Phobias

[Ivogoji]

What are you guys afraid of?

When I was a child I had a deep and panic-inducing terror of locked doors. It wasn't claustrophobia or anything space related like that, it was the idea of being trapped somewhere, unable to control when I can leave or where I can go. I always made sure the door to a room was unlocked after I entered, and if I could, left the door hanging wide open. There were a few occasions as a young child where I was locked up alone and had no way of getting out, which were rather traumatic. I don't know if it was one of those instances that lead to my fear of locked doors in the first place or if it only exacerbated the existing discomfort. Even being locked outside of a place I'd normally have no problem getting into scared me; one time we got locked out of our house, and I felt extremely helpless to the point of panic, then my dad fed me through a window to go unlock the door from the inside (... which just meant I traded being locked outside for being locked inside:P). I have similar memories of being locked inside of cars- which oddly didn't usually bother me that much- and squeezing my way out the passenger seat window, in circumstances that escape me at the moment. That happened several different times...

Eventually I got over that particular fear, though I still dislike being unable to control where I can or cannot go. In high school I often ignored rules to that effect and went to whatever place I felt like whenever I felt like, regardless of who said otherwise. In college this problem never comes up as students basically have free reign to wander around so long as they don't bother the many construction workers on campus.

Other things that frighten me include being infiltrated by worms or other internal parasites, boats that run out of gas on the open sea, spiders, the Incinerator Drone boss in Metroid Prime, public speaking, and nuclear war... and carnies. (Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands.)

But not clowns. I have a cousin who's an experienced clown, and he and his colleagues are harmless, upstanding individuals who have done little to earn the demonization people in their line of work are typically subject to. Clowning is a respectable profession with a rich history of providing the public with laughter and joy, and should be held in the highest esteem (unlike those duplicitous, unhygienic carnies...).

[Snowy]

I'm afraid of the dark... Mostly because I feel like my favorite sense (vision) is blocked off.

I'm also afraid of possessed dolls/toys. *glares at TD*

I'm also sorta afraid of Fire...

I'm also afraid of home intruders and strangers.

I'm also afraid of heights and flying on planes.

[ShadriaFan]

Darkness (pure darkness, I like dim lighting though)
Spiders and other arachnids
Clowns (never...ever...let a 5 year old see IT ;m;)
Dolls (especially old and/or porcelain dolls.....thank you Child's Play and Dolls)
Strange sounds without a known source (most of the time it's my own imagination going after me by making me think I hear voices/footsteps/car engines outside or inside my house at night)
Invading people/animals/ect
Heights
Unbalanced places, such as old buildings with poor flooring, boats, grates, ect

[EvilPinkamina]

The time before I fall asleep when I'm just laying in my bed in the dead silence and darkness, just given time to think. That's the scariest thing ever.

[wic.]

No phobias per se, but if I'm unmedicated a lot of things scare me because of anxiety. Like, I don't like to be alone, or I'm scared of people leaving.

[Nano]

I wouldn't say I have a "phobia" or anything as serious as that, but I have maybe mild cases of said phobia. Like, I'm not terrified of the dark to the point of breaking down and crying or anything, but I'm scared of it and it makes me nervous. I really don't like spiders, but I wouldn't say they make me freeze and panic.

I do experience this odd thing with trypophobia though (The fear of small holes). I get goosebumps and mildly uncomfortable whenever I see pictures like it. I think it's a bit silly, but it can't be helped haha.

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

When I was young, I was afraid of heights, but I grew out of that by the time I was in highschool.

When my vision first started failing, I feared that I would never get to see the face of my future children, a possibility that I think I've come to terms with.

Now, I would say my main fears are:
My fiancée getting hurt, especially if it occurs under circumstances where I could've helped if our respective situations didn't have us roughly 170 miles apart.
My fiancée leaving me.
Never being a father.

[Aruesso]

idk if i have anything that could be considered as an actual phobia? well, maybe

being anywhere high up and not necessarily being indoors (i.e. rooftop with just railing) typically messes with me bad, though i can be in an apartment high up and not really mind

i also have a general fear of moving around in the dark alone, and especially looking out windows at night. i sometimes lock up until i can force myself to retreat to a well-lit area

even as much as i find machinery really fascinating, sometimes i get horrible intrusive thoughts which also leads to some occasional fear of me or someone else getting shredded in some horrible accident

though honestly i can be afraid of anything if i think about it hard enough, but i'm sure a lot of others could as well

while not necessarily phobia related, i occasionally go through episodes where i think i am just going to suddenly die by unknown means despite being somewhere entirely safe. it's not very fun
also occasional disassociating sucks

[MarkeySpirit]

I'm usually only scared of something if it's really subtle. If it's not subtle I may find it unnerving, but that's about it. Everything in my opinion is much scarier when it's shrouded in mystery. The only thing that I don't really find scary that's a huge mystery is death, because it has to happen sometime, and it happens to everyone. Death itself isn't very scary to me.

