What are your phobias?

Crowds - I can't breathe in them. I'm not terribly fond of small spiders either, but most of the time, unless they come in the house or make webs where I run smack into them, we have a truce.

True Story - Hubby is out of town this week and last night, I battled a really pissed off snake. Seriously. That kind of scared me.

It was around 4 -5 ft long and it had some how gotten in the house and curled up in the pantry in a corner. When I found it (totally by accident while looking for a can of Beanie Weanie's), it raised up and began to strike at me. Freaked me out.

I kind of like snakes - so I'm saying "Dude, I don't want to hurt you". So I went and put on my garden gloves, got the pool net and the broom and a pot lid to protect my neck and I gradually worked him into the pool net.

I finally got him outside and I'm like "Dude, don't come back."

So... sometimes, even though I like them, snakes can freak me out. This one was olive green and kind of fat with a kind of pointed head. I've never seen one quite like it. Weird.

- Being abducted by Aliens
- Needles (pregnancy x2 brought this on)

Briana Dawson

Siobhan, ha! I knew I wasn't alone with the sharks in the pool thing! Blame "Jaws" for that one, and that scene from "Thunderball." I was never at peace in a pool again.

Ironically, I will swim and/or snorkel in the ocean with little fear of the same - even *after* finding myself in the water with a bull shark. It's being in the blasted swimming pool that kicks in the ridiculous phobia. Pity, because I really do like sharks.

Rodents. Mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, even sort of squirrels. It's those little scrabbling claws, I think. And hearing of some medieval torture techniques using rats and mice didn't help matters any.

Invites Siobhan and Katlin over to a pool party.... Hums the Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun, Jaws theme. Turns the pool pump on so the water churns, tosses in the shark pool toy...

Pours a Tequila, watches the action.

Sorry - I am SO evil.

.

Success. I don't want to get done, I like things how they are.

That's okay, Rose. I forgive you.

*creeps over with a couple of boas in hand*

I fear flying stinging things - they really bug me (pun intended). Tis odd, because normal flying insects don't really bother me, it's just wasps & bees and such.

I ph34r l33t h4x0rz too.

MM

OMG! I hate MOTHS!!! SO funny I was just going to post to this, and started reading and could NOT believe someone had the same phobia as me!!! TOO funny! MOTHS are sick and nasty, and what's even more gross than them flying around your head, is squishing one and this powder stuff shooting out of them. EW!

Aside from Moths, I also wont go to sleep if a closet door is open. LOL

*I'm such a wimp* LOL

Oh, and I fear butterflies as well, since Aimee beats me when no one is looking.

*looks around nervously, then runs*

MM

Oh, Xaria, lots of us can't sleep with the closet door open. I mean, ya never know, right?

Let me ask: does anyone still have a fear of something grabbing you when you walk by the bed? Eeeeep! I feel foolish, but sometimes I hop into bed before some phantom hand can snag me. ROFL

And people wonder why I quit watching horror flicks.

I don't fear someone will snatch me as I walk by,

but I do always tuck my feet tightly under the covers and *never* let them dangle over the side, lest the same phantom hand would grab my feet. LOL

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH

ok that's a classic example of the eyeball thing for me. jkhzldghlzdskhgsdbvdfjds

LOL! You too? My boyfriend gets a good chuckle out of me tucking my feet in tightly every night. I've tried sleeping with them uncovered, but alas, I always give in.

No no no! Ahhh not listening! Lalalalalalala!!!!!

I'm not sure if mine qualify as real phobias, since they don't really make me freeze up or curl up into the fetal position, but...

Heights, which seems to be a common theme, but only ones that require balance. I can go to the top of the Stratosphere and enjoy the view, ride rollercoasters, ferris wheels... but I can't even stand on a small step-ladder without feeling queasy.

Loud noises, but only some of them. Loud music is fine. Loud household appliances, construction, traffic.. all that's fine. But things like clanging pots and pans, the rattle of dinnerware when you put dishes away, the vertical blinds slapping together when the wind hits them... they all set my teeth on edge until they're silent. I can't explain it, it just bugs the hell out of me.

I have a real psychiatrist diagnosed phobia called "Emetophobia." It is simply the fear of vomitting. It is without a doubt the thing that scares me the most in my life.

