Do you have a phobia? Wanna tell us about it?

[LeftyMom]

Don't worry if it's a weird one, my son is afraid of cows.

[Tripper11]

1. Snakes...hands down....SSssssssnakes!!!!!

I appreciate their place in our world, I was fascinated by them as a kid, did a project on boa's in grade 4...but being near them, touching...fuggetabouit!!!!

[LeftyMom]

4. That seems like a common one.

My Dad had a Burmese Python when I was a kid, so they don't bother me.

[SPKrazy]

2. well, i'm a recovering

social phobe... it's a hell of a lot better than it used to be, i still break into a sweat in large crowds :scared: but it's cool (or hot)

i also as many of you know, am not fond of CLOWNS but I've done better with that lately too!

:hi:

[LeftyMom]

5. I have a hard time with small social groups.

One on one is fine. Large groups, fine. Say 3-6 people? :scared: I don't do cliques well.

[SPKrazy]

51. Hmmmm

that's interesting

I don't like LARGE groups, crowded places particularly, I don't avoid them necessarily, but i don't go there unless i have to.

[LeftyMom]

63. I've spoke in front of thousands of people. No problem.

I don't like the more milling sorts of crowds like at large parties, but that's just because my hearing trouble makes it tough for me to hear with that sort of background noise.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Cancer

That's about it. I used to be afraid of the dark, but then I had a nervous breakdown a few years back and was miraculously cured of that! :o

But cows, I like them lots :)

[LeftyMom]

7. Cancer's not a phobia. Cancer is a rational thing to be afraid of.

Cows are cool. They scare LK because they're so much bigger than him, and they have really big tongues.

[bicentennial_baby]

9. No, I mean my hypochondria

Which is very real and completely cancer-focused....And not *that* rational for me, as I have no risk factors other than smoking, really. And the funny thing is that lung cancer isn't one of the ones I'm afraid of... :shrug:

[LeftyMom]

12. Oh, hypochondria is another story.

:hug:

[Roon]

19. Bush is scared of horses

eom

[SPKrazy]

10. I have healed you!

I am ed-coli

miracles do happen :shrug:


edward coli and i approve this message

:rofl:

[bicentennial_baby]

11. whatever, Clown Lover

:eyes:

[SPKrazy]

22. whatever foodie!

rachael ray lover!


:rofl:


:P

[bicentennial_baby]

24. Oh, you B-word...

:o

I turn my back on you now, Edward....

:rofl:

That hurt! :(

[SPKrazy]

31. wha?

no front?

only back?

:rofl:



:evilgrin:

I'm ed coli and I will HURT if I am ...... never mind :shrug:

[bicentennial_baby]

39. Slut...

:eyes:


:rofl:


:spank:

Edward....

[SPKrazy]

48. yeh? so wha?

biotch!

:rofl:

I own you!

:evilgrin:

gimme yer feeties!

ed

[bicentennial_baby]

90. just try and get em! ha!

you can't catch meeeeee!

:yoiks:

[MAGICBULLET]

6. heights

ohhh boy, I can't even get on ladders without a serious case of the shakes. I'm fine on an airplane though. Is that freeky?

[LeftyMom]

8. No, I'm the same way.

I think what it is that whatever trigger gets set off in my brain doesn't recognize an airplane as being high because it's so high up. I feel it start to kick in when the plane drops a bit on a current during turbulence, but it just lasts a second.

[Omphaloskepsis]

14. I'm the same way.. Standing on a chair scares the shit out of me.

I'm fine in a airplane or tall building.

[MAGICBULLET]

17. yeah

tall buildings are fine too as long as I stay at least 5 feet away from any ledge.

[MnFats]

52. heights, me too. just this feeling of unease..

...we sometimes visit the bluff country around here and it makes me a little dizzy to look over the side. strangely, i worry most about the others....kids esp.....that they're going to fall....

