Quote from the_angry_angel :

I also have a fear of heights; but only where I can see through what I'm standing on. Such as steps with no backs to them (our clarkes shoe shop had the kids section downstairs when I was younger; with no backing to the stairs).

Thats quite interesting, over here in Portsmouth they have built a thing called the Spinnaker Tower which opened last year in november. It was meant to be called the millenium tower and open on new years 2000 but thats another story. I recently visited the tower as i thought i should as i live here, now i am not afraid of heights as such but at the top of the tower you have 3 floors to view the harbour and the city from and one of those floors has a small glass floor which you can stand on. Now as i said i am not scared by heights as such but standing on top of that with this view down below it made me feel very unconfortable. It was quite a strange feeling and i remember the only though strangely that was running through my head was the glass breaking and me falling through it, nevertheless i was manly and walked over it a few times.

I have actually over the last few minutes thought of something i dont like, wouldnt call it a phobia but for sum reason i hate going into lifts. As a kid in the czech republic my brother use to get me stuck in the lift where we lived all the time by pulling at the outside door of the lift when he knew i was inside which would cause it to stop. This was one of these old very old lifts with the door opening outwards.

1) I fear myself

2) I fear downshifting in FZ50

3) I really don't like high places. All bridges and stuf gets me really nervous. I have been working on high places, like on roofs of buildings when I was few years younger, but it took a while before I got used to it. Didn't want to go near edges though

4) I fear order. So I just mess my room so it feels nice and cozy. Not because I'm lazy

Actually, I remember now what freaks me out.

Its not so much a fear, but just a reaction to a noise.

Alot of you will hate the sound of someone scratching their nails across a blackboard, yes? Well, I get the same spine tingling and hairs-on-end reaction when someone starts rubbing a carpet with a cloth. Its really weird, its just that really rough scrubbing noise.....im getting the shivers thinking of it!

I know it is completely irrational, but the noise just does my head in!

Something else I just remembered. I seem to fear people being behind me. When I walk with a group of people I have to have them at my side or in front of me. If someone is walking behind me and I don't know them, I find a reason to stop, walk faster, or go a route I know no one ever takes, just so they aren't behind me. It's really bad paranoia, but I have it on any form of transport, foot, bike, skate board, roller blades, swimming, boat, horse, motorbike, atv, even car if they are up my arse.

Quote from Becky Rose :

I used to suffer from this particular brand of vertigo, it's not the height that's scary, but the thought of some irrational decision to jump off. I could barely walk over a bridge incase I threw myself off it, which was completely stupid because I wasn't in any way suicidal.

To get over my fear I decided to climb a Mountain. It worked. I went up the Watkins Ascent of Mount Snowdon, not the hardest way up (actually the 2nd hardest) - but a far cry from the tourist route .

I did a lot of mountain climbing when I was in school, worked fine unil I slipped and almost lost my teeth. Which just added to the fear as I hate pain.

Right, basically two things - spiders and wasps/hornets.

Small spiders (I mean REALLY small ones), I don't mind, and will happily catch all day long (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration), but anything bigger I'd rather not be in the same room as. If I had to do something about it (i.e. no-one else was in the house, for example), I would. But otherwise I'd get someone to come and get it for me. Don't know whether that qualifies as a phobia?

My wasp/hornet phobia comes from being stung on the neck once when small, very *very* close to my jugular. It drew blood that day, and I always end up thinking what'd happen if it had stung me slightly farther over... eep.

So yeah, those are my fears

Irrational Fear #1 - Bridges with Water under them: I have no idea why, you could take me over the highest bridge in the world with no water under it, nae bother - take me over a 20ft bridge with a few feet of water under it....not a fan. 'course coming back from Norfolk once, dad decided to take us over the Humber Bridge, nice

The only real irrational fear I can think of right now


Edit: seeing as how a lot of people seem to dislike wasps/hornets/bees etc, a wee story:

When I was younger, perhaps about 10/12 years ago now - I had a bee fly into my ear and sting me and fly away on its merry way again...'twas a bit nippy to say the least!

Quote :

the worst and most painful was the red ants nest

Reminds me of the time several years back when I lived in Ethiopia. They have *huge* red ants there, you can see the jaws *miles* away !! Anyway, I'd dressed in jeans and a shirt; Just about to leave for the capitol, 500km away or so. I was chatting to the company driver as I was leaning on the car.

