school years.

Helen: I wouldn't call your sensitivity a "phobia" - I'd say that people who have it (including myself) are merely perceptive enough to see through someone's BS shield of imaginary feelings that they shower on everyone to try and sound good (since they have no inner authenticity to rely on, as good hearted people have).

 

[Purron]

I love James Bond movies! Doubt he had any phobias. Here's my favorite: