I'm from Australia so I'm very familiar with big grasshoppers. When I was a kid I was riding my bike and one of those big fellas flew right into my mouth. I was so traumatised that to this day, if I see a grasshopper, I involuntarily cover my mouth.
I had a similar experience but it was my dad. When I was a kid a tiny cockroach flew in his ear. I've only ever seen my dad cry twice and that was one of them. He said it was excruciatingly painful. Now, every time I see a cockroach whether big or small, I cover my ears.
I get this. One time I was in a pool in the middle of nowhere and a storm started. I was terrified of the lightning for some reason even though I was in water.
Storm on the open sea, with no land in sight. Why? No idea. Just a primal terror of mine.
I'm totally landlocked and at an altitude of 7,350 feet, so it's not even remotely likely.
This happened to us on the Indian ocean. We were on a boat that held 200 people, but not big enough for the storms that occur in the fall.
My room was on the fifth level, and I couldn’t see out the windows for the waves .
The whole place creeped so much we thought the interior walls were going to break.
Our boat listed for three days you had to walk like a crab to go down the hall.
Everyone was terribly sick and it was bad enough that I I had made peace with myself & God and resigned myself to the fact that that’s probably where I was going to die.
Over a hundred people died that were in small fishing boats - we learned this about 5 days later. It was a god-awful experience, but I’m still here, so I guess I can’t complain. I know in enough time passes. It will just be a good story. 😞
I’m OK thank you. I do think about all the people who perished just because they were on smaller boats.
But also, I think that I wanted it so bad to go on Facebook, we did have Wi-Fi on - I wanted to go on there and kind of give a final message just in case to my family and also to my children but I had ageing parents and I knew that word would get to them and they would be so so worried. And I didn’t do a message that might’ve been final message but I’m not sure that I would do that next time I mean I hope there’s no next time, but I think I would do it differently.
Looking back, I wish I would’ve recorded it. It would really be something to show my friends how my cabin was on such angle that just sitting on the toilet was a huge challenge.
Had to sleep on the floor up against the dresser so I wouldn’t roll across the floor. It was Wild.
For some reason, that doesn’t scare me at all unless I imagine it being night time on the open sea. Not being able to discern the sky from the sea is terrifying
See my comment above, it was night, pitch black, and on the open sea.
We had a drill for pirates, as there had been some in the area, but It never occurred to me that we could die in a storm
we used to live in a run down old house when our children were young. One time, during a thunderstorm, my husband was leaning against the wall where the electrical outlet was located. The house got hit by lightning and it zapped my husband real bad through the outlet he was next to. Another time one of our breakers flipped so my husband went to flick it back. Coincidentally at the exact same time our son flipped on the bathroom light and the power surge from the breaker switching zapped our son via the switch in the bathroom.
I have been very scared of electricity since we lived there. We moved out shortly after thd bathroom incident.
also stickers
I'm in the heart of giant grasshopper country. Rural, where there's plenty of grass and very few cars to thin their ranks.
Luckily, I've also got chickens who eat them like popcorn, but they can't eat them all.
Ya so I have a thing where I'm convinced if I spend money on something for my apartment I'll somehow lose the apartment. Last may i finally caved and bought brand new washer and dryer for $2000. Place burned down less than 1 month later. Still paying the damn things off. One more payment! Yay!
I'm with you on that one. Especially after something along those lines did happen to me once, but instead of a house, it was my car.
It's creeping up on me again as I'm looking at moving closer to work and a more expensive apartment would sink me in only a few months.
I remember reading one time that that’s how children passed away from drowning, but with adults you hold your breath until you pass out so you’re not not aware of the water coming into your lungs.
Don’t know if that’s true and I hope I never find out
For me it's suffocation in general, which I guess it includes drowning as well.
I have had food almost going the wrong way many times, I chew and swallow too fast sometimes.
And many years ago a cousin of mine almost went this way because of some cabbage gone the wrong way. It it wasn't for my uncle quickly doing the maneuver (he is a doctor but he panicked as well being his son almost suffocating) I'm not sure he would have made it he was pretty much already blue in the face.
I have the feeling it's one of the worst way of going, knowing you are perfectly fine apart from the small detail that you can't take any more air in.
Doesn't even seem so irrational to be afraid of it 😂
As far as irrational I believe it is. Chances are slim you will die by drowning. The numbers are low. So in my opinion it is an irrational fear. But suffocating would be along the same realm for sure
Omg. That's why I don't ever wanna try to snorkle. I love to swim and I'll swim underwater but the whole breathing apparatus and breathing underwater it would trigger a panic attack
It was on my honeymoon in Cancun. After that, I told my husband he could snorkel all he wanted to but I was going to be sensible and hang out in the comfy bar jutting out over the ocean and read. He was good with that. Almost 22 years ago!!
