Phobias

Call me crazy, but I think phobias are interesting. Who here has major phobias (justifiable and/or just plain weird)? I'll go first.

Justifiable Phobias:
-I'm terribly afraid of the dark. Always have been.

-I'm also afraid of hypodermic needles, but I'm more afraid of having blood drawn or an having IV tube than getting a shot. No idea why. I have been known to cry when faced with a needle.

-Bees and wasps, even though I've never been stung.


Just Plain Weird:
-Jellyfish. I would rather swim with sharks than with jellyfish.

-Swimming in bodies of water where I can't see the bottom (i.e. murky lakes, ponds)

-INSECTS! I am not afraid of snakes, spiders, sharks, or grizzly bears, but insects give me the heebie jeebies. Even "cute" ones like ladybugs and butterflies. I love to look at bugs in photos, but if one lands on me you better believe I will go all-out female on you...squealing, screaming, and flapping my arms like an epileptic albatross. My husband threw a junebug on me once and I actually cried. Junebugs are the worst. :sidestep: What makes this even more bizarre is that my favorite cocktail is a junebug...and once I even had a dog named Junebug. Yes, I am a little bit crazy.

-Centipedes, millipedes, and scorpions. This goes right along with the insect thing. You can pretty much include anything with an exoskeleton. Except spiders. I don't mind spiders. I don't even mind spiders crawling on me.

-Balloons. I am afraid they will pop. I can shoot clay pigeons with a 20ga and paper targets with a 270, but I can't sit next to a kid with a balloon. :twoguns:

I think that's it for me. This will be fun. :grin01:

For me, it's mostly just the paranormal/supernatural areas of life (or death, if you will).

I seriously can't watch ghost movies or anything with that type of theme. They literally scare the bejeezus out of me. I honestly have no idea why - I've never had an encounter of any kind, with any sort of supernatural being.

I always just get this feeling that they're lurking around behind me, just waiting for me to become unaware so they can wrap their cold, lifeless fingers around my throat...

/faints

Yeah, I know I'm paranoid, but what ya going to do about it?

(This is about the third time this topic has cropped up in the last few months- but it's always interesting!)

Justifiable: Bears, Being home alone at night, anesthesia.

Unjustifiable: Weeds touching me when I'm swimming, but not if I'm diving and have a wetsuit on.

Lila's nickname is Junebug...

Nanci

Yea I made a topic about phobias a few weeks ago, it's always really interesting to read about other peoples phobias, I have a phobia of T's although I did handle a small spider today I found, and I'm really interested in them! I'm just not to keen on there ability to run very fast.

-George-

I have a phobia of people wearing masks...So yes, Halloween is my LEAST favorite holiday! One year my ex-husband wore a mask for a halloween party even though I begged him not to, and I was too freaked out to go near him all evening.

I have noooo idea why masks freak me out...

Nanci said:

(This is about the third time this topic has cropped up in the last few months- but it's always interesting!)

Click to expand...

Jeez, and here I thought I was coming up with something original.

Junebugs are NASTY. And I live in Texas, which doesn't make things easy for me. My little brother used to pick them up and fling them against the wall so they'd pop. And it just about makes me barf when my dog eats them. My husband learned his lesson after the one junebug incident and will NEVER EVER throw another insect at me. :flames:

I'm also afraid of being alone at night. My husband had a traveling job for 6 months that kept him away 5-6 nights a week. That was a very hard time for me.

Matthew said:

For me, it's mostly just the paranormal/supernatural areas of life (or death, if you will).

Click to expand...

Oddly enough, that's one of the few things I'm really NOT afraid of. I've just never believed in ghosts or phantoms or whatever. Angels and demons, yes...but I'm not afraid of those either.

Yet the idea of a junebug landing on me just about makes me faint... :shrugs:

Jen, what you need (in addition to a milksnake, a kingsnake and the BCI) is a box turtle! They love Junebugs and will happily eat any and all you give them! Big roaches, too. Slugs, pillbugs, worms- it would be like an insect disposal for you!

Nanci

Nanci said:

Jen, what you need (in addition to a milksnake, a kingsnake and the BCI) is a box turtle! They love Junebugs and will happily eat any and all you give them! Big roaches, too. Slugs, pillbugs, worms- it would be like an insect disposal for you!

Click to expand...

But...wouldn't I have to TOUCH the bugs in order to feed the turtle? :sidestep:

It was hard enough feeding pinhead crickets and fruit flies to my two little chameleons. Yuuuuuuucccckkk!!!

There are lots of things that creep me out and that I really don't like but theres only one thing that I'd say I have a phobia of: drawing blood. Just saying it out loud or thinking about it is enough to make me really nauseous and if I think about it too long I start to get really on edge and hysterical . Related to this I also get very groggy thinking about nose bleeds, veins or blood clots. Regular gore, blood and injections doesn't have an effect on me though.

Intravenous said:

Regular gore, blood and injections doesn't have an effect on me though.

Click to expand...

That's why I think it's so weird for me to be afraid of I.V. needles and blood draws.

Medical gore doesn't bother me. Surgery, blood, bodily fluids, etc. I have delivered puppies several times and have been covered in blood and afterbirth. No big deal. I've cut umbilical cords, snipped off dew claws, treated a prolapsed rectum once.

On my birds I've collected blood for DNA testing, treated wings with broken blood feathers, administered food and medication with surgical tubing, etc.

But try to get me to donate blood or surprise me with an I.V. during a CT scan...NO THANKS! My lips turn gray and tingly and my knees go weak.

