# Irrational fears **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218 "2013-07-11T11:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/41 "2013-07-12T01:56:50Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > What were the strips? It was _Dogs of C Kennel_ vs. _Reply All_. \*Reply All \*is the absolute worst piece of garbage I’ve ever seen. I’m surprised it even got 6%. Here’s a thread I started about the topic last year: ["Reply All" comic strip--what is this crap? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=665095) ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/42 "2013-07-12T02:29:36Z")
Climbing ladders. I have no problem with heights, it’s getting there that’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/43 "2013-07-12T05:42:22Z")
Ok, how about fear of posting a new thread then finding out I already posted it, but forgot? Hmm have I mentioned this before? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/44 "2013-07-12T06:52:58Z")
When I was in the hospital following heart surgery last August, I was on a lot of medications, and their side effect was causing me to be very paranoid. The first night I was in my private room, there was a show about Hitler on TV. Every time they showed his face it seemed like he was looking right at me . . . and that he could actually see me. Having been raised Jewish, this threw me into a panic attack. I KNEW that Hitler was alive and I KNEW he was looking for me, and now he knew exactly where I was! And I was still too weak to even get out of bed. Fortunately, one of the nurses came in to check something, and she could see how upset I was. When I told her, she said “Oh, we have to adjust your meds.” To this day, whenever I encounter any mention of Hitler, I’m filled with an overpowering dread . . . much more than ever before. “Adolphobia”? ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/45 "2013-07-12T10:53:14Z")
My boss when I was 24yo and living alone put this one in my head. (stop reading here if you’re female and live alone) She also lived alone and was extremely afraid of taking a bath and getting her toe caught in the faucet. I’ve lived alone for most of my life and lived in fear of getting my toe stuck in the faucet, even while taking a shower. I really wish they made a stylish hose type end to replace those tub faucets. If I ever get rich, the first thing I’ll do is get one of those big fancy tubs with the spray hose attachment and NO FAUCET anywhere on it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/46 "2013-07-12T12:09:18Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > My boss when I was 24yo and living alone put this one in my head. > > (stop reading here if you’re female and live alone) > > She also lived alone and was extremely afraid of taking a bath and getting her toe caught in the faucet. I’ve lived alone for most of my life and lived in fear of getting my toe stuck in the faucet, even while taking a shower. I really wish they made a stylish hose type end to replace those tub faucets. If I ever get rich, the first thing I’ll do is get one of those big fancy tubs with the spray hose attachment and NO FAUCET anywhere on it. This really happened, you know, to Laura Petrie. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/47 "2013-07-12T13:12:24Z")
This only really bothers me when I’m off my happy-brain-medicine, but cutting my fingers off when slicing a bagel. Using serrated knives reminds me of the idea, but when I’m properly medicated, its not such an intrusive/recurrent thought. My dad recently injured two fingertips with a table saw, and I couldn’t even look at them. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/48 "2013-07-12T13:28:36Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > 1.4142!1.4142! 1.4142! 1.4142! 1.4142! It’s just not quite the same. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/49 "2013-07-12T14:04:23Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Climbing ladders. I have no problem with heights, it’s getting there that’s the problem. I hate ladders too, but I don’t consider it an irrational fear. Climbing a ladder to help fix the gutter on my in-laws’ 2-story house is an experience I _will not_ be repeating. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/50 "2013-07-12T14:46:38Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > True, but you can still [roll the windows down](http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/windows-do-not-automatically-lower-under-water-honda-says/), although they will not go down automatically. > > I would still fear that, tho. I saw the Mythbusters show where they did escape from cars underwater and am not too worried about the actual part of being underwater in a car, we have an escape [tool](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F0L3QO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001F0L3QO&linkCode=as2&tag=paugooshub-20) in each of our cars so I can cut the seatbelt and break the glass to get out. I am a good enough swimmer that I am not worried about the process of getting to the surface [though winter is tricky, hypothermia is nasty!] but what worries me is the injuries from the car rolling or landing from a great height. Though I should probably worry about getting crutches and eyeglasses to the surface with me. I suppose I could figure out some sort of belt to strap them together and be able to take the crutches with me, and grab the glasses case with my spare glasses. I just about had a panic attack playing Guild Wars 2 - I was climbing this crappily constructed wooden scaffolding and was about 200 feet above a combat zone going for a jumping puzzle and at one point your character has to edge out along a thin beam and jump down onto a suspended platform so your character has to change camera angle to straight down. _sob_ Now that is seriously irrational, electrons don’t feel pain! ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/51 "2013-07-12T14:56:27Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I have the irrational fear of seeing my own reflection in a mirror in a darkened room, especially at night and the less sound there is. I had this fear when I was little! My closet door had a full-length mirror on it which I figured would pull me into another dimension after dark. It was between my bed and the door, so I had to take a flying leap into bed and \*not look at the mirror \*after I turned off the light. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/52 "2013-07-12T14:58:17Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Finding a dead body anywhere would blow my mind! You think that’s bad? Imagine being stuck in a traffic jam because of an accident and there’s a dead body on the road right by your drivers side door. Its not covered up or anything… and to be fair its hard to tell if its a young woman with short hair or a 12 yo boy. You can’t drive away. You can’t back up. You can change the stations on your radio & try to look straight ahead. But every time you look out your window to your left? **Whoomp! (There It Is)** ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/53 "2013-07-12T15:04:01Z")
I am afraid of falling/slipping down the stairs, falling forward, and knocking all my teeth out. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/54 "2013-07-13T06:23:12Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > You think that’s bad? Imagine being stuck in a traffic jam because of an accident and there’s a dead body on the road right by your drivers side door. Its not covered up or anything… and to be fair its hard to tell if its a young woman with short hair or a 12 yo boy. > You can’t drive away. You can’t back up. You can change the stations on your radio & try to look straight ahead. > > But every time you look out your window to your left? > > **Whoomp! (There It Is)** When I was a kid there was a real bad crash on the street in front of our house. Real gory. To see it (especially when the ambulance got there!) all we had to do was look out our front door. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/55 "2013-07-13T09:22:50Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > I am afraid of falling/slipping down the stairs, falling forward, and knocking all my teeth out. I actually did this very thing except I only lost four teeth. I did get a broken femur and a concussion. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/56 "2013-07-13T21:24:25Z")
I worry that I have some sort of treatable cancer and won’t find out until its too late. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/57 "2013-07-13T22:46:43Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > When I was a kid there was a real bad crash on the street in front of our house. Real gory. To see it (especially when the ambulance got there!) all we had to do was look out our front door. :eek: _Yikes_ Stuff that happens when you are a kid always affects you double. I still remember being about 4-5 and the family piled into the station wagon for the 90 minute trip to drop my eldest sister off at her dorm at college. When we’d gotten home that night, we found our house had been broken into, ransacked, and because the thieves were kids & bored, we found personal things destroyed in every room. It took years for me to feel safe in that house again. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/58 "2013-07-14T19:06:03Z")
I can’t match that, Count. ☹ On a lighter note, _MAD_ once ran an article satirizing hypontism. One drawing, under the heading “Curing Silly Fears,” showed a man standing and trembling, with his fingertips in his mouth. The caption read, “Here we see a man with a silly fear of heights. Standing on tiptoes terrifies this man. Even just standing.” ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/59 "2013-07-16T12:36:19Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Being in a surging crowd freaks me out. I am with you on this. Really being in any large crowd or inside a crowded venue makes me uncomfortable especially with my family. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218/60 "2013-07-16T18:04:26Z")
I only had one that I could think of. It was spiders. I actually encountered a black widow on vacation one year. I walked into a web that I didn’t see, and it was right on my forehead. I didn’t realize it for about 5 minutes (because it wasn’t moving). When I finally DID see it, I just brushed it off and realized that they’re not that scary. Now, I still HATE bugs in my house, but I’m not scared of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irrational-fears/663218.md?page=4)