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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what your phobias are?

215 replies

squishymamma · 31/03/2022 21:36

I have emetophobia - it's the irrational fear of vomit. It's not so severe as others have it, but it means that I get mild panic attacks when others throw up, and even worse when people feel nauseous and might be sick (it's the anticipation that's the worst). As you can imagine with 2 young DC in the middle of tummy bug season I'm quite the nervous wreck atm! Luckily DH takes our DC when they're ill...

My family know about this as I've had it ever since being really young, but I was talking to DM the other day and she mentioned she had a phobia of bees and wasps. I was amazed I didn't know that already, and it got me thinking that maybe more people have phobias than I realise.

So does anyone out there have a phobia they want to share? As serious or as lighthearted as you want (this thread is one of my ways of coping!)

PS yes, I am seeking therapy, no, it's not the same as not liking it when people throw up, and no, it's not different when it's your own DC. Sadly. (all common responses I get when I tell people about this...)

OP posts:
Happymum12345 · 31/03/2022 23:51

Flamingos- their colour and I’m sure their legs could snap at any moment!

LoveMyPiano · 31/03/2022 23:54

Oh - and Tunnels!

Missreginafalange · 31/03/2022 23:58

Peas, can't even look at them on the telly or those shopping bags I have to escape out of the way if someone has one...

Also hate it if someone is wet (hands or just got out of the bath/shower) and tries to come near me before they are completely dry, not a phobia though.

EveSix · 01/04/2022 00:01

Not quite a phobia, but an irrationally panicked response to being offered to taste a spoonful of something, or someone proffering a morsel of food toward my mouth. DP is a great cook and will sometimes turn around and offer me a taste of whatever he's preparing, and I just feel like howling and running away. DC2 tried to put a piece of cracker in my mouth during a movie at Christmas, and I inadvertently shoved them off the sofa while standing up abruptly as it caught me unawares.

Ludoole · 01/04/2022 00:05

Ladybirds. No idea why or where it came from. I remember as a very young child one walked over my hand and I licked my hand afterwards.
Over 40 years later the sight of one can reduce me to tears and bring that godawful taste back into my mouth.
I avoid them where possible and my family will move them before I see them.

Cocycola · 01/04/2022 00:06

Earthworms Sad Sad . They make me feel faint and my insides start churning when I see one. The way they move turns my stomach.

Flyinglemur · 01/04/2022 00:09

I am not sure if this is a phobia but polystyrene. Urgh. I can’t touch it, I can’t bear the sound it makes when people remove it from packaging or open those polystyrene take away boxes. Fortunately it’s a less popular packaging material than it used to be. Typing this makes me feel a bit sick.

I also can’t bear rubber balloons (foil helium balloons are fine), but rubber balloons especially when they are rubbed against something or the sound they make when they land on carpet makes the hairs on my back stand up on end.

And slightly more conventionally, rats.

Pidgeonton · 01/04/2022 00:23

Koumpounophobia - button phobia.

Even typing that word makes me feel sick and disgusted. The clothing type of them. I've had this since I was a young child and it's always been with me. I can't stand to see them, or touch them, or think about them.

However, metal ones I am fine with, it's the plastic ones, especially on shirts Shock

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 01/04/2022 01:02

Not so much a phobia more the fact that it makes my skin crawl.

Paper straws
Wet cellophane
Used scrunched up discarded covid masks.
Dead Spiders. As you'll probably gather from !my username I adore spiders However Dead ones freak me out. .

Sapphireskies · 01/04/2022 01:19

I have ranidaphobia- fear of frogs and toads they really freak me out and have down since very young. I also have monophobia- the fear of being alone

buttercrinkle · 01/04/2022 01:20

Spiders.

I used to have a phobia of needles but I'm over that now.

unicornpower · 01/04/2022 02:18

Snakes- can’t look at pictures, watch them on TV or go anywhere near them! I feel sick and start trembling before passing out

Original poster
squishymamma · 01/04/2022 02:46

@CiciLapin I have heard that having children has helped others, so don't give up all hope! Smile it just hasn't worked for me (yet), but then I've not had to deal with it alone without DH so maybe it's not been effective 'exposure therapy'. Hope your birth goes well, I didn't vomit or even feel nauseous for either of mine so crossing fingers you have a similar experience!

