Tell us something that you’re scared of even though you recognize, on a rational level, that there is not a reason for it. And I don’t mean those common ones. Because I am terrified of spiders even though I know that I will never die from a spider bite, and probably will never even be bitten.
Personally, I can’t open mail. Well, I can, but it takes a lot. It’s not because I’m lazy, I just really get very anxious by the act.
Also I work in a Blood Bank, and there is an instrument used to separate portions of the blood in plastic tubing for testing purposes. And it freaks me out even though it is a small and harmless device. The first time I used it, it malfunctioned and burned/blew up the tubing causing a little bit of blood to splurt everywhere. And ever since I have been weary.
I’m afraid that it parties unknown get ahold of my fingernail clippings they will use them to make a voodoo doll of me (or something else equally wicked). I’m otherwise pretty well-grounded in reality.
I have the same problem with segment openers ever since I pushed too hard on one and broke a tube. No cuts, but damn was I scared when I saw the blood droplets all over my arms, and now I push so gently it takes me a while to get a drop out of the damn thing.
But that’s not irrational - blood everywhere means risk of nasty infections. I’ll defend your fear, bbs2000!
I have a spider phobia, which isn’t at all unusual.
The weird one is my fear of high places because it’s not really a fear of falling, it’s a fear of flinging myself over the edge on purpose. I’m not suicidal at all, but every time I’m up on a bridge, I’m terrified that I’ll run up to the edge and dive off.
Well, if fear of spiders doesn’t count, I guess I’m all cured, but I used to have quite a phobia about using the phone. Whenever I had to make a phone call, I’d have to take deep breaths and psych myself up for a while first. I would then go into a room alone and close the door so no one could hear me if I panicked and decided to hang up.
I got over my phobia when I got a job answering phones! I had only applied for the job because my mother asked me to. I was certain I wouldn’t get it and I didn’t want it anyway, so I was quite relaxed during the interview, and bingo! I was hired.
The first word I had to say when answering was “Diagnostic”, and the first syllable of Diagnostic is “Die”, which is what I wished people would do instead of calling me, so that’s how I remembered what I was supposed to say. Now, a few thousand phone calls later, I’m not afraid to use the phone anymore.
If the bottom is a long way down, I’ll get very, very nervous. If I can’t even *see * the bottom and it’s deep blue water all the way down, then I’ll start frickin’ hyperventilating. I feel like I’m suspended there like bait, totally helpless and totally at the mercy of whatever denizen of the deep should choose to surge up beneath me and take a bite.
For instance, I was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and got quite a ways away from the beach. The water was really clear. I swam a few feet under water and opened my eyes. I saw nothing - and shit tons of it. I had at least 200’ of visibility in all directions and there was nothing to be seen. It was like I was suspended in an abyss.
It freaked me out - I surfaced and swam as hard as I could to the shore.
after submiting - Holy crap Book Monster you’re not the only one.
I am exceedingly claustrophobic, but that is grounded in a very real incident from my childhood and not irrational at all. Oddly enough, I LOVE spelunking, but only when I have the control of where we go – if I can get in, I know that I can get out, kind of thing.
My only “irrational” fear is of cows. Bulls freak me out, but cows just scare the hell out of me. I think it is because they are so friggin huge, you know it wouldn’t take much for one of them to kill you and they are so docile-seeming that most people do not practice caution around them. I know of 2 people who were killed by cows – but funny enough, I have always been afraid of them, even before those 2 people were killed.
Cows are just scary things. Good thing they taste good, so they serve some purpose other than freaking me out.
Those are my only issues. I don’t mind spiders, even after having been bitten by a brown recluse. I don’t mind snakes (good thing I am not scared of them – we live in the country, and I have almost stepped on a 6ft rattler before. Fear would have caused me to get bitten, as it happened, I looked down, saw it and backed away slowly before getting back in my car and running the fucker over.) I don’t mind heights, needles or anything else, really. I am very easy-going.
brewha, I think your fear makes a lot of sense. I wouldn’t consider it irrational, but then again, Idon’t consider my fear of cows irrational, just everyone else who has heard me mention it does. :dubious:
I don’t like deep water, heights, substantial size variances between otherwise identical objects, or wide open space. None of these (except maybe the size thing) is really bad enough to be a “fear”, so I’m not sure I should be allowed to play.
Just the “normal” phobias, claustrophobia and acrophobia. And a whole mixed assortment of anxiety issues that aren’t really phobias. Like Dung Beetle I have a “phone” thing, but it’s not bad enough to be considered a phobia.
Elastic bands. If someone threatens me with one I have to grab it quick, or end up running away and / or curling up into an embarasing ball.
Also, bees and wasps cause an over-the-top reaction from me. Obviously it’s not totally irrational coz they could sting me, but I’m dreadly terrified of them.
Conversly, I’m a clostraphile. (if that’s a word). My party trick in the my old house was to hide in the tidy little cupboard where we kept the beer, and when someone opened it to grab a bottle, they’d do a double take as I look up at them then I’d close the door before they get any beer. Was most funny to see how many people were too weirded out to open the door again!
