What is your strange phobia/fear?

[jonesyyy]

Following on from a thread where OP doesn't like wind turbines.

For me I can't stand walking past high buildings. I get so dizzy and frightened!

Almost passed out once as a child walking past Blackpool Tower..

@DropOfffArtiste me too. Polystyrene, can’t stand the squeak of it. Also meringues for the same squeak and wobbly teeth.

My teeth falling out. Linked with anxiety (which I don't suffer from generally). I'm starting a new job tomorrow and had to make a dental appointment last week just to check that they were all in place. It's always been a recurring dream, which is common enough, but in my case it carries over into waking hours. I've never even had anything done other than a small filling!

dead flowers it makes me shudder when I have to empty the vase and theyre a bit dead ugh and getting hair out of the shower drain that makes me retch and it my hair

Ostriches, those drain holes in reservoirs, where the excess water goes.

I have a fear of water coming up out of the toilet, so any toilet with a blockage freaks me out. Also, toilets with tanks high above them with a chain flush.

Birds, particularly pigeons and chickens but all birds really 😝😝😝

Agree with scary reservoir drain holes. They are terrifying.
Empty swimming pools scare me too.

My DH recently admitted he hates it when I leave the loofah/lilly/scrub puff thing in the bottom of the bath as he has nightmares that a spider will lay eggs in them.

Birds, but I think that's quite common, so not really strange.

I had several sessions of CBT for it (it was so bad that I thought I might have to give up driving - the urge to duck every time a pigeon or seagull flew towards the windscreen was becoming almost impossible to resist). It's much better now, but I still can't be in a room where a budgie is loose and even in cage I feel sick and panicky when they flap their wings.

I passed out in a shop once because I hadn't noticed a parrot on a perch until it squawked and flapped near me (it was a very dark and cluttered antique shop and I'd just walked in from very bright sunlight). I had to cross the road if there were pigeons on the pavement and could rarely eat outdoors because little sparrows would come along and bob about looking for crumbs. When I stayed at a holiday cottage that had a stuffed bird in a glass case, my BF had to hide it in a wardrobe because it was making me feel really sick and panicky. I couldn't walk along a seafront, as seagulls absolutely terrified me (I'm still scared of them, they're mean looking fuckers and HUGE).

Oddly, I've always loved to watch birds out of doors, as long as I'm inside and they can't get in, and owls are one of my favourite things. And I'd love to have a go at falconry if I ever get over my phobia totally, raptors are fantastic.

I recommend CBT for anyone with a disabling phobia, it's been life changing for me. I think I would have been virtually housebound by now without it.

Mine is cement. You read all these stories about protesters cementing themselves to things and it just makes me feel sick.

Also have a very specific fear of bridges- I don't like new ones over roads, or any kind with mesh/holes in. All others I'm fine with.

Anything with wings. Birds, butterflies, moths, bats, anything that flaps.

I think it's the unpredictability of them.

I cannot go to city centres because of the pigeons. I properly HATE them and really wish they would all just die out.

Magicians. I just feel like they're all really creepy people! I don't know why! From David Bkane to kids parties - something really sinister about them, I hate the outfits and the smarmy air they have! Crazy I know.

I wonder how many of these are seated in a past life in so.e way, especially all the boat/dry dock/ rust related ones.
OK that's enough woo for one day, Christina 🙈 Not normally my thing but it just came into my head as I read a couple!

Hills. I always think that walking up a hill I’ll fall backwards and break my neck, think that walking down a hill I’ll slip and break my tail bone/back.

Large boats, think it’s linked to watching speed 2 as a child. The just seem really overbearing and scary.

Choking. I watched my younger sibling almost choke to death on something so now I’m terrified of anybody eating. It’s actually quite a big issue for me, I watch DD like a hawk when she eats and have an absolute melt down if she takes a massive bite.

Knee caps.
(just the very thought of them wobbling about makes me go funny)

Barnacles on whales
I hate clusters of things, holes, mushrooms, etc.
Makes me want to vomit.
I saw a photo years and years ago of a hedgehog covered in ticks, they looked like whites balls on it. It still pops into my head now 🤢

Crocs, not the animals the shoes. I don't know what it is but if I see them I feel physically sick and I couldn't touch one. If someone forced me I would have to scrub my hands with bleach and would probably have nightmares for months. Totally irrational I know, especially compared to some very valid fears on here!

Not liking things is not the same as a phobia.
I don’t like rats or mice or any other little rodent things but I’m not scared of them.
A phobia is an irrational fear so things that you are supposed to be scared of are not phobias.

Belly buttons make me feel ill.

Toilets - I can only use specific toilets no matter how much I need the loo. If I’m somewhere with more than one toilet I check all of them and decide if I can use any. If I can use one I have to use the same one every time.

Peoples heads under water - if I see someone’s head under the water it makes me have a panic attack, it makes me feel like I can’t breathe.

Anything being put through the letterbox - I guess it’s the fear of the unknown. For many years we were really struggling financially and with that it would bring lots of bills being chased. Over the years the phobia of post/stuff coming through the letterbox just got worse.

I do have GAD and have previously spoken to my therapist about the above and I’m a lot calmer than I used to be about them.

Hair in the bath. I have long, very thick hair, and I’m sure I shed 1,000 strands a day. When it’s dry I’m fine, but if I’m in the bath, and it floats in the water, and hereby stuck to my arm or leg, or getting out of the shower and it’s stuck on my back- it makes me feel sick and yucky. I know that’s stupid but 🤷🏻‍♀️. I have actually met 3 other people who experience it in the same way too, so I know I’m not alone!

@jonesyyy I have the same phobia, which has a name. It is called Megalophobia www.verywellmind.com/megalophobia-2671869
I also have a phobia of being trapped/constricted. This was made very real when I ran Tough Mudder over 4 years ago. There was an obstacle called "birth canal" where you had to crawl on your belly with a plastic sheet filled with water is pushing down on you. I got stuck half-way along and started to panic. I had to force myself to call out for help from my friend who I was running with, as I knew that going into complete panic mode would not help me out of this. Eventually I got out with the help of other Mudders who helped to pull me through. Picture below.

Bertie Bassett. Not the cute one now, the one from the 80s/90s

Backless outside steps you shouldn't be able to see the view I always think Im going to plunge to my death!

Large, low moons which are kind of yellow in colour. Happens a few times a year. I can't look at the moon when it's like that, it feels like it's falling it out of the sky.

Butterflies. Lovely to look at outside but in enclosed spaces in butterfly houses....nope. I break out in a cold sweat

Leek and potato soup.. The thought of it sends a shiver down my spine and I just can't be around it.