Phobias

Comes from the Greek word phobos, meaning "fear." To be clear, a phobia is an irrational fear, like arachnophobia, not something completely reasonable like the fear of bears that are currently mauling you.

So ITT: your phobias, and explaining why they are scary to people who don't find them scary.

I have arachnophobia and, to a smaller degree, entomophobia. No, that's not the fear of walking trees, that's the fear of insects. Most insects I'm alright with, unless they have a fuckton of legs, excessively long legs, or a nightmarish combination of those. That also explains my arachnophobia too, I guess. Some insects can also fly, which I hate because they get in your face and hair and ears, and with all those legs and wings, that's not cool at all.

Here is another good example of everything I detest about the Insecta class.

I have a phobia request, too: trypophobia, the fear of small holes. If this picture is horrible to look at, you've got it. Could you maybe make small holes scary for me? I'm afraid I don't understand this one at all.

 

I'd say stairs/ledges, though all things considered, I think that's a pretty rational concern for me.

Does paranoia count? Because I'm constantly kind of afraid someone is going to track me down and persecute me using my net activity/history. I can't think of a -phobia word off the top of my head to match that though.

 

I'd say stairs/ledges, though all things considered, I think that's a pretty rational concern for me.

Yeah, I wouldn't call that a phobia either, ledges are a reasonable thing to avoid when each one might as well be a cliff.

Does paranoia count? Because I'm constantly kind of afraid someone is going to track me down and persecute me using my net activity/history. I can't think of a -phobia word off the top of my head to match that though.

I think that's just a mild paranoia. Everyone feels that way about something. Well, I would, if I gave even a bit of a fuck.


Warning: side effects of not giving a fuck include laziness, anti-social tendencies, internet addiction, degraded appearance, pregnancy, low blood pressure, suicidal thoughts and four-hour erections. If any of these symptoms appear, see a doctor or someone else who will tell you to smarten the fuck up.

 

I have arachnophobia and, to a smaller degree, entomophobia.

1) Find an ants nest and show them who`s boss! If you comfront your fear it`ll totally disappear.

2) As for small holes, many have fear from them. Especially on their first real date. Joke aside, people might just fear something is in those holes. Like a snake or a rat. Comes from the state of insecurity, when you associate danger with many things you observe. Hole+insecurity=something is in the hole. Fear and insecurity can imagine danger everywhere. It already rendered nations, skin color or women dangerous (preachers of male dominance). These or just hunches tho, I`m not a psychiatrist...

 

I don't feel like looking up the fancy terms..but I have a fear of ghosts and paranormal shit..and also a fascination.

As far as trypophobia goes..I actually think that stuff is pleasing and fascinating to look at.

Oh yeah, and here is a little gift for Fab

Spoiler

Be glad you don't live in the American deserts

 

1) Find an ants nest and show them who`s boss! If you comfront your fear it`ll totally disappear.

Oddly enough, I'm fine with ants. Obviously no one wants them swarming all over one's skin, but having a couple on me would be fine. NOTE: ants are the ONLY bug this applies to.

2) As for small holes, many have fear from them. Especially on their first real date. Joke aside, people might just fear something is in those holes.[/QUOTE]

No, the fear encompasses porous surfaces like pumice and holes in people, like dental cavities. Don't go suggesting new ways to make this fear even worse.

I don't feel like looking up the fancy terms..but I have a fear of ghosts and paranormal shit..and also a fascination.

Phasmophobia, fear of ghosts. I couldn't find anything for the paranormal in general.

 

I was hoping you would have reacted to my lovely picture :c

 

I have an almost deathly fear of spiders. I see one, I almost piss myself. I see a huge one, I almost shit my pants. I just cannot stand spiders. I also have a fear of the paranormal, but I dont think you could call it a phobia so much as a natural reaction. I do love researching the paranormal, though, because of experiences in my life when I've seen things and felt things.

(On a side note, my dad and I have been considering doing an investigation of sorts in his apartment because we've both seen something. We're not really sure if you'd call it a ghost because it's not really something you can describe. It's just there. He actually talked to the landlord and figured out that the apartment he's in has actually had deaths in it before, so it should be pretty interesting.)