It was actually quite a good discussion on how bad suspension Toyota Hiluxes had for driving fast on those atrocious roads. The previous year the company had moved some household equipment to Dar, including a fridge fixed to the back of a Hilux. The driver was just driving along at a decent speed, hit a bump too many and the rear literally flew over the front and the car ended up in a ditch..

But, red ants. There I was minding my own business chatting away. I hadn't at all noticed the line of red ants traversing our compund's gate, where I was standing. All I felt was a little tickle in my pants, scratched it and.. YEOWWW!!!!! The midget monster bit me in the inside of my thigh, so I started frantically rubbing the spot hoping to crush the beast (they're not easy to kill, either). That's when I noticed what I was standing on, leaped off and ran back through the gate into the garden, trying to crush what felt must have been an entire colony of red ants in my pants.

I'm sure it must have looked quite very amusing as I couldn't make it back in the house before the pain became unbearable, stripped off my jeans in the middle of the garden trying to rid my precious family jewels from this invasion of the Red Army!

Eventually I did get them all off, but I was still itching randomly for several hours after the incident. I don't have a phobia of ants, but I steer clear of the Big Red Ones .

That compound was actually quite bad due to ants, one time the entire house was invaded by red ants, so we went outside into the back garden to get the repellents and other anti-bug weapons we had. It was dark so we didn't see too much, and walked straight into a sea of them. It was crazy, upon inspection with a floodlight plugged into the car it turned out the entire back garden was *completely* covered in red ants, and there was no way to get across without walking into them illepall

At the time our cat had had a litter and the kittens were still tiny. Poor things had red ants all over the fur to the extent picking them out just like that wasn't an option. They had to be thoroughly washed and rinsed in a disinfectant bath to kill all the ants so they could be picked out. That night was hectic..

I don't eat outside in the summer because I was stung by a wasp when I was little, while eating outside. That same summer and some few summers later, if my parents and sister would go outside and eat, I would stay inside to eat. I would sit at the windowdoorthing. That's the story of my fear for that.

Ladders, I don't have a fear of heights, but I did have an accident just this summer. My parents and me were making an addic in the garage, to put all the useless/not often used stuff on. And first we had this big board, and slid it up a ladder, my dad and mother pushing it up, and me on top the rest of the addic which was already finished, taking it further up. That board was too big, so we sawed it, and wanted to try the same way the previous time, whick worked like a charm. This time I was down, and my dad was climbing up the ladder, pushing the board higher, while me and my mother were on the ground to support the board a bit. Suddenly the ladder slid of the ceiling beams, making the board drop ontop of my foot, and the ladder with my dad on it, on the back of my head. It hurt a lot, but I still had the force to keep the board from falling on top of my dad, who was lying on the ground on top of the ladder.

I did crawl up there afterwards though, and the addic was still finished that day.

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

But, red ants. There I was minding my own business chatting away. I hadn't at all noticed the line of red ants traversing our compund's gate, where I was standing. All I felt was a little tickle in my pants, scratched it and.. YEOWWW!!!!! The midget monster bit me in the inside of my thigh, so I started frantically rubbing the spot hoping to crush the beast (they're not easy to kill, either). That's when I noticed what I was standing on, leaped off and ran back through the gate into the garden, trying to crush what felt must have been an entire colony of red ants in my pants.

I'm sure it must have looked quite very amusing as I couldn't make it back in the house before the pain became unbearable, stripped off my jeans in the middle of the garden trying to rid my precious family jewels from this invasion of the Red Army!

:ices_rofl i feel your pain just sitting here!! Its funny how everything in hot/dry/tropical countries so many of these bugs are atleast 4 times biggger than their european counterparts

Your story reminded me of a bee sting that i got 2 summers ago. In was in Czech republic and i want to on a tour of one historic Palace. When i got there the place was still shut and the quide was no where to be seen so to kill the 10 minutes before it opened i thought it would be a good idea to stroll through the lovely garden at the back of the palace. I noiced the place was quite full of bees as they were polinating the flowers on the grass. Not knowing at the time one of the bees must have crawled up my trousers as i walked over the lawn.