[Danger Mouse]

13. WASPS. I fucking HATE wasps.

I freak out if a wasp or hornet or yellow jacket comes near me. I will shriek or yell and start jumping around. I get a lot of them in my bedroom too, so I always keep a can of Raid handy. I've killed so many wasps right now that I'm practically genocidal, but I am totally, totally afraid of them. I just cannot be in the same room as a wasp without freaking out.

[SiobhanClancy]

69. The mere sight of a wasp makes my blood run cold..

They even LOOK evil:(

[Danger Mouse]

88. YES THEY DO...

omg...flying around with their legs hanging down...glistening and black...ugh...

[LostinVA]

94. They do!

Bumblebees and hornets are kinda fat and round. But WASPS???

[fizzgig]

78. i'll protect you from the wasps

just as long as you take care of the moths.

deal?

[Danger Mouse]

89. sure, love

but i won't kill moths :P i'll just put them outside.
however, all wasps must DIIIIIE...well...just get them out of my sight, it's okay if you want to spare the little bastards...

[SmokingJacket]

15. Claustrophobia!

Small, inescapable spaces make me hyperventilate.

[Parche]

16. Phobia

My phobia is when Leftymom has a post about phobia's............:rofl: :hi:

[Roon]

18. It used to be speaking in front of large crowds

but as I talk the crowd will laugh and that really puts me at ease. I just need to make that first step and start talking.

[supernova]

20. Slight social phobia

fear of large groups.... I used to be the first one outside for "air." when in reality a large group, like a party, felt very oppressive. Too may emotions, conversations, and bodies all at once.

I'm better than I used to be, I've learned to practice relaxation techniques in those situations now, but I still feel overwhelmed and over stimulated from time to time.


edit: My preferred socializing style is in small groups or one on one.

[GenDem]

21. Social phobia

I'm kind of a big contradiction because I am around people all the time in my many jobs, but I'm very uncomfortable in large social event situations -- like wedding receptions or any large gatherings with a crowd.

[SPKrazy]

23. I can relate, I'm able to function at work

around people, speak, etc.

but on a personal level, take off the work mask, and it's much harder

it's gotten better, but it's still there at a level of discomfort that is difficult at time.

:hi:

[lizerdbits]

34. I'm the same way.

I have no problem speaking up in meetings etc but in larger groups outside work I'm a little uncomfortable. I usually just try to stick with a couple people who know me. I'm a little weird and it's pretty obvious so I just avoid people who don't appreciate my strangeness.

[SPKrazy]

57. I'm weird, but ...

well maybe I do look weird :silly:

but I don't particularly look unconventional or anything despite the fact that I am rather unconventional about a lot of things.

for me it's all about roles, and different "hats" or masks of a sort, I can become the role rather than me and I can deal. If I have to be me, it's harder. It is however 75% easier than it was say, 20 years ago. :shrug:

age, experience, therapy, and even medications have helped in that regard

:hi:

[lizerdbits]

60. I don't look weird

I should rephrase that to say it's obvious after talking to me for a few minutes. Most of my immediate family is like that too so I'm perfectly comfortable with them. I think for me it's more a dislike of small talk/fake people than a phobia. Large groups seem to have a higher proportion of them. I'd just rather hang out with my cat than most people.

[SPKrazy]

61. Yeah, fake people

plastic smiles, creepy really

:shrug:

:hi:

[GenDem]

43. My comfort level at work,

I believe, is because it is MY turf, and I feel completely in control.

Big, loud, boisterous, parties make me feel anxious. I don't mind small informal groups.

I think I've gotten better, too. I do, however, chose what events I'm willing to subject myself to. Giving myself permission to not attend something that I may feel uncomfortable at has given me a lot of peace of mind. :pals:




:hug:

[SPKrazy]

58. Yes, I have to watch myself

that I don't become a hermit, because I could easily not do a lot of things, and become avoidant.

But feeling I don't have to do everything that comes along is freedom.

I still really hate some situations.

Loud parties? depends. If it's broad daylight, it's a different situation and I'm more likely to want to avoid it than if it's at night.

But I'm not a big one for going to parties, although I can become the party "animal" :rofl: anyway!

