To ask what your phobias are?

[squishymamma]

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...)

@unicornpower Yes! snakes here too. I even hate the word.
I think it's because they move without legs - urghhhh

And definitely clowns: I have always found them sinister and terrifying.

Turkey meat. Red wine. And bath plug holes

Mine is weird. I’m terrified of hot air balloons. I’ve never been in one, just seeing them in the sky I totally panic and it makes me feel sick and faint. Luckily you don’t see them that often where I live, but my family live in Florida so when I go over there I see loads of them! Feel a bit sick just thinking about it🙈

[quote Springhassprung33]@FrightorFlight It might help to know that hornets (UK ones anyway) are a lot less aggressive than wasps and their sting is no worse even though they are a lot bigger.
Weirdly though they are attracted to lights at night just like moths.[/quote]
I used to work/live in the middle of nowhere and there was a nest of them in a local stables. At night I'd be sat in the stairway of the flat on the pay phone and would just hear this buzzing getting louder and louder as one figured out how to get in. The sight of the mouse sized stripy bastard coming towards me was terrifying!
Didn't help that I was on the phone to my dad who thought I was being murdered as I screamed, dropped the phone and legged it

Heights here too.

I went up Mount Snowdon last year (thought I could manage the route I spent hours researching) and embarrassingly had a massive panic attack which meant an hour's wait for the dc and my friend (dc are adult and teenager) while a lovely stranger tried to calm me down.

The stupid thing is I keep trying to overcome it, because it's so bloody annoying, but I keep failing.

Honestly. Children were skipping up and down that bloody path and there was me, a grown arse woman clinging onto a tiny bit of rock and hyperventilating and shaking. One guy muttered "Well why the fuck did you try and walk up a mountain then?" as he went past and frankly I couldn't have agreed more with him.

The triumph of optimism stupidity over wisdom.

Buttons, especially white or cream buttons, but any buttons, really. I have managed to avoid buying clothes with buttons for me for many years. I also don't cope well with heights.

Spiders.

And accidentally touching someone's leftover food with my bare hand when clearing up after dinner not envy!

I've just been looking at phobias online (and scaring myself as actually I'm afraid if a lot of things!) and I think I have cleithrophobia (fear of being trapped) rather than claustrophobia. If I'm somewhere with a window I might be okay.

Balloons
I have physical reactions to them
Unpredictable fuckers

I hate it when someone picks at their eyebrows. When someone does it in a meeting I have to look away When I told DH he thought I was bonkers but agreed to not do it in front of me as it makes my toes curl.

Cannot bear birds anywhere near me, especially pigeons. Nasty swoopy, flappy things. Too many of them where we live. Hate them, they give me the shudders.

DD has a phobia of dogs. Dog owners just don't seem to understand when you tell them you're afraid of their seemingly sweet cuddly little dog that probably wouldn't harm a fly, but that's the thing with phobias - it often appears entirely irrational to anyone but another sufferer.

Buttons and even jus the word
Loose buttons in a tin...eugh cringe
One or two lying around - awful as well
Dont mind them sewn onto clothing...its the stray ones that haunt me.....and Tins of them (usually in an old chocolate or biscuit tin)
Teeth on edge every time

I have Emetophobia/SPOV (specific phobia of vomiting) like you OP. I'm very severely affected by it and my contamination-based OC-disorder. I have what other people would consider to be Agoraphobia as a result of my Emetophobia.

Heights. I start shaking and my hands go all clammy and I can't continue on walks or take part in activities.

More weirdly, dancing. Rather, being made to dance. If I'm at a social event and someone tries to get me to go up and dance it makes me feel really anxious. If everyone else starts getting up to dance I start to get the real fear that I'm going to be made to as well and often have to leave. The thought of being forced to dance in front of people honestly makes me feel ill.

Flying. It’s saved me a lot of money over the years!

I also have a much milder phobia of moths and craneflies (daddy long legs or is it daddies long legs? haha).

@ExpensiveCinemaTrips

Severe emetophobia like you, OP.

So bad I never had children. I've tried everything to beat it but nothing has. In many ways it's ruined my life (always wanted kids).

Horrific phobia.

You're so right ExpensiveCinemaTrips. I think the it's possible that Agoraphobia, Emetophobia and phobia of blood are in a league of their own when it comes to phobias, just in terms of the degree of disability that they cause in more severe cases. In fact I think some psychiatrists have suggested that Emetophobia may be better categorized as a type of OCD.

I have milder phobias alongside the Emetophobia and they seem so specific compared to those but I guess other people may disagree with that!

Clowns and puppets/dummies, especially ventriloquist dummies and Punch and Judy type puppets. Clowns are the worst though, I can't even look at a picture of one without getting all panicked.
Claustrophobia, narrow spaces terrify me.
Heights, I get vertigo and feel like I need to lie on the floor even seeing people on high buildings or high cliff tops etc on TV

@pinkstripeycat

I don’t see emetophobiaad irrational. I have it and I’m terrified of getting a bug, can’t stand the noise, smell and feeling of being sick or the noise, smell of anyone else being sick. To me, that’s not irrational at all.

I sort of agree pinkstripeycat (I'm severely emetophobic too) but at the extreme end of the phobia you end up avoiding a huge range of situations, in case someone is sick and that it unreasonable, especially as actually stomach bugs are a relatively rare occurrence (e.g. even people who aren't that careful with hand hygiene usually have one every 2/3 years).

• Irrational, not unreasonable

@JerkintheMerkin

Kinemortophobia. I know zombies are not real but I have a thing about dead things really needing to stay that way.

Is this a phobia that everyone has or do you have a much more extreme reaction to references to zombies and things?

Clowns for me- even kids dressed as clowns are going to come and murder me- so stupid 😂 also the funnier they look the more it freaks me out so IT for example doesn't get to me as much as a 4 year old dressed as a 'cute' clown would!

I don't like bridges over motorways/dual carriageways. Or driving over big bridges eg Thelwall viaduct, Severn Bridge, Erskine Bridge or the elevated bit of the M5 at Exeter. Mixture of being scared of heights and I am not sure what.

@FastFood

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.

This is really interesting. If I go for a run and it takes me over a high bridge (eg over a dual carriageway) I have to cling onto the carrybelt with my phone in as well. What on earth is that? Why do we need to cling onto our things?

Lightning, I can't see a flash without going full into the fetal position. I will not drive if I know storms are forecast as I don't trust myself to keep control of the car.

Also not keen on high exposed bridges, especially over water. Dartford Bridge and the Orwell Bridge in Suffolk being the worst offenders. Cannot drive over either of them.