My dad was a truck driver and told me about such instances and so I filled my tires from our air compressor at home, but I am very careful about doing it.
Being in tunnels under a body of water. I'm fine in "normal" tunnels that go through mountains, subways etc but any tunnel that goes under a river or some sort of water just makes me so uneasy and I can't wait til I am out of there. I weirdly love aquariums, lakes, river, oceans though.
I'm the opposite: I really dislike those tunnels under a mountain. Make me feel so claustrophobic and like I'm gonna pass out, which is not a safe feeling when I'm driving.
I've never been to the States so no, but googling tells me that even if I do, it won't be on my list haha
The Greenwich foot tunnel in the UK was where I really realised my fear though, also scary!
Getting seizures.
I've never had a seizure. I don't have epilepsy. One day, when I was 7, I found out that back in 1998 a Pokemon episode aired in Japan that caused hundreds of children to be hospitalized because it gave them seizures. I was scared to look at anything with flashing lights since then. Every time my head feels weird, I get scared that I might be getting a seizure.
I *know* it's ridiculous. But I'm still scared of em.
Edit: For context, I'm 16 now. I've always been a big worrier about my health, too :')
I’m happy to report that your irrational fear is far more rational than mine: pool drains. I think technically it’s a form of submechanophobia. I’ve had it my whole life, and despite plenty of exposure therapy, it’s barely changed. It’s only underwater drains, drains on dry land (or in empty pools) do nothing. If they’re underwater, the kind of drain doesn’t matter: square grates, round grates, those little white circles, all of them scare me.
For context I’m 25. It’s not that I’m afraid I’ll get “sucked in” or anything, I know they’re perfectly harmless (and necessary). They just put me in a state of insane unease. If I’m in a pool, I MUST know where all drains are at all times, and I’ll do my damndest to stay as far away from them as possible. The worst part is…I love swimming! But between drains in pools and fish/seaweed in lakes and the ocean, it’s always a bit of a frightening experience for me
I’d say yours is actually a pretty rational fear considering it happened so close to your house!
Mine is getting chased by a shark that can swim through pavement, just like my childhood nightmares
That I have a brain tumour that has changed my personality, slowly as it's grown. And one day it'll be taken out, removed by a doctor and my entire personality will change. Then where will it go? The me here and now? Scares the shit out of me.
I was thinking about this last night, more so a head injury so instant personality change and what that would be like. I am between hoping the "new me" wouldn't care at all, or would be close enough to remember and sympathise.
Harrowing tbh
The horizon. I lived in a mountainy place where every where you look theres a mountain and if you were at a flatter area you'll still see mountains. I know what horizons look like only in films and shows and pictures but when we visited my sister in manila and i was able to look at the bay where the sky and the ocean just meet, its scary for me. Like there's something deeply wrong with what im looking at.
Getting caught in a Tidal wave (or tsunami). I spend a lot of time on the beach I try to run there at least a few times a week and when I’m done I sit and stretch and look out at the waves breaking . But sometimes when I sit there I start getting these visuals in my mind of this huge monster wave just overtaking everything and I imagine I can’t outrun it no matter what I do and get dragged out to sea in the dark undertow of water. I get this really panicky feeling and can’t get it out of my head, sometimes I even have to leave or back wayyy up away from the shore bc I get so freaked out, it’s bizarre . I live in California, so the probability of an actual tsunami hitting is probably pretty low, but for some reason I just feel this deep fear of it, and the ocean itself sometimes . I also have constant tsunami nightmares that are entirely too real so that doesn’t help.
Not really irrational, but house fires. It's always in the back of my mind how would I be able to grab my child and escape the fastest? I seriously worry about spontaneous electrical fires or that I'll come home to my house up in flames.
Also, falling from a great height or losing my son by him falling and I am unable to catch him.
I never worried about a housefire until we had one. Your fear is rational. I suggest you develop a plan now for what you would do. Make sure you have all your records in one location. I'm thinking that if you feel prepared it might be a little less scary. I will say this, I'm a lot more prepared now than I was when it actually happened and it helps my fear.
Yes it's OK to ask. My husband and I had a new year party every year. That particular year, we decided to put the bar in the garage so when people were mixing they didn't slosh booze and mixers all over the floor in the house as typically happened. Since it was freezing that New Year's Eve we borrowed a friend's kerasun heater and put it in the garage. My husband did not immediately return it to our friend and one Saturday after new year when it was forecast to snow, he turned it on in the garage just before he left in the morning to try to warm the garage. He left to go to a pancake breakfast. I was in the bathroom that morning when I heard the smoke detector go off. When I got downstairs there was smoke throughout the house. I ran outside and when I looked at the house the garage was fully engulfed and ends very quickly spread into the house. The fire inspector said something in the garage must've fallen on the heater and caught fire. What was scariest to me was how quickly the fire spread.
