I don’t like being in water where I cannot see the bottom (pond, lake, ocean, etc). Swimming pools I have no problem with. When we go to the beach, I will walk along in the water, where it is clear, but as soon as it gets “murky” I want nothing to do with it.
I also seem to have issues with those big stringers of seaweed (with air bladders on them) that get washed up, they really creep me out- I have no idea why.
I can’t swim in the ocean in water more than 2-3 feet deep because I’m afraid of sharks. I’m also afraid of heights and never ride roller coasters or rides that go more than 15-20 feet off the ground at the fair.
After Northridge, an awful lot of people didn’t stop under overpasses for a while. I still get nervous under them, and I’m in New Orleans. Of course, what with what I know about earthquakes, if there was a big one here we’d REALLY be screwed…solid ground? Whazzat?
This one is a bit embarassing. A lot embarassing. But what the heck – automatic toilets. My first encounter with one of those, I was thirteen, at DFW, and had to go. I nearly hit the roof when the damn toilet flushed underneath me. They still make me nervous. There’ve even been a few I refused to use for some reason or another.
I feel really bad about mine: I have a phobia about severe facial disfigurement, like people who were in fires, etc. I just don’t want to see any t.v. shows about that, or movies wherein someone’s threatening to throw acid in someone else’s face, etc. Once it gets in my head, I can’t stop thinking about it, and it isn’t pleasant. It’s worse if the person wasn’t born that way, like if something tragic befell them. It’s almost like I have empathy overkill or something.
Also, anything gynecological, which is unfortunate because I’m female. Not sex; I’m fine with any and all permutations of that, but you know, equipment. Stainless steel, cotton and soft tissue should never meet, IMHO, unless there’s general anasthesia involved. ::shudder:: I could never give birth. I don’t see how women don’t make a bigger deal out of this! “Knock me out NOW!!!”
'mkay, I’m gonna go do something else now!!
Having my neck/throat area touched, even innocuously, even just a little brush, by other people. I can touch my own throat and neck to my heart’s content, but when others do it I curl up and squeal bloody murder. Even just thinking about it gives me the creeps.
Beets
I was a pretty picky eater as a child… didn’t like a lot of stuff. I’m much better now, but all the wide-ranging hate I had for various foodstuff has now become focused on that one disgusting root vegetable. <puke smiley>
It’s not a phobia since I can bear it, but I too have an irrationnal and deep dislike of hives, and more generally of hive-like structures or anything which is full of holes (an example would be a clay hemispheric item intended to display flowers at a friend’s home).
Concerning rare phobias, a friend’s mother has the phobia of statues, which is quite inconvenient since there are such things in a lot of places. Forget about bringing her to visit an art museum or a cathedral.
I’m scared of helicopers. I can’t stand for one to hover over me if I’m in an open space. I grew up near an army post and the big double-rotor ones used to fly over our farm in formation. If I was caught out in a field, I would have to curl up in a ball until they passed.
I’m also scared of heights, even little ones. I get nervous on a 8 ft stepladder.
Animals (other than humans) who have extra heads or limbs, or major parts missing. I can’t stand even thinking about them as I write this.
But at least I’m not as bad as one of my coworkers, who is afraid Mary Worth will slash her from the other side of the bathroom mirror.
Now **that’s **irrational.
Had no idea it had a name but according the the website Dragwyr linked to it’s called: Emetophobia (fear of vomiting)
It’s a very annoying phobia, but I really am just terrified of it. I’ve only had to twice in my adult life, and only 3 times in my life at all beyond babyhood - once it came out of nowhere, and once it was after 12 hours of me doing everything in my power to keep it from happening, even though I knew I’d feel better after it happened. It’s pretty sad when you’re sitting there, trying to tell yourself that if your 2 year old can handle it without blinking, you should certainly be able to do it.
Doesn’t work though. I’m absolutely petrified by the idea. And I have no idea why.
But at least I’m not as bad as one of my coworkers, who is afraid Mary Worth will slash her from the other side of the bathroom mirror.
The comic strip character?
That’s the only Mary Worth I’ve ever heard of. Is there another one?
I’ve got Aesironophobia!
Just kidding.
I am terrified of high winds. I really hate being out in them. Even if I just have to walk a short distance outside when it’s really blowing, it scares the everlovin’ crap outta me.
No, the one where if you say her name three times she’ll come out of the mirror and kill you (also known as Bloody Mary).
Me, too! There’s just something awful about biting down on wood or feeling it scrape against your teeth. I have trouble eating popsicles (and other frozen-treat-on-a-stick things) for the same reason.
For me: Spiders, stinging insects like wasps and bees, heights… I’m sure there are others.
For me, it’s the texture of napkins, especially those thin ones at fast food places. I always remember that time my sister’s tooth fell out and the gum was bleeding at a restaurant, and she stuck a napkin there. Just looking at it, imagining the feeling, even thinking about it, makes me extremely uncomfortable, like nails-on-the-chalkboard uncomfortable.
I also hate hives, especially bee hives. I saw this one picture of an abandoned trailor that had become one giant beehive, man oh man was that horrible.
Leaving my house at the last minute. I’m okay to go to work because I’ve known for a while I have to be there, but anything else, I have to know about it several hours ahead of time. I can’t even run out to Wal-Mart without planning for it. If it’s suggested to me that I need to leave RIGHT NOW to run an errand or pay a bill or something, I come very close to panicking. I can do it, but it really stresses me out.
Oh, and zombies. I can’t even watch the campy Living Dead movies; if I do I’ll spend the next six months sleeping with the lights on and showering with the curtain open.
But I’m not afraid of spiders … I just don’t like to be taken unawares. I’m like all of those America’s Funniest Home Videos people who practically fall into a dead faint if someone pops out of a refrigerator that was supposed to be full of beer.
I also tend to extra cautious about rail crossing arms but that’s just because malfunctioning ones have whacked my vehicle on the roof too many times (and we had a grisly accident with a gas tanker truck losing to a train that wiped out quite a few people down the block.
Ah, the rare spaceballphobia.
I have a strong aversion to most insects - except houseflies, apparently, which don’t bother me at all.
I’m afraid of tuna. I don’t know why. The smell of it makes me nauseous, and gods forbid anyone come too close to me while carrying it. I’m fairly certain my tunaphobia has its roots in something awful my brother did to me when I was too young to remember. He’s very fond of tuna.
I don’t think my fear of heights is irrational. If I’m standing somewhere high, and I fall, I will die. Fear of death seems pretty rational to me. But my reactions to high places are the irrational part. I can’t make it to the third rung of a ladder without tearing up.
Earwigs. My summer camp was full of them, and someone told me why they’re called earwigs. I had nightmares for years.