It prevents me from allowing myself to get drunk drunk because I am afriad I would puke, it is also a major reason behind the fact I have never done any hard drugs.

When I think I am going to be sick, even if I am a little nauseous, I can have a full blown anxiety/panic attack. I have called 9-1-1 a few times over the years simply because I thought I was going to throw up. Silly I know but it is just the way my brain works. It is so bad that I have been on medication for almost 9 years.

To this day it still affects my life. If I am going somwhere and even remotely feel sick I turn around and go back home. I have left movie theaters in the middle of the movie, restaurants before dinner arrived, etc. just because I thought I was going to get sick in public.

That's the worst. I can deal with puking at home but if I think I am going to do it in public I am MAJORLY in trouble and am scrambling to get out of there.

Fun huh?! Hehe.

Why not throw a shark pool toy into the bathtub with me, too, while you're at it!?!?

Now I have an irrational fear of pool toys and Tequila..........thanks a lot, Rose!

Stage fright (not just public speaking, but musical performances too)

and...

*mumbles*

driving stick shift. And I'm a car person, too The shame! The shame!

I am afraid of earwigs. Running and screaming like a shrieking girl afraid if I find any. I've tried to overcome it. I can now almost deal with them if I uncover them while I'm working in the garden. I still recoil, but I manage not to run. But unexpected earwigs? Ugh. Seriously, it's bad. I know they can't hurt me but still...yuck. (I've all over body shivered 3 times already just typing this!) To a lesser degree I fear all things that "strike." Snakes, scorpions...earwigs.

I also don't like thing pointing at me. I move things to make them not point. Even having someone next to me change the remote with it pointed at me bugs me.

I have the food dangling off the bed thing too that others have mentioned. I blame it on Stephen King. In I think the foreword of Danse Macabre he mentioned the hand from under the bed...reaching out to go grasp the overhanging ankle. I can't find the book to get an exact quote, but the image has stuck with me ever since I read it.

Also, I'm am weirdly freaked out by things staring at me. Dolls, figurines, stuffed animals. That scene in ET where ET is in Gertie's closet with all the stuffed animals? Creepy!

-Sun
(of the irrational and very strange phobias)

It sounds silly, but I have a deathly fear of masks.

Mostly Halloween masks, but I still feel uneasy around something as innocuous as a Mardi Gras mask.

When I was little, my dad got a free Freddy Krueger mask. I was sitting in my bedroom, minding my own business, when he walked in wearing it. Think that scarred me

Anyway, one will earn my everlasting hatred if they try and take advantage of that fear.

I am afraid of earwigs. Running and screaming like a shrieking girl afraid if I find any. I've tried to overcome it. I can now almost deal with them if I uncover them while I'm working in the garden. I still recoil, but I manage not to run. But unexpected earwigs? Ugh. Seriously, it's bad. I know they can't hurt me but still...yuck. (I've all over body shivered 3 times already just typing this!) To a lesser degree I fear all things that "strike." Snakes, scorpions...earwigs.

I also don't like thing pointing at me. I move things to make them not point. Even having someone next to me change the remote with it pointed at me bugs me.

I have the foot dangling off the bed thing too that others have mentioned. I blame it on Stephen King. In I think the foreword of Danse Macabre he mentioned the hand from under the bed...reaching out to go grasp the overhanging ankle. I can't find the book to get an exact quote, but the image has stuck with me ever since I read it.

Also, I'm am weirdly freaked out by things staring at me. Dolls, figurines, stuffed animals. That scene in ET where ET is in Gertie's closet with all the stuffed animals? Creepy!

-Sun
(of the irrational and very strange phobias)

Ack! Who *isn't* afraid of creepy things staring at you? I can't stand dolls for that very reason, and I mean even the oh-so-innocent porcelain kind. I don't have a single doll in my house, and I swear to God, I'm only raising girls who play with Legos.

It's interesting to see some common fears coming to light here. I don't think I'm the only one feeling relieved that I'm not alone in some of my phobias.

Clowns. Bigtime.



-Ghoti

I'm glad you said it first, because I was starting to feel silly after reading everyone elses! I have always had the omg-what's-under-the-bed fear, and I find myself still battling it Same with the closet, only the closet one has gotten worse because now I have a giant walk-in closet, and that's where the entrance to the attic is. Ugh.