Glad to see I'm not the only one afraid of swimming in water where I can't see what's under my feet. I used to water ski, the minute I would think of what could be in the water under me down I went, scared out of my wits. The other thing I am really terrified of is slugs, little, big, ugly slimmy euwww! In Oregon we have lots of slugs some of them are those big ones about 3-4", YUK and YUK. :shrugs: susan

I am definitely claustrophobic. I can't stand small, cramped spaces. I'm not so bad that sitting in a reasonably sized closet would bother me, but If I can feel the walls on all sides without moving...I get bugged. Crawling through tunnels and such? Never happen. Spelunking/caving? It better be a BIG cave. Coffin? Not for me...I'm being cremated. The thought of my body being enclosed in such a tight, cramped space for all of eternity just gives me the willies...literally sends chills down my spine. I don't even like wearing tight-fitting shoes...it makes me uncomfortable all over if I can't wiggle and cross my toes inside my shoes... :sidestep:

I am afraid of insects that I can't identify, and since the only insects I CAN identify are aquatic and "the usuals"(ants, beetles, ladybugs, butterflies...), That leaves ALOT of bugs that freak me out. Even some of the ones I CAN identify freak me out, like bees, wasps, Dobson flies, most beetles, cicadas...I'm a little girl when it comes to insects.

I am also leary of spiders. Not afraid of them, per se, but not a big fan of them, either. Mainly because I can't positively identify but a couple, and I can't ignore the fact that there is no such thing as a non-venomous spider...and some of them can kill you. I simply don't like that. Same thing with scorpions and tarantulas. They are cool to look at, and kudos to the folks that appreciate them...and some of them are admittedly beautiful to look at...but please don't put them anywhere near me, thanks.

That's really about it. I will admit that being a single father to a young girl has made me a bit of a "scaredy-dad", in that I foresee iminent danger for her in mundane activities, but thus far I have been able to control and recognize them as irrational tricks of the mind...

I will let you folks decide which are justifiable and which aren't. I, personally, can justify every one of them...but that doesn't make them rational...

tyflier said:

I am definitely claustrophobic.

Click to expand...

Never been claustrophobic either. MRI tunnels, airplanes, bunk beds, sleeping bags, caves, elevators...no problem. Actually, I prefer small tight spaces to wide open spaces. I'd rather be locked in a closet than alone on the open sea or in a large field. Yet I'm not agoraphobic.

I was in Mexico once with a group of people when one of my claustrophobic friends had to be taken to the hospital. The paramedics were trying to strap him to the gurney and he was screaming at me to tell them to stop. Boy, that was fun to translate.

That guy was an Army Ranger who served on the wet team in Somalia in the 90's. He said his training exercises were what made him claustrophic.

He was also deathly afraid of maggots. :shrugs:

Buzzing insects. Mostly bees and wasps (Especiallly wasps!) when i hear that low buzz, I start madly looking around to see if its just a large horsefly or something I need to freak out about. Never been stung, I tell people my phobia is God's way of letting me know I'm allergic. Maybe, Maybe not- but I have a sneaking suspicion.
Heights. I always am afraid I'm going to lose my balance and fall. The fact that I have terrible balance and a lousy sense of where my body is in space doesn't really help. Airplanes are fine, as are tall buildings (mostly places that if I fell from I would die instantly), its the places I'd just be maimed that freak me out.
Um, I'm quite sure there are more, but those are the only big ones. :-offtopic Do sensory integration things count? I can't stand the sound of paper touching paper, or paper being rubbed or cardboard being rubbed. Its like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Ever since I was a kid. Its not a phobia, just a sensory thing. Most people have them if they think about it. I'm also not ok being hugged by strangers or people I'm not close to. Gives me the willies, an icky feeling.
Anyone have any of those? (My mom hates chalk on her hands) they are things you don't like you can't really explain, but they don't really fall into the phobia catagory.

BezilsGirl said:

Do sensory integration things count? ...
Anyone have any of those? (My mom hates chalk on her hands) they are things you don't like you can't really explain, but they don't really fall into the phobia catagory.

Click to expand...

YES! The idea of licking a paper towel freaks me out and makes my hair stand on end (I know, I know...who would lick a paper towel anyway). I also cannot stand lotion on the palms of my hands. I like it on the backs of my hands, but not on my palms or fingertips. Also, it grosses me out to put earrings in. I do it every morning, but I cringe and get goosebumps every time. My husband really shakes his head at that one. I didn't blink when I got a tattoo, but I'm weirded out by earrings. At least I have never claimed to be normal. :grin01:

The worst things for me are smells. I hate being able to smell my own perfume (but I like being able to smell my shampoo). The smell (and feel) of dirt or dust on my hands makes me crazy. Diesel exhaust makes me gag, but the smell of a dog (even a dirty one) is heaven to me.

Oh, and I think feet are disgusting. Even my own.

You know...I probably shouldn't admit all this stuff. You're all gonna think I'm a loon. :crazy02:

Mine

spiders

:awcrap:

I, too, am claustrophobic. I never was before I had bypass surgery in 2005. I was in restraints for four weeks because I was heavily medicated. Since then I can't sleep under the covers or be in confined spaces. I had a panic attack recently because a doctor left me alone in an examining room (8'X8') too long.

For the first year after my surgery, I couldn't fly,but then my granddaughter was born and I had to fly to California from Tennessee. I guess I'm gonna get over this.

texastailfeathers said:

You know...I probably shouldn't admit all this stuff. You're all gonna think I'm a loon. :crazy02:

Click to expand...

welllll...ummmm...maybe just a little..
:sidestep:
:crazy02:

My main phobia is a fear of falling. I'm not afraid of heights, but anytime I get the sensation of falling, I flip out.

I'm also afraid having blood sucked out of me by needles. I gave blood one time, and really thought I was going to crap my pants and have a heart attack at the same time. I'm not afraid of needles though. I got my tongue pierced back in the 90's and it didn;t bother me at all... but try and take some blood and I lose my cool.