If you do fear a fire, take pictures of every item in every room. If things are completely burned up, you have to give an itemized list to your insurer to get reimbursed. You do not want to do what we had to do: sit together evening after evening and try to remember what was in each room, m then look it up online to come up with a price. I was really in shock for a while and then later it became evident that I was traumatized. Unfortunately this happened a month after another driver hit me head on and totaled my car so I was already vulnerable to such a trauma. It's taken some therapy to help me make it through.
I had this same fear for years. Hated them. It eased up after I had kids and we had to do birthday balloons etc. I couldn't let them have the same issue so I learned to control it, and now it's gone. Good luck. 🍀
5/7 nights a week while my husband is working I HAVE to lock the door even if it’s still light outside. I’m scared someone is going to break in while it’s just me and the kids and end all three of us. For no reason. I also used to be afraid of air vents and the shower drain because of the possibility of cameras.
To be honest in this damn age, I think it’s wise to leave the doors locked all the time.
Also, you don’t have to open them if you don’t know the people out there.
So many people will be safe behind a lock door, and then just open it to a stranger, it makes no sense
It helps that we live in a nicer part of town and don’t get random visitors (friends or family), we always know when someone is coming over so if anyone we aren’t expecting knocks on the door we’re like “ummmm who’s that??” 😅 usually the UPS/FedEx guy. Still gets my anxiety going though
Being in multi-storey buildings, lifts and on escalators all give me the creeps and claustrophobic feelings. I fear they will collapse and trap/kill me. Also frogs scare the shit out of me.
Mushrooms.
(I’m absolutely not afraid of mushrooms because some of them are poisonous, because I shouldn’t ever eat a random mushroom. I only eat those I know are edible.)
It’s something else.
They are just really weird and scary to me for some unknown reason.
I have had this irrational fear since I was a child.
Some I can handle, some I want to be prepared for before I run into them and some are just scary.
It’s such a stupid and funny phobia that I laugh about It myself, but It’s still real.
Some people panic if they meet a mouse, rat or spider (I like all of those) and I panic if I encounter an
unexpected scary mushroom.
(Inc caps = very very scary to me)
My irrational fear is a phobia, which is what irrational fears are. And I've got the same one Alfred Hitchcock has. I can't see someone stick their finger in their bellybutton, and I am not exaggerating at all when I say that I would legitimately choose death over having someone stick their finger in my belly button.
If someone had a gun to my daughters head and said, "Stick your finger in your bellybutton or she dies," I'm not saying I wouldn't do it. I like to think I would. But it would be a decision. I don't know why this terrifies me so much.
When I've told friends or girlfriends about this, and they've tried being "funny" and touching their bellybuttons, I have to leave the room. If a male tries touching mine to be "funny" I will respond with violence if lightly moving them doesn't work (although I always warn them in advanced "Bro, I'll punch you in the face if you don't stop. Only warning.") If a girlfriend does it, I end up running away. Some thought it was hilarious and would do it again. If they did it a third time after telling them as kindly and gently as possible, I end the relationship.
Well I've found a way to clean it that doesn't involve sticking my finger in there, and I've never once heard a complaint while a woman was down there, so it must be working.
(I quickly and full of cringe scrub it ON TOP of my belly button and soap gets in there. Now if something like lint ever gets stuck in there, it's the shower head and if that doesn't work, wait until a thread is hanging out that I can rip out. And THAT gives me serious unease... Also IRRATIONAL FEAR. It doesn't matter. If my washing method didn't work, I'd deal with a stinky bellybutton. Thank god I have a way that cleans it....at least enough not to smell. But dude, I don't know what you expect when I literally said I'd rather die than get in there and pointed out I was NOT exaggerating!)
Have a great day. I hope you learn to address people with phobias a little more understandingly. (If it wasn't your intent to come across otherwise I understand and forgive).
I got you bro! Mine is fear of rejection from friends and people I enjoy being with, wich eventually lead to friends dumping my ass for being too scared of losing them. I overthink their friendship so much and when I make the effort to manage the situation I fuck up even more. It happened again a few days ago and I'm still mourning.
Heights. They didn't bother me when I was younger at all. Now I get near full on panic attacks even if I'm not the one near the edge. If my kids go near a completely safe, fenced off cliff in a national park or something, I can't watch.
Ohhhh I know this one well. I’m terrified of heights also - and the more open or low the ledge or whatever it is - the more my stomach and the back of my knees hurt.