:hug:

[flvegan]

25. Heights, spiders, sharks, the Bush administration

That's it.

[LeftyMom]

33. Did I mention we have some of the biggest white sharks in the world here?

They're here to eat elephant seals mostly.

[flvegan]

36. I resemble that.

The elephant seal, that is.

[LeftyMom]

37. They weigh 3000 lbs. I'd have to make you a hell of a lot more pie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_seal

[Xipe Totec]

26. I'm Hemophobic

can't stand to see the sight of another human being's blood.

Mine doesn't bother me much. But I can't stand to see anyone else's.

[Shell Beau]

27. Just the common one! Claustrophobic here!

And also roach-aphobic. I know that isn't a real term, but I would rather have spiders crawling all over me than have 1 roach near me!

[sniffa]

28. feet

:scared:

[LostinVA]

95. LIAR

Although, I worked with someone once who was literally sickened by the sight of bare feet. It could make her PUKE.

[BarenakedLady]

29. Social phobia

which extends to phone phobia.

[u4ic]

30. Heights

and spiders. Creatures shouldn't have more than 4 legs...:scared:

[Ghost in the Machine]

32. bald beavers scare me.....

http://www.savethebaldbeaver.org/pics.html

[flvegan]

35. Not me.

I fear no beaver, bald or otherwise.

[Joe Fields]

38. Fear of being locked out of my house naked

Thankfully it only happened once, but boy was it scary.

[Kali]

40. Lepitoptera larvae

Definitely weird and irrational (except for a few that do have poisonous spines) have no real idea why as I can remember handling those furry caterpillars as a kid...:scared:

True worms don't bother me much although I don't really like to touch them. Sea dwelling worms I can handle with even less fear. Caterpillars (and maggots to a certain extent) send me to AAAAAAAHHHHHHH-land. Don't even like to touch the picture of one on a page of a book.

[Scooter24]

41. extreme heights, bugs, snakes,

among a few others.

[Karenca]

42. The doctor. eom

[Nicole]

44. Claustrophobia!

I hate being enclosed in small, windowless spaces. Elevators, public bathrooms, dressing rooms, etc all give me the creeps. When I was buying my house I passed on all houses without bathroom windows.

I've climbed up 20 flights of stairs to avoid getting in an elevator. Walking is much healthier so I guess it has it's benefits.

The bad part is I live in tornado alley & hate going to the cellar. I avoid going until the tornado is spotted within a mile of me. Smart people go when the "take cover" alarm sounds. Not me! :scared:

[SPKrazy]

49. I'd watch the tornado with you!

I think I saw you today!

a woman with slippers on out at the soccer field.... but they weren't bunny slippers :rofl:


:hi:

:hug:

[Nicole]

53. Oh good!

I would hate to be the only fool out there doing that! :rofl:


That wasn't me on the soccer field. I would never wear slippers on the soccer field, or anywhere in public. I got too many cute shoes to be wearing slippers outside. :)

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

55. i know, but hey for a split second...

:rofl:

hey i am out there watching the weather like a fool. the last tornado that hit fort smith i was out in my yard watching the clouds, and looked off in the (thank goodness) distance and saw the tornado. it had already moved through the city proper and was on it's way to Van Buren back across the river, a fast moving thing and no sirens, no warning, vewy scawy, brought a lot of "scandal" down on the weather service out of Tulsa who had taken over monitoring our weather here.

:hug:

[Nicole]

59. Tulsa?????

You don't have weather monitoring in Arkansas?

We have weather monitoring from Norman so I feel pretty good about that.

Today is the 8th anniversary of the last bad tornado we had. The May 3, 1999 F5 that killed about 40 people here in Ok. & a few in surrounding states as well. :(

[SPKrazy]

64. Oh wow, you are right!

we had a weather service office in Ft. Smith, we are closer to Tulsa than Little Rock by a fair distance so we are in the Tulsa office's general jurisdiction for warnings, but we get them from Little Rock.

The closing of the office in Ft, Smith preceded the tornado that hit here in 1996, it killed 3 people, did an amazing amount of damage, and had no warning.

