# Have you ever discovered a new fear in yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 1, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422 "2023-11-01T15:12:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/1 "2023-11-01T15:12:21Z")
I’m thinking of phobias or irrational fears. This came up in my case by stumbling on a short video of a starfish walking on the beach. It just inspired such deep loathing and aversion in me that it was a little startling. I’ve never had similar feeling just from watching an animal move around. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/2 "2023-11-01T19:21:20Z")
Not lately (I had to go watch a starfish video first to be sure). But I feel that way when I watch a spider move, or skitter, or whatever that fucking horrifying thing is they do. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/3 "2023-11-01T19:29:54Z")
Oh so many. My latest. Slow driving. I’m so afraid some Semi is gonna plow into us from behind assuming we’re going the speed limit or alittle above. When you’re being passed by every car on the road it must mean something (Ivy, do you hear me!!) (Nope, won’t be watching starfish walk) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/4 "2023-11-01T19:39:12Z")
If you haven’t come across it, you may be unaware that you probably have trypophobia. Try a google image search at your own risk. Revulsion at holes in skin seems intuitive, given the association with horrible disease. But it’s interesting what patterns of holes elsewhere in nature can trigger the same reaction. The common one is the seeding lotus head. Apparently some people even have the reaction to a sheet of soap bubbles or honeycomb (I don’t myself). ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/5 "2023-11-01T19:51:53Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If you haven’t come across it, you may be unaware that you probably have trypophobia. Try a google image search at your own risk. Yeah, I have that one. I hate those seeding lotus pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/6 "2023-11-01T21:11:50Z")
I absolutely adore watching starfish and other creatures with suckers moving about. Big tentacle fan, here. You probably wouldn’t like my house, which is festooned with decorations of octopuses, sea slugs, and squids. I discovered I was afraid of heights in fourth grade, when someone shoved me onto the glass floor of the CN Tower. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/7 "2023-11-01T21:14:28Z")
That’s the weird thing-I like octopuses! It was just that one video. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/8 "2023-11-01T21:14:33Z")
Nope. No new ones. I didn’t know about a few but thanks to the internet I now know about all of them. Unfortunately I know about my fear of fears that I don’t know about. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/9 "2023-11-01T21:18:17Z")
A number of years ago I had an MRI (not an “Open MRI”). Up until that point I had never had any experience with claustrophobia. But once they slid me in that tube head-first up to my knees, whoo doggy! I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We had to cancel and reschedule. The next time they gave me a mild anti-anxiety drug and I was fine. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/10 "2023-11-01T21:20:23Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > It was just that one video. Was it this one? This is the first one that came up when I googled “starfish walking”, and it’s pretty… creepy I guess. I’m not sure that I have exactly a phobic reaction, but I certainly don’t want a cuddle as I do with octopuses. I hope it’s ok to post with the small still preview? If it’s still disturbing, let me know and I’ll spoiler it. > **[Starfish Walking on the Beach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbg-tQ6FJgQ?=list)** > > Shortcut to get back to this video: WalkingStarfish.com It was early evening, probably around 6pm or so at low tide. We noticed there were starfish walking... ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/11 "2023-11-01T21:21:14Z")
I used to have no fear of centipedes. Until I saw **large** ones. That did it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/12 "2023-11-01T21:21:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I discovered I was afraid of heights in fourth grade, when someone shoved me onto the glass floor of the CN Tower. I used to love going up in tall buildings as a kid; went to the Space Needle several times. Year ago, I went up to the top of the World Trade Center. When I was inside, on the enclosed observation level, I was fine; could rest my forehead against he glass and look down. Then I took the escalator up to the roof. There was a raised catwalk about 20 feet back from the edge. Something about that really got to me. I don’t know if I was worried about stepping back from one edge and going backwards over another, or if I thought the wind would pick up and carry me away. Something about being up high and so open and exposed triggered a bit of a phobia. I’ve gone up in other buildings since then, including the Eiffel Tower. I thought I’d gotten over it. Last week, I went to the new observation levels at the Prudential Tower in Boston. One level is open and exposed, with only glass (I’m sure it’s really strong glass) to keep you from plummeting off the edge. A little bit of that phobia came back. So heights are part of it, but not all of it. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/13 "2023-11-01T21:24:52Z")
Yes, that’s the one that gave me the heebie-jeebies. It’s fine, you can keep it up. And heights are a weird one-I’m just concerned that I might follow a wild impulse and leap off. So no thank you to open balconies. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/14 "2023-11-01T21:31:10Z")
So we can assume you don’t have _megalohydrothalassophobia_ at all. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/15 "2023-11-01T21:33:10Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > someone shoved me onto the glass floor of the CN Tower I would worry about anyone who _didn’t_ get freaked out by that. They did an fMRI of climber Alex Honnold and found (unsurpisingly) that the neurons in his amygdala basically don’t fire unless you stab him in the eye or something. > **[The science of risk: How a neuroscientist and professional climber learned...](https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2019/03/18/how-a-neuroscientist-and-professional-climber-learned-from-one-another)** > > Chance meeting between famous rock climber and brain researcher leads to better understanding of what makes Alex Honnold tick. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/16 "2023-11-01T21:36:59Z")
Being in deep water is just like a height. You just can’t see what’s below you. 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/17 "2023-11-01T21:37:17Z")
My agoraphobia leans toward the fear of wide open spaces. I do not like that feeling. I think I’m gonna fall off the earth somehow. I actually get a feeling of lift under my feet. If there are trees or walls I’m ok. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/18 "2023-11-01T21:38:02Z")
I used to regard a certain rich guy as a nuisance, but now he sometimes scares me deeply. In fact, I seem to have developed something of a phobia toward really wealthy people in general. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/19 "2023-11-01T21:39:49Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I used to regard a certain rich guy as a nuisance, but now he sometimes scares me deeply. That seems pretty rational, actually. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422/20 "2023-11-01T21:49:54Z")
I’ve been a road trip kind of person since before I could walk, as my family was always going for extended camping trips and day trips. I’ve always felt at home in a car driving on any road or freeway. But lately I’m quite jittery about driving over mountainous areas on fast roads with plenty of trucks about. Especially careening downhill and going around curves at fast speeds. It dates from when we drove over the Siskiyous in northern California three years ago and the highway was full of Amazon trucks hurtling up and downhill. Trying to stay out of their way, pass the slow ones, and avoid the speeding ones was a game of nightmarish Frogger. Ever since then I white-knuckle that kind of situation. Not that we will ever take that particular route again. It unnerved Mr. brown as well, though he won’t admit it. Now we take 101 when going north, which is much less of a death race. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-discovered-a-new-fear-in-yourself/992422.md?page=2)