 

Pretty much the same as Fab regarding spiders and other creepies. I'm not sure I'm technically arachnophobic, since it's not like my chest seizes up upon seeing a huntsman, but I will not go to sleep until that fucker is either dead or put outside (usually by someone else in the household).

NOTE: ants are the ONLY bug this applies to.

Lady bugs :3 Also non-stingy caterpillars, flutterbyes, millipedes and silverfish. House flies are fine too, because they behave sensibly and don't fly/walk like they're on meth.

Additionally I have a fear of heights (acrophobia), but I'm filing that under "perfectly rational" (and again I'm not sure I have it that seriously).

 

Pretty much the same as Fab regarding spiders and other creepies. I'm not sure I'm technically arachnophobic, since it's not like my chest seizes up upon seeing a huntsman

You sly sonofabitch, you just had to tempt me with a hyperlink.
Thanks for the nightmares.

 

Although this may sound a bit odd, I'm terrified of not being in control of my own life.
Generally this manifests itself as claustrophobia when I can't get out. Like when someone locks the windows up in a car, or when I'm in an elevator.
Fuck elevators.

 

Although this may sound a bit odd, I'm terrified of not being in control of my own life.
Generally this manifests itself as claustrophobia when I can't get out. Like when someone locks the windows up in a car, or when I'm in an elevator.
Fuck elevators.

Verily.

 

You sly sonofabitch, you just had to tempt me with a hyperlink.
Thanks for the nightmares.

Huntsmen aren't actually that dangerous, they're just incredibly fugly, move really quickly and like to hide behind things.

Funnel-webs, on the other hand...

 

Huntsmen aren't actually that dangerous, they're just incredibly fugly, move really quickly and like to hide behind things.

Funnel-webs, on the other hand...

Shit, man, don't even get me started on Funnel-webs. When I was like 8 or 9, a friend of mine's dad used to collect exotic insects, Funnel-webs being one of them. He had it in this big tank full of dirt and bark and the like. I didn't realize it was in there, so i got up close to the glass and tapped to see if I could get some movement and the damn thing popped out against the glass. Damn near shat myself.

 

Most insects I'm alright with, unless they have a fuckton of legs.

Sorry to correct you, but I'm pretty sure insects can only have six legs.

Anyway, I don't have any phobias that I can think of right now.
Except, I'm slightly afraid of heights.

Edit: Lace's post reminded me, claustrophobia.

 

Sorry to correct you, but I'm pretty sure insects can only have six legs.

Anyway, I don't have any phobias that I can think of right now.
Except, I'm slightly afraid of heights.

Edit: Lace's post reminded me, claustrophobia.

Even if you had a actual phobia of heights, I'm not sure it could be called a phobia per se. I mean I doubt any human on the planet could stand like a million feet in the air, look straight down, and not feel even a tiny bit uneasy, so if anything, I think it's more of a natural thing.

 

Uncomfortable social situations? lol.

 

I'm having a hard time distinguishing what's a "fear" and what's a "phobia" for me. The major difference is that a phobia is an irrational level of fear, so based on that:

Public Transportation: I will absolutely not go on a bus unless I have to. I'd rather walk the 2k to buy a jug of Orange Juice at the supermarket. I am afraid that I will
a) miss my stop
b) have to sit next to somebody I don't know
c) have my things stolen by somebody
d) get stabbed or witness somebody else getting stabbed.

Rejection: I have an almost crippling fear that anything I say/do/think might cause everybody I know to shun me or otherwise think of me as anything other than "A pretty cool guy" so I carefully censor and regulate myself all the time always. ANYTHING that I think anyone else might think is a weakness/disgraceful behaviour I will avoid bringing up. Even this post is kind of difficult for me to write and I have erased it and started over three times already.