OP posts:
WanderingFruitWonderer · 01/04/2022 02:54

I'm claustrophobic. I know that's a common one.
More unusually, and this is going to sound crazy, but I'm phobic of certain words and sounds. I can't possibly write the words that horrify me down. If I was to accidentally chance upon them in a book or newspaper or something I'd have a visceral reaction. Or if someone said them to me, or I overheard someone saying them, I'd literally have to have a bath or shower to 'wash them off'. It's a phobia, but also a debilitating form of OCD. I'm too embarrassed about it to seek help Blush

JocastaElastic · 01/04/2022 05:12

Peas.

FangsForTheMemory · 01/04/2022 05:19

Insects. It’s the legs. I can’t even look at photos. Also deep fast-flowing water, it makes me dizzy.

WhatInFreshHell · 01/04/2022 05:41

Balloons 🙈🙈🙈

Shoxfordian · 01/04/2022 05:59

@WanderingFruitWonderer Don’t be embarrassed; your GP or therapist will be able to help you with coping mechanisms and won’t make you feel bad about it - it’s not your fault, nothing to be embarrassed about

Back to the phobias; I don’t like spiders- not too bad with smaller ones but anything big is not ok. Not a fan of daddy long legs either - flying spiders - I know they’re not spiders but they look the same to me.

Also weirdly don’t like spiral staircases; they make me feel very uncomfortable when I can’t see the way out or they’re very narrow

CockSpadget · 01/04/2022 06:05

The sea/ocean, not in general, but when I see images or videos of deep underwater (or even think about it) I feel sick and panicky. It's the way it turns into black endlessness (and not just towards the bottom, from all sides).

ImplementingTheDennisSystem · 01/04/2022 06:14

Public speaking and not being able to access a toilet when I need to.
And obviously a speech infront of an audience incorporates both phobias - yey! Confused

VaVaVoombangabang · 01/04/2022 06:40

Fish, anything to do with fish, dead or alive.

I cannot go in open water (although I can swim but only in pools) as there will be fish in the water no matter how big or small.

Cannot eat/cook touch fish, cannot pick up even frozen fish in shops to buy, will not sit anywhere near anyone having fish in a restaurant, ponds in gardens scare me, carp, goldfish anything......cannot stand near as I know they will jump out for me, just me, terrifying cannot even watch them on TV or a film, have to close my eyes.

Rubyupbeat · 01/04/2022 06:47

The dark, I literally cannot describe the terror inside me if I am ever in a situation where lights go out.
Also, clusters of holes or bumps, my whole body turns to jelly.

safclass · 01/04/2022 08:08

Gephyrophobia - the fear of going over bridges, but specifically, for me, ones with water under them. If a passenger, it's eyes shut and feet lifted up, as a driver slightly better, look forward, feet on pedals. I can walk over them more comfortably but not at the edge, can't look over and down.
Large open water, wide rivers, the sea, flooded river/fields.
And
23:23, or 11:23. I know it's not a phobia as such but for some reason it illicits a very negative response in me.
Has been suggested I died at 23:23 by crashing off a bridge with water under it 😉

Greatoutdoors · 01/04/2022 08:10

Wobbly teeth. I can faint if a child comes and shows me one. I was a shit tooth fairy.

FastFood · 01/04/2022 08:36

I'm very scared at walking on bridges. I guess its a mix of fear of height and water and some silly impulsions to jump.
Makes me really uneasy. Weirdly I have a grand total of zero problem crossing a bridge on my bike, but walking is making me nervous.
I always cling to my bag, my phone, and I'm unable to take a picture of the view from a bridge, because my phone has to stay as close to my body as possible, and my body has to stay as far away from the railing as possible.
I generally take my glasses off when walking on a bridge, so I can't really see my surroundings.