Of course, it was only an F3 at it's strongest point whereas the tornado you speak of was an F5, amazing that more than 40 weren't killed, but thankfully that was it, but 40 too many.

you get that big a tornado and there aren't many places that are safe except under the ground

:(

I remember that tornado though. An amazing phenomenon, but whoa what a dangerous and scary one too.

Weather monitoring in Arkansas= "ya see anything coming?" "nope" "okay, we're clear"

actually after the 1996 tornado the NWS put in a doppler tower and a local TV station did too, now all three local network affiliates have doppler sites here, and the NWS does too, but we are still "controlled" by places that are not here, which is worrisome considering that we have nearly 150 K people (edit) in a 30 mile radius here

[Nicole]

70. Well I think the fatalities were not any higher

because of the advance & early warnings coming out of Norman. I remember they started warning us early in the morning of the possibilty. I think there were over 60 tornados that day, with the majority of them here in Oklahoma.

I didn't realize that you were closer to Tulsa than Little Rock. So that explains the weather warning from there.

[SPKrazy]

71. I can get to downtown Tulsa

in 1 hr 45 min

Downtown Little Rock in 2.5 hours driving fast


:hi:

[Nicole]

72. Downtown OKC

about the same as Downtown Little Rock then? Or close to it?

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

74. a little farther

but close to same difference

probably another 30 min longer

:hi:

[Nicole]

75. I thought maybe time wise was the same

even if the distance was farther because of the turnpike speed. :shrug:

[SPKrazy]

76. Well there isn't a

turnpike from here to OKC, to tulsa there is, to LR and OKC it's just good old I-40 and the speed limit is 70 both ways.

To Tulsa on the Musk TP it's 75

I think OKC and LR may really be about the same distance though. Hmmm,

I dunno really i'd have to check the mileage, I just know it is farther to OKC, now to Tinker it's about the same distance, so add the distance from there to downtown and you have it :P

[Nicole]

77. Well there is Turner turnpike

from Tulsa to OKC. :P

I've never been on Musk TP. I have driven I-40 from OKC to LR. Long, boring drive.

[SPKrazy]

81. oh yeah, that is long

okc to lr

but you go by ft smith!

you can wave!

ha ha ha

:hug:

muskogee turnpike is the quickest way to tulsa from the east side of 40 (east of tulsa)

[SPKrazy]

50. dupe

[LostinVA]

96. I have that some, too

I was once stuck in a small elevator with other people for about an hour. It sucked.

[RevolutionaryActs]

45. I'm afraid of vegans.

AHHH! Get away!! :rofl:

[DeepBlueC]

46. metal bridges

..the kind that sing under your tires and that you can SEE THROUGH. Whose bright idea was that? There is actually a Latin name for this phobia, which I found rather reassuring, since I was particularly ashamed of this one.

[Ghost in the Machine]

65. When I was *real young* I had a fear of high bridges and long bridges

small ones didn't bother me at all. We had them over canals all over Miami. There was one one S.R.836(?) right in front of the Orange Bowl that I was scared witless of when I was 5 - 6 years old. It just seemed really huge at the time. I used to duck down in the floorboard and hide when we went over it. The Seven Mile Bridge going to Key West was a whole different story... I eventually grew out of it.

The funny part about it is that most of my adult life I spent working as a highrise/commercial roofer and an iron worker (hanging steel). Imagine being 15 stories in the air, walking on a 3 inch wide beam having nothing between you and death except 150 feet od air and a concrete slab.

I just went over an old iron & wood bridge out in the middle of nowhere last weekend. I took a couple of pictures of it.

[DeepBlueC]

68. the Burlington Skyway

I think of the terror of approaching it in my 66 VW in the snow and wind, knowing that if I didn't get blown right off it, or tag teamed by a couple of semis (the bugs were sport to them)I could hear that singing under my tores as I wondered if I were skidding or whether it was just the regular push and pull of the wind. I guess the thing about the long high bridges is 1. open sides, horrid vista 2. no shoulder, no room for error 3. when you do make an error you go into the drink instead of just a ditch.