Forgetting: I'm not entirely sure if this counts as a phobia but I'm always afraid that I've forgotten something, so I check and double-check things all the time. The worst part is that I really DO forget things all the time so it's more or less gotten to the part where I initially assume there is something that I have forgotten and I have to assure myself that things are in order before I can move on. When I go to class sometimes in the hall I am suddenly terrified that I've forgotten what day of the week it is and that I'll be sitting down in some class I shouldn't be in and I'll miss ones that I should. I don't like, have a panic attack or anything but I do think that.

 

Pretty much the same as Fab regarding spiders and other creepies. I'm not sure I'm technically arachnophobic, since it's not like my chest seizes up upon seeing a huntsman, but I will not go to sleep until that fucker is either dead or put outside (usually by someone else in the household).

That sounds like a rational fear to me. If you were arachnophobic, well, you'd probably move out of the country (I don't think that's an overreaction).

Lady bugs :3 Also non-stingy caterpillars, flutterbyes, millipedes and silverfish. House flies are fine too, because they behave sensibly and don't fly/walk like they're on meth.

Christ, you can get millipedes in your house? Can we just evactuate Australia and nuke it from orbit?

Even if you had a actual phobia of heights, I'm not sure it could be called a phobia per se. I mean I doubt any human on the planet could stand like a million feet in the air, look straight down, and not feel even a tiny bit uneasy, so if anything, I think it's more of a natural thing.

That guy is not even a tiny bit uneasy.
Also, having a fear of heights is silly. I've never seen any problem with heights. Now falling, that's something to worry about.

Public Transportation: I will absolutely not go on a bus unless I have to. I'd rather walk the 2k to buy a jug of Orange Juice at the supermarket. I am afraid that I will
a) miss my stop
b) have to sit next to somebody I don't know
c) have my things stolen by somebody
d) get stabbed or witness somebody else getting stabbed.

I regularly use the bus, and only b) has ever happened to me. If a) happens, it just means a longer walk. And I have never even heard of d) happening on a city bus.
But walking is good exercise, good for you.

Rejection: I have an almost crippling fear that anything I say/do/think might cause everybody I know to shun me or otherwise think of me as anything other than "A pretty cool guy" so I carefully censor and regulate myself all the time always. ANYTHING that I think anyone else might think is a weakness/disgraceful behaviour I will avoid bringing up. Even this post is kind of difficult for me to write and I have erased it and started over three times already.

Good news: yes, that is completely irrational. People don't tend to like people with zero flaws.

 

I'm on the same tier as Fab and DT, spiders and most insects scare the shit out of me. Of course, common and small insects don't do this (ladybugs, butterflies, you get the picture), if it looks evil and it's a bug, don't give one to me for Christmas and we'll be cool.

My fear of spiders started on a weekend in the middle of the school year. I was cleaning my room, and found a pack of 5 gum that I knew had one piece left. I opened the box, barely noticing the little cobwebs on the edges, and as I was reaching in to grab the last piece, a spider (looked something like a Huntsman, about 1.3 inches in diameter w/ legs) jumped straight at me and landed somewhere on me (I still shudder to think where).
Of course, I spazmed like an idiot to try to get it off me, and eventually I saw it crawl under my bed, I never saw it again.

Now tell me that wouldn't have given you a healthy dose of major arachnophobia. The worst part? Oregon's 2nd most common spider is the black widow, and the 5th? Brown Recluse, maybe you've heard of it. The most poisonous and aggressive spider this side of Africa? Yeah, that one.

Also, i know this is going to sound weird, but I have this fear about something happening to my feet. Yeah, sounds pretty bizarre, until you think about it. In tandem with my fear of spiders, and it makes more sense. Like lying in bed, my feet are the furthest away from the rest of me, and I can't come close to touching my toes, so getting bitten by a spider in the feet/leg area is extra horrifying. Iirc it's a diagnosable phobia, I forget the name.

My other big one (which is less irrational) is a fear of what I can't see. Be it night time, under my bed, the 220° area outside my field of vision in a horror game, it creeps me out.

@Noxid I'd venture to say that none of the major users here hate me, many of them even like me, and I make a complete fool of myself on a regular basis here. Being perfect is for losers.