Do you have any phobias?

[Joker]

Let's see.. Well, I'm afraid of swimming if I can't see the bottom. I'm not that scared of heights, but if i'm looking down from a tall building or something, I always get an urge to jump down.
And I can't close my eyes in the shower for more than a couple of seconds. I always picture like a giant spider with a Facehuggerish head and hundreds of tiny tentacles that crawls into certain areas of my body.
And I often think about insects and such laying eggs inside my body when I sleep. And
I don't like most even numbers, and a few odd numbers. I like 8 better than 9, but 10 better than 8. It's weird... And my favorite number is 5. So yeah.
Oh, and bears. Bears scare the shit out of me.

So, what about you?

Rodents and spiders. Also, Im not scared of clowns, i just wish they would die in a fire.

[Janina]

I only have one real phobia, but that's a tough one: Butterflies.
Compared to normal fears a phobia is different... you totaly loose control over your mind and body.

Sure, I know those animals do not hurt anybody and it sounds funny to most people who hear about it. But they scare me more than anything else. I have nightmares about them, when I am forced to look at them I feel like I see a bunch of entrails and when one of them is in the same room I freak out and run - or cower on the floor if I cannot reach the door. For a long time it was nearly the same with similar looking insects like moths, but this got better.
Two years ago I decided to do something about it and visited an expert for animal phobia. I am still impressed about the fast progress we made, I can highly recommend a therapy like that! We only worked with pictures and an artificial butterfly, but it was a big help. Now I can handle a white butterfly or moth flying by and can watch them from the distance without panicing.

But I still have this terrible phobia about peacock butterflies and similar looking ones.

What's interesting about this is how the phobia developed. I remember having no problems with butterflies as a little kid. In Kindergarten I could hold them in my hands. Something must have happened after that, because at the age of 6 I suddenly was afraid of many things that have artificial "eyes" on them: peacock feathers, wood grain on our kitchen table, some of my Grandmother's dish, creatures in children's books with many eyes. And butterflies were the most horrible thing for me. Most of those fears disappeared when I grew up, but the butterfly problem stayed and even got worse.
Maybe I developed this phobia because of an eye surgery I had at the age of five. It fits... maybe this was the way my subconscious dealt with it. I never was afraid of real eyes though. And about the same time I remember discovering a bunch of dead butterflies in our house which was a big shock for me.

[Jareen2]

mannequins

I once had a nightmare when i was 3 i guess about Some Mannequins who came alive and tried to kiss and touch me. Since than i'm afraid of them. I still try to not show it to others but i still prefer avoid them.

I used to have a phobia for clows but that one is already over.

Also when i was 2,3 I was always afraid of the shadows. When i looked to them i saw a jester, the Dinosar of Toy Story and some other stuff in it and was afraid that they would give me nightmares. So i always slept with the light in the hall on.

I'm still a bit scared of the time around 0:00pm. until 3:00pm.
I will always think that i will see That girl from the Exorcist and other creepy stuff.

[Caribou]

[bellaXraven]

I am petrified if someone throws up in front of me.
I legitimately have anxiety when either someone throws up, or if I am about to throw up.
It all started when I was maybe three. (my earliest memory)
I had that stomach virus...where anything you eat or drink...comes right back up...and it was so bad to the point where I had to be hospitalized.
So now, if someone is about to vomit, I run as fast as I can. I hate the sight, the smell, the way someone sounds when it happens...I can't deal with it.

[Till]

hmm, I don't fear hight, as long as I don't know I have to jump... Its no real fear i think. The 3m tower at the swimming pool is no problem. And sounds strange but I dream of going skydiving once...

@Janina: Im sorry but at first I laughed...

[ADePALMA1251]

I wouldn't call it a "phobia" exactly, but heights and the ocean freak me out. I don't like heights becuase of the many dreams I've had in my life involving falling for what feels like forever. Now the ocean bugs me becuase of how fuckin' huge it is. I enjoy the beach and can swim, but once land is out of sight and all there is too hear is the ocean swaying back and forth, then there's a problem. Not being able to see whats below me doesn't help either.
The scenes similar to this in Finding Nemo, where Dory and Marlin are swimming towards, what appears to be nothing but silence and utter blackness are the ones that come to mind when I think of the ocean. Also, Jaws is still the scarriest film I've ever seen and it deffinitley had something to do with my views on the ocean...

[Eggyslav]

Topic about phobias, huh? I have a lots of them....
First, spiders, and other bugs, although I think I'm slowly curing myself from arachnophobia... Although bigger ones still make me scream like a little girl... Also Wasps... God, I hate those stripped, buzzing fuckers, in my life I got stung twice....

I also share Jareen's scare of mannequins, there's always something disturbing about their faces.....

Also, some street artists freak me out... I'm not talking about mimes, or clowns (although they also terrify me ), but about so called "Living statues". They look like real ones, but when they suddenly move *shiver*..... Also some performers wear long monk-like hooded robes, in which you can't see their faces, they litteraly look like Slenderman meets the Dementors from Harry Potter. Not to mention long staves in their hands and a bell they ring loudly, which is just really annoing.... I keep away from those guys, unfortunately, they swarm Warsaw's Old Town like a vermin.....

Also, big open spaces make me feel incomfortable, it's not that I have a severe Agoraphobia, It's just, when you're alone in a field, and there's nothing around in a wide radius, you just stare at horizon, and it makes you feel like you're suspended in some kind of void..... I feel much safer surrounded by tall buildings.....

[bellaXraven]

[quote="Eggyslav"]Also Wasps... God, I hate those stripped, buzzing fuckers, in my life I got stung twice....
[quote]


Oh yes....wasps scare the hell out of me too...
I was also stung twice in my life as well.
The first time was on my leg...and the second time was on my upper lip...

[Till]

Eggy & bellaX: wow, only twice? Those, like Eggy calls them, fuckers stung me way more often. And when its about bees I could not count...

[Jetpack-guy]

i am scared by
wasps: i once go stung on my arse...not nice
scary movies: i have never gotten through a horror movie, the dementors, weeping angels and the angler-fish from finding nemo made me shit myself
losing things: i hate the ideas for losing things, if i can't find my phone i will actually have a panic attack.

[Caribou]

[Till]

well, my grandpa is beekeeper. So I was stung sometimes when I played in his garden as a small kid.
(oh, and you dont need to teach me about bees... My grandpa already did this a few times)

[Caribou]

...But not well enough to keep you from being stung by them repeatedly, it would seem.

(I mean, it's not like the girl in that photo has special bee-controlling mind powers; she's safe to do that because bees don't sting people unless they have a really, really good reason.)

[bellaXraven]

But they were wasps...

[Caribou]

I'm afraid of heights. Just like walking in a bridge.