Anyone else have crippling phobias?
So many phobias, can't keep track of them all, have very constrained existence as result.
Emetophobia (fear of vomiting)
Arachnaphobia & insect phobias
Fear of slimy dead things in water so don't get to swim (which is sad, as I love swimming)
Social situations, public places (agoraphobia), crowds, etc.
And fear of not being able to find/meet new friends as consequence of my narrow tolerances,
which leaves me lonely (am a reluctant, conflicted, recluse)
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*"I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't."*
I have several phobias that give me recurring nightmares.
-Arachnophobia: This one is a little odd. I am no longer afraid of spiders, although they do show up in my nightmares. What really gets to me are scorpions, usually huge and with clacking claws.
-Katsaridaphobia: It means fear of cockroaches. Ever since I stepped on a dead cockroach, I have had near-hysterics levels of terror. I clean my apartment almost religiously, terrified that any missed crumb will invite an infestation, so I understand why you need everything to be as clean as possible.
-Thalassophobia: Fear of the ocean. I have many nightmares involving the deep dark of the Marianas Trench, as well as clear blue tropical seas filled with sharks and giant fish. Also drowning dreams.
I have a fear of dogs (I am allergic to dogs) and horses, because when they poop, they don't stop. Sometimes, I fear abandonment from people and it's likely an effect from anxiety.
I also have an autistic friend who's afraid of butterflies. He almost choked on one.
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Shedding your shell can be hard.
Diagnosed Level 1 autism, Tourettes + ADHD + OCD age 9, recovering Borderline personality disorder (age 16)
lostonearth35
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Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 50
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I have emetophobia which got really bad during my teens and twenties. It's not as bad as it used to be but back then my whole world just revolved around it and there's nothing worse than being literally terrified of something you just can't avoid no matter what. I had to get many surgeries on my ears in my teens and I was more fearful of post-op nausea than I was of having a mastoid infection. But I was actually good at fighting it, or the anesthetics used now are less emetic than they once were.
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I hate it when people complain about wrong it is to throw out food, because I would rather throw out anything that I think is the least bit out of the ordinary than risk food poisoning, and every week it feels like there's another headline about listeria or salmonella in a food product. When I was around 12 I read about botulism and became so scared I nearly drove my parents crazy because I thought anything I ate would kill me, canned or not.
I've decided to avoid canned tuna, one of the few fish products I can tolerate eating, because of mercury.
Sometimes I hear loud noises late at night when I'm dropping off to sleep and I think oh god the world's ending but I know it's probably just an airplane or the snow plow in winter. But what's really bad are the idiots who drive their motorbikes at that hour or race their cars. I've been jolted awake feeling like I'm having a heart attack just from the noise, and I probably really will have one some day. Arrrrgh!
Large, barking or just generally unfriendly dogs. Even if they are friendly experience has taught me they can go to being very UNfriendly in a split second, sometimes for no apparent reason like the dog we once had who turned on my mother suddenly although he wasn't vicious around the rest of us. Perhaps she physically resembled someone who was cruel to the dog, or maybe it was because the dog had been hit by a car, and lost his tail as a result. I read that dogs who lose their tails or get them bobbed can become aggressive since they normally would use their tails to communicate and are unable to.
Cars. Vehicles. Wheeled coffins of glass and steel. Having to cross a busy street. I grew up in the country where we had no traffic lights because we didn't need any. In fact it wasn't that long ago the road wasn't even paved, according to my mother. So the first few years of my life in the city crossing any large busy road was terrifying. I'm more used to it now, but I still think cars turn people into maniacs. Just the other week when my mom and I were on a trip we were on a highway and she mentioned how all the other drivers were at least 10km over the speed limit and that she herself was going over 5km. I guess it's not that big of a deal unless the roads were wet or icy, but it was just a reminder of how people think they have to drive like they're in a race, thanks mom.
I have, what my boyfriend refers to as, legitimate a-----phobia (8 legged creepy-crawlies). It's so bad that I can't even say or type the name, so we have code words. Obviously, I also can't see pictures of them or watch videos containing them without having a panic attack. Killing them is another problem since I can't smash them with a napkin, so I have to use bug spray, and after they're dead I can't dispose of them or even go near the area after my boyfriend has gotten rid of them. I have, on many occasions, quarantined rooms and items long after they've been dead (or missing). In my first apartment, I found one on my bed and slept on the couch for a month.
My others that are a bit less severe are: Claustrophobia, Acrophobia (fear of heights), Coulrophobia (clowns), and fear of being in water where I can't see the bottom.
Hello I'm a new member ...I have many phobias... They seem to always be there but come and go with how sevear they can be , I would say my worst fear is Death/Dieing ... I fear germs, getting a sickness bug , other peoples germs , I live every day with extreme anxiety so most likely doesn't help matters ... I too am like how u have described,bit got so bad for me at one time I couldn't leave my house and had to tape up my letter box so no germs could get in my home ... I would wear hat, scarf and gloves when I only went out for shopping one a week which was also an issue, I worried that others may have contaminated the food I bought, I was a counter and would count three item back before picking and if it were looking that someone else had touched it I would go another three back!! ! Very time consuming lol ... If it wasn't fact I had children to feed I would have easily not gone shopping , that another thing the germ phobia also caused bouts of anorexia as I didn't want to eat incase there were contamination in my food. ... One thing to the next!! ! Horrible thing living with these types of phobias ...