That is weird that you have no fear of heights. Regrettably, I do, as I am otherwise a thrill seeker and I can see that I am missing out on some big thrills.

I didn't mind small bridges either. The big ones that arch up are scarier than the ones that go straight across and have solid cement sidewalls. Actually I don't mind any of them now, except maybe that Burlington Skyway. After the VW I wanted no car quite that compact ever again. In fact I'd like my Dad's '51 Mercury V8.

[NNadir]

47. I am afraid of heights except when skiing.

I am also very squeamish and really can't stand watching surgeries and stuff like that.

[no name no slogan]

54. Stagefright. Which is really funny, because I'm a performing musician

I never used to have it, but then it came on last year sometime. It's also very inconvenient, because my band reunited, and we're getting ready to start gigging again.

However, I've found that performing for a few people at a time seems to help.

[Algorem]

56. scaret of poon.

[Lint Head]

62. I'm afraid of lunatics in the White House.

:dem:

[ganeshji]

66. squirrels

I'm terrified of them, can't breathe when I see one.

[hyphenate]

67. Bug

Insects, creepy-crawlies, anything that crawls like millipedes, centipedes (I had one in the apartment, and I was shaking for a whole day and when I start thinking about it), worms, caterpillars, larva (I HATE maggots!!!) and anything else along this line.

I can tolerate butterflies and dragonflies, but I hate even ladybugs (because they bite!). My mortal enemies here in the apartment are flies and carpenter ants.

Yet strangely enough, I don't mind spiders all that much for some odd reason. I can actually look at them with no trouble, and love their webs. (I guess I had Charlotte's Web read to me too many times when I was a child) The only time I got freaked out by one was when I was at my brother's in Vegas and there was a wolf spider in the house and it seemed to "burst" and hundreds of baby spiders began to come out of it (or something) and went everywhere.

It all stems from when I was a kid and I was walking in the field next to my grandfather's farm to the neighbor's house and it had rained and my feet (in flip-flops) suddenly had many, many yellow slugs all over them, and I stood in the field and screamed bloody murder until someone came out and rescued me. I think anyone who has had that kind of experience would hate and fear them as well. It's funny--until then, I never had such a fear, and recall when I was even younger that my brother and I used to cut up earthworms to see how many moving pieces we could make. (Sick I know--just thought you'd like to know:))

[Th1onein]

73. I am afraid of hypodermic needles.

To the point where I will die before I have one. Really.

I have accepted the fact that my life will be much shorter than most, because of this. But, really, given everything, that's okay.

[BikeWriter]

97. I experienced that one as a youngster. Experience...

since have helped make make them more tolerable.

[fizzgig]

79. strong winds

i like nice breezes, but strong winds freak me out. seriously. i'm terrified of really high winds, i hate the sound :scared:

[leftofthedial]

80. I'm scared to death of pho

don't even get me started on faux pho

[Kool Kitty]

82. Balloons. Thunderstorms. Hypodermic needles.

I hate balloons. They pop, and I hate loud, sudden noises. Thunderstorms scare me, too, same reason-loud, sudden noises. And needles? Ugh. :scared: :scared: :scared:

[SPKrazy]

83. BOOOM!

[Kool Kitty]

84. Wah! You scared me!

:cry: ;)

[camero]

85. All my phobias are gone

Because everything I was afraid of happened. Then you think, I'm still here, it's not so bad.

[BikeWriter]

86. I'm allergic to being shot at. I break out in a rash.

[Guava Jelly]

87. The unknown

things i can't control
Being alone..etc

[Tyler Durden]

91. The Dark. It tends to branch out into a Death Phobia.

Great for Night Terrors and Midnight anxiety attacks. Celexa works pretty good on the attacks.

[gr8dane_daddy]

92. I have a fear of posting on message boards.

What? I'm HEALED!

[LostinVA]

93. Heights and drinking after people

The latter disgusts me. I even have trouble watching other people do it.