Fears and Phobias Discussion Thread

[Sandstorm814]

Welcome! This is the fears and phobia discussion thread!


Please note I have searched the forums and have not found a thread like this. If there is, mods, please delete this.

What this thread is about:

This thread is for people who have phobias or fears. They can share their experiences here, and what has helped them with their fear/phobia and what has not. People can seek other people who has the same or similar phobia/fear and discuss it, and what makes that thing scary to them.

Rules:

1. Please respect everyone. Don't bully people because of a certain phobia/fear. They have come here to talk about these things in a comfortable environment

2. If you are saying you have a certain phobia, please state what it means. Don't assume everyone knows what the phobia is of!

3. Please stay on topic.

4. Marking is allowed

5. And of course, all Eldemore rules apply.


Q & A


What is the difference between a phobia and a fear?
As this is hard to explain, I will put in an exaggerated example. Imagine you have just come home, and you see your door to your room is closed. When you open it, you see a snake on the bed. If you had a fear of snakes, you would back out the room and close the door. If you had a phobia of snakes, you would never open the door in the first place, because there might be a snake only our bed.
As you can see, if you have a phobia, it restricts you from doing certain things, because there might be a chance you have to encounter your phobia in that situation. If you had a fear, and were in the situation, you would get out of it.

I'm not sure if I have a phobia of something or a fear!
If you don't know, really think about it. Do I cancel plans and not go on certain trips because of this? If so you might have phobia. If not, you just really don't like them, you may a fear.

More Q & A questions to come!

Helpful links
What is a phobia?
What causes a phobia?
What is a fear?
List of most common fears

List of some phobias and what they mean. (If you want a phobia and its definition to go here, PM me!)
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders
Ophidiophobia - Fear of snakes
Messilophobia - Fear of bees
Glossophobia- Fear of public speaking
Monophobia - Fear of being alone
Trypanophobia - Fear of needles
Xenophobia - Fear of the unknown
Phobophobia - Fear of fear
Latrophobia - Fear of doctors
Zoophobia - Fear of animals

[Polly44]

I never really understood the difference between a phobia and a fear, but i get it now, so thanks!
I used to have arachnophobia, but i work with animals and so encounter them all the time, which has made me get over it a lot. I still don't like them, but i am considerably more comfortable with them than i used to be. I no longer totally freak out when i see one, lol.

However i do have a huge fear of bees and wasps (Apiphobia) i don't think it counts as a phobia, as i still go outside and thus don't actively avoid them. I do completely freak when i see or even hear one though. xD

[Sandstorm814]

However i do have a huge fear of bees and wasps (Apiphobia) i don't think it counts as a phobia, as i still go outside and thus don't actively avoid them. I do completely freak when i see or even hear one though. xD

Same, I have a phobia of bees, so I can just hear buzzing, and I'll have a panic attack. Speaking of bees, the season is coming where all the flowers start to bloom, so bees are EVERYWHERE! As I always do, I'll be stuck inside for this time with the rest of the people who have pollen allergies.
*Sighs* Bees, why must you plague my life so much!

[scmarshtacky]

Roaches are mine. I just... cannot. Any other bug is fine, but not those.

According to my mother, as a really little kid (maybe 2 or 3), I picked up a dead roach and went to show it to my mom, who was turned around washing dishes. I abruptly caught her attention and she jumped. I panicked, and tossed the thing into the air and ever since then I can't deal with them. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter. If I know the thing is there, I'm not entering the room if at all possible. If I have to enter the room, I'm putting a healthy distance between myself and it. If it's in a doorway or in the hall, I won't pass it.

I almost always have to get a third party to pick it up, and I insist that it has to be disposed of either in the back yard where I never go, or down the toilet where I know it's forever gone. It can't be in the trashcan because I know it's there and I still won't go near wherever the trashcan is.

The couple of times there's been no one in the house and I've had to dispose of it myself, it's been a nightmare. I've had to use a shovel and a really long broom because I can't bear to get close enough to it to use something normal like a dust pan.

It's something I feel I need to get over but just can't, and when things maybe get a little better, the stupid things do stuff like, fall on my head while I'm trying to take a shower and everything goes back to the beginning. >.<

[WhistPendragon]

Aaaand this will make nos sense, but I have Globophobia (fear of balloons)

I HATE those things. Whenever I'm near one, I'll stuff my hands in my ears or move away.

[Sphye]

Aaaand this will make nos sense, but I have Globophobia (fear of balloons)

I HATE those things. Whenever I'm near one, I'll stuff my hands in my ears or move away.

I can see how that could be scary. Is it any better if it's one of the foil ones that only really deflate when they're punctured, rather than popping?

[SunaTheWolf]

I'm on the borderline of fear and phobia when it comes to spiders. I absolutely cannot deal with them. I apparently have a "spider scream" that my mom knows she will have to come and help me when she hears it. I can't enter where I know one is, but if I see one I freeze and stare at it until someone can deal with it because I am afraid if I look away it will run off and I'll have no idea where it is which totally freaks me out..
The extremely unfortunate times I have to deal with them I sprint to grab something large or thick where I know my hand wont touch and sprint back so I can quickly kill it.
One of my worst experiences was when a spider fell on my face as I was just about to fall asleep...
I'm just glad I don't live in some of the houses I used to that were just crawling with spiders. Truly. Awful.

Aaaand this will make nos sense, but I have Globophobia (fear of balloons)

I HATE those things. Whenever I'm near one, I'll stuff my hands in my ears or move away.

I freak out when people are rough with ballons. I almost always flinch if someone touches one of the regular ones, unless I trust them not to pop it. I detest the noise. It scares me. Is the noise why for you?
Or no?

[WhistPendragon]

Aaaand this will make nos sense, but I have Globophobia (fear of balloons)

I HATE those things. Whenever I'm near one, I'll stuff my hands in my ears or move away.

I can see how that could be scary. Is it any better if it's one of the foil ones that only really deflate when they're punctured, rather than popping?

I've never heard of those! I have no idea. If I'm the one with the balloon it's a tad bit better, because I am in immediate control of it and can take it to the trash and cut a hole in the neck and watch it PHHBTHTBBTT pathetically out. (wooh, that was a run-on sentence) Those foil ones may be different though. It's mostly when the instruments of terror are in the hands of small children/people who act like small children that I am afraid. (and the noise they make *shudders*)

@SunaTheWolf (quote box wasn't working -.-)
Yeah, it's the noise. Not just the popping, that sound they make when rubbed around any surface. Heck, even the SMELL freaks me out. And that's odd, because I didn't have any 'bad experience' with balloons when I was little. I think I've always been terrified of them.

[Sandstorm814]

[quote="WhistPendragon"
@SunaTheWolf (quote box wasn't working -.-)
Yeah, it's the noise. Not just the popping, that sound they make when rubbed around any surface. Heck, even the SMELL freaks me out. And that's odd, because I didn't have any 'bad experience' with balloons when I was little. I think I've always been terrified of them.[/quote]
I can relate to the noise part of this. Just think if someone rubbing a balloon - urgh, I feel so uncomfortable

[mista]

I have leporiphobia (the fear of rabbits) but it's mostly pediophobia (the fear of dolls.) I remember forever ago being a child, and I had a dream I was left at some reandom place with some random people sleeping. There was an antique giant rabbit, it was one that's a floral pattern with no eyes. It kept following me around, getting in the way, even if I tried to hit it It'd just start standing up again. It's turned into a problem for me pretty much, I've never been able to help it, it's just something that's there and never really sticks out until someone basically brings it up or tries to torture you with it. (I feel like Itward, he's leporiphobic ;-;)