[Blasphemy]

I'll just quote myself from a different topic:

Since phobias go under this umbrella, I also have a phobia of insects, arachnids, and death, all of them being pretty bad. I can't look at pictures of insects and arachnids without screeching and being really upset for a while. After seeing a bug in the house, I feel really unsafe in it and sometimes can't go to sleep if it happens at night. Once I had an odd fear of really long words, though it went away eventually. I'm not sure where that came from.

While these aren't phobias, I'm not very fond of the dark (I don't like not knowing my surroundings or the thought of something jumping out at me) and high places. I prefer to stay on the ground. Ever since I was 11 or 12, I have had a pretty bad fear of tornadoes, to the point I still have frequent nightmares about them.

[ZeroAlpha]

● Uncertain if this would really count as a phobia, but up until I was seven years old I was always afraid of certain types of dolls - in particular, a couple I always kept in my room that was part of a set given to me by one of my grandmothers before she passed away. I tended to have recurring nightmares about them because I found them creepy-looking, and would always hide them in my closet to avoid having to look at them. I had no problems with them during the day time, though.

● On the actual phobia list is a fear of insects that aren't ladybugs, walking leaves, or fireflies. Arachnids used to be a part of the list, but I don't mind scorpions anymore and actually used to be fascinated by some spiders.

● Drowning/deep water.

● Getting lost out in the open by myself.

[Xeno]

As far as I know, I don't have an actual phobia. I do, however, get unnerved by some things, such as: people with transferable illnesses and diseases, getting shocked, erratic, dissonant, and eerie electronic sounds and textures (e.g., this or even this), and the unknown.

[MollyFairyOfWeather]

I'm not a fan of unstable areas where i could easily fall. Rusty grates, run-down buildings, high places with low railings, those freaking really-high-twisting-highways near cities like dallas...
Also, I hate venomous animals. Snakes, bugs, certain frogs...ugh.

But most of all, music like that posted by Xeno. A minute into the crazy bus one I felt lightheaded and ready to vomit and had to turn it off, and i had to play through that part of SPM with the music off as well. Could anyone maybe tell me what that's about? I can understand music making me uncomfortable, but a physical effect? Seems odd.

[Pastaa~Chao]

Stairs, but only very narrow ones with chain railings.

[ChaoBreeder2440]

Claustrophobia I guess. If I were to get stuck somewhere and not be able to get out, I would probably freak out and panic, even if someone was around to help me. I hate really tight spaces or tight spaces that enclose, such as car trunks or closets, because of that. I had a very hard time watching the movie 127 Hours.

Coulrophobia too probably, but only to the point of being very uncomfortable around them. It's mostly because when I was young my brothers would shut me in their room with them and have me watch Twisted Metal cinematics. And when I was young I chose to watch the movie It with my cousins. I was told "If you watch it, you're not allowed to leave the room", so since I didn't want to be left out and I didn't know what it was about, I decided to try watching it.

I also know someone with Androphobia, and that person literally can't stand being near anyone that's a male for anything more than a minute. It's worse than them just being uncomfortable around males, they're afraid of them. I can't see that person getting any help either, so I really worry for them.

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

^From what I've seen, proper psychiatric help is hard to come by regardless of one's mental condition. More often than not, it seems like one is more likely to be ridiculed for being different or drugged into what some want to enforce as normal rather than receive the help they need to mitigate the undesirable aspects of one's psychology without having to give up what makes them unique.

@Molly: Psychosomatic is the term for when a psychological reaction is so strong that it causes physical symptoms to manifest. As I understand it, not even the people who study psychology for a living have a good understanding of the phenomenon, and its not uncommon for the physical symptoms to make no sense.

[Flame]

I used to think I was afraid of heights, but that was just the High Place Phenomenon.

I'm TERRIFIED of spiders, because arachnophobia.

[krzys2]

Fear of height, i live on second floor its normal for me, but higher than third i fell scared...( if i dont see the big height i fell alright tho)
P.S: dont ever want to go anywhere by plane