Killing 10 minutes i returned back to the front entrace where i met the quide before the hour long tour. Around 20 minutes into the tour i felt something tickeling me on my leg si i scratch, and it stopped so tour continued, moments later i felt it again so i scratch and suddenly.... the beast stung me!!! AUUUUUCH!! not knowing it was a bee and not a wast i just grabbed my trousers around the inside leg and just held it hoping i would squash it and kill it. Because its a bee their sting stays embeded into your skin and the bee dies but it means all of the poison gets injected unless you take the sting out. I did managed to get it but because i was in the middle of a tour i couldnt really get underessed so for the next 2hours i walked around not really knowing what bit me, but man when i did finally look there was a massive red swelling around the sting about 15 cm in diameter and was stinging like a biatch. The swelling and redness lasted about 4 weeks after that. Another painful experience and id hate to know what the guide woman thought about why i had my hands down my crotch!

I have been trying to think of what really bothers me the most that would be close to a phobia and i think I have found it. When i go on holiday to the sea, i tend to feel very very unconfortable when i swim far out into the ocean where the water below appears very dark blue. I hate the sense of not being able to see the bottom and i always have these thoughts that some shark will mistaken me for a seal and take a bite of my booty. I also dont like the sudden cold currents you swim through when you swim a serious depth... brrrrrr i wanna be able to seeee what isss beneath meeee at all timesssssss other wise i start to panic a little. Its SCARY :weeping:

mad

I'm scared for large dogs.

They scare the s*** out of me.

When I was a little boy,I once wanted to turn around a corner,and so did teh big dog,and he jumped right on me. I'm still dead scared for them.

I also am not afraid to die,but I am afraid to know when I die.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

A friend of mine got chased by a dog when he was a kid and he's still scared of them. My family has always had dogs and he was scared to come to our house, even though at the time we had a ridiculously friendly english springer spaniel - The dog would bound towards him with its tongue hanging out, grinning from ear to ear and wagging its little stumpy tail, and he would dump his bike on the ground and run for his life!

How familiar

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I hate the sense of not being able to see the bottom and i always have these thoughts that some shark will mistaken me for a seal and take a bite of my booty.

Hehe, it's quite an experience when it happens for real: I was on a holiday in Papua New Guinea, based half-way between Madang and Lae in a place called Ramu, traveling here and there. Ended up on a snorkling trip to see a big WW2 plane sunk in the sea. Murky waters, but I did catch an eyeful of it, quite impressive . As I was taking a break on a nearby tiny island, puddling around the corals (not touching them of course ) I took a deep breath and dived past the sandbank that lead to the deeper water, but I could still see the ocean floor.

Much to my shock and horror my eyes fixated on a shark, a real live shark that was swimming along the bottom of the banking!! I was panicking, thinking "oh crap what do I do, do I make a dash for the island, or slowly try gliding away from it??? Oh shit.. To hell with this, I'm gone!!", turned around and made a frantic attempt to get to the surface and out of the water Lol, it was quite an experience.

Later I was told it was a perfectly harmless reef shark, but you seriously, what are you going to do, swim to it and go

"Hi there, Mr. Shark, how big your teeth are o.O You wouldn't be one of those human-meat eating monster sharks by any chance?"

"Well.. yes, actually I AM, and now I'm going to EAT you!!"

It took a while for my companions on the trip to ensure me it's safe to return to the water

i have a rather weird fear of loosing my (usually bad) balance
its not the usual fear of heights if i know im perfectly safe and have a railing or somthing like that i dont feel a thing but standing on a ledge looking down without anything to stop me from falling if i sway too much over the ledge creeps me out

My girlfriend has a bug phobia. She fears even those 1mm big "banana flies" that come here north in fruit hauls.. And make a nest in your garbage.. I spose you know them. illepall

And moths. She screams if she spots one inside. But she can watch them flying outside, the only reaction is shaking. illepall

Then she has the worlds wierdest phobia, A fear of water plants. That's correct. Swimming at those thousands of lakes of Finland must be difficult if you fear the phocking plants at the bottom.. With all respect, it's just crazy. illepall

I remember when we we had just started to see each other, and were on a 'romantic' trip at our family's summer cottage. We were going on the lake by row boat (i didn't plan on singing serenades though) and god damn she went nuts because of some plants she saw underwater. illepall

And it's not plants only. It's logwood/rusty bikes/cars/coins/trasure chests/mother-in-laws/anything that lies at the bottom of a lake/sea/river/pond. Freak phobias. illepall

Still love her though :lovies3d:

Quote from Becky Rose :

I used to suffer from this particular brand of vertigo, it's not the height that's scary, but the thought of some irrational decision to jump off. I could barely walk over a bridge incase I threw myself off it, which was completely stupid because I wasn't in any way suicidal.

I'm similar, but mine has to do with train stations. If a train pulls out of the station while I'm walking along the platform, I feel like I'm going to fall onto the tracks.

I thought I'm irrational-fear-free, but the thread about terrorism reminded me of one. Every time I go shopping, when I'm walking past cars on the parking lot, I wonder whether some of them could belong to the mafia and be rigged with explosives illepall

Waterplants... On holiday at a lake, I went swimming, and I suddenly walked into a whole lot of seaweed. I didn't lake the feeling a lot, so I got out... Scared the hell outa me, my two feet were full of leeches!

Another reason for your girlfriend to fear waterplants

You "waspaphobes" need one of those high-voltage electric fly swatters:



They're like 3€ and work great. As soon as a fly/wasp/bee makes contact with the net, they're stunned and fall to the ground instantly. Just touching them in mid-air does the trick. I figure you could also mod the electronics a bit if stunning the critters isn't enough.


Me, I'm a bit of a germaphobe, I guess...epecially when it comes to food prep or things touching my bed. I mean I know it's irrational but I still have these weird routines to avoid "cross-contamination" of "clean" and "dirty" surfaces. Take a potato, place it on plate 1, peel it, wash potato and hands (cause my fingers touched both the outer shell and the peeled potato), place it on plate 2, rinse and repeat. Of course, I know it's gonna be virtually sterile once it's cooked anyway. illepall

lol that is great fun, when i was burning out a wasps nest in the ground i placed it over the hole and held the fry button and man, did it pop. Did ran away soon after incase the batteries ran out.

The best thing is if you are trying to catch flies with it, sometimes they get stuck to it and if you hold it long enough they start to smoke and then they pop. The smell is quite disghusting.

Yeah these things are very cheap, they also give a right good punch when you touch it, it makes you shake! :hyper:

Quote :

I also dont like the sudden cold currents you swim through when you swim a serious depth... brrrrrr i wanna be able to seeee what isss beneath meeee at all timesssssss other wise i start to panic a little. Its SCARY :weeping:

Yup- that's one of mine. In Australia I used to surf a lot and this was a re-occuring issue for me. Also I've actually been bitten by a shark (pulled on my right ankle when I was sitting on my board- I felt and saw myself going backwards and downwards into the water!!! I yanked my foot away and paddled as fast as I could into shore. But not without getting a glimpse of the beast first! ). It's a freaky tale but I guess that fear- fear of sharks, has lessened for me, as who would actually be unlucky enough to be attacked twice..!? Seaweed is another fear, although I hesitate to call it an irrational one. I've been held under the water by a huge mass of seaweed at my local surf spot- it's scary. I don't surf around seaweed now...

their definatly CANT be a window behind my bed, i hate that, sleeping and knowing someone might be watching through the window behind me..same with couches too lol..call me paranoid but w/e :P

Yeah, window behind your head is awful feng shui anyway

I have this fear of coming home to see my house on fire...I guess being 7 years old and living in the scrub during the massive Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia/Victoria in '83 may have something to do with that (my uncle lost his chicken yard but the fire stopped at his verandah)...then there was a close call in '86 where a huge bushfire was extinguished just over the fence from our property, ten yards away...and Dad's family lost everything in '55 during the Black Sunday fires...actually, it doesn't seem so irrational now I've thought about it! Sorry!

:spidereek thats the only answer you are getting of me


Never p**s off a hornet And did a hear right 30 hornets and kill 30,000 bees in 3hours

Quote from thisnameistaken :

It was probably there for ages ringing the bell.

LOL
Yeah, my unc was hiding inside ignoring it, like he does with those door-to-door religion salesmen