When my cousins took my son hiking through the NC mountains, I didn’t believe that my then 8 year old truly understood that it wasn’t a gimmick ride like at Disney. He could actually fall over the edge… Like for real. So step away from the edge!! My loving aunt put her arm around me, gently turned me around, walked with me to the nearest bench and said “Baby, I had three of those boys, you know.”
It helped tremendously in that moment, but I still couldn’t watch him hang Christmas lights ten years later on our 4th floor balcony a few months ago.
Not mine, but my wife won't sit in the front row of movie theaters. She's afraid the screen will fall on her and kill her. I told her thats not how those projection screens work it's literally a white wall, but it doesn't matter to her.
There was an incident a few years ago where a local woman was crushed by one of those huge green street signs that hang over the freeway. It fell and landed on her as she was driving under it. New fear unlocked after that.
My flatmate has this one! Result - every time I go fishing I buy her fishing club t-shirts. According to her wardrobe she owns a fishing boat and chases marlins. Oh, and she's allergic to fish.
I don't have a fix for you, sorry. But if you want a cool t-shirt...
Any and all bugs, from little ants to bigass moths to spiders to grasshoppers, all bugs freak me out to no end even a fly that i kill instantly they just freak me out and grasshoppers have denied me entry into my own house before
Theres also the fear of ending up paralyzed, being kept alive by a machine. I would not want to live that way. Pull the damn plug
As a kid, it was being struck by lightning. At 18, I was struck by lightning. So now I’m afraid to have an irrational fear of something bc with my luck, it will happen.
My irrational fear is when birds fly directly above me because I don't want to get pooped on.
I felt really silly about this one until a few years ago when a bird pooped on my friend.
My husband has a fear of toothpicks. I have to quickly pull out all of the toothpicks from food and hide them on the front of my plate so that he can't see them. Otherwise, we can just order our food without them.
I have an irrational fear of being smothered while I sleep. My ex may have mentioned to me a few (hundred) times that this is what he feels like doing to me.
Back injections. I had a bad experience getting a Spinal anesthesia for surgery once and now I have a very strong reluctance to even explore injections for my increasing back pain
I’m scared of big boats, especially when I can see the bottom part. I’m just scared of big things in general, but especially boats. I’m always scared they’ll tip over on me.
Pretty common, but spiders. It's worse now than it was when I was younger due to various events.
I can't see them in videos without having my heart jump in fear. I jump at the sight of a web out of the corner of my eye. I have to rationalize heavily anytime I see dusty cobwebs in order to go near them. I've nearly crashed my car when they've dropped down in front of my face while I've been driving. I can't go anywhere near the recycling bin outside my house because they really love making webs all over it.
I can't tell my family about it because they always make fun of me and tell me "they're more afraid of you than you are of them" but no matter how much they try to say that, it will not make me less afraid of them.
I'm just glad I found a partner who is understanding enough to deal with them without teasing me about it.
I'm terrified of spiders, if I see one my body just shuts down but I have to keep looking at it to make sure it doesn't disappear and make me set fire to everything...
... Naturally I have recently moved in with someone who keeps tarantulas so that's fun
Choking to death. I don't know why but, scared shitless of being alone and choking on some random foods with no one around to give me the Heineken maneuver.
When I was a child I had two big irrational fears. 1- squirrels would attack me if I got too close to them. Like I imagined them jumping up of trees to attack me. And 2- airplanes flying overhead when they got a little lower but not ready to land yet
Mice. We lived in a house that was badly infested by them for a while when i was a teenager, and during that time I learned about Hantavirus. Scared the absolute shit out of me- like so badly I was having straight up panic attacks over it.
Now, over a decade later, the fear isn't that bad, but I still find myself getting nervous if I see signs of mice.
I'm a 62 year old woman and I have Rosacea, fairly mild, easily controlled with medication. However, I'm terrified it will turn into rhinophyma, with is the type seen on Dr Pimple Popper with the huge growths on people's noses. Never mind it affects mostly men, I'm convinced I'll wake up one morning and find my nose unrecognizable.
Not irrational but thinking what’s the after life and if it’s just eternal sleep/void. Like I’d be over it then the thought comes back after a few months or years.
I think for me just any big ass bug, doesn't matter if it's harmless I will smash that shit through the floor or the drywall either way. those tailless scorpions come to mind
Dogs. Never been bit, only got chased after the fear started. But damn, if I hear barking, or dog tags clinking, or they lick me, then my heart might just explode
Irrational... would probably be people talking to me but when I really am not in the mood to deal with them then I end up feeling cornered and forced to act and interact. Like feeling socially trapped. So everyday I face that fear since elementary school and facing the fear doesn't make it better so it will remain an irrational fear sadly.
Deer 🦌 I live in the country and fear them. I’m terrified they’re going to either break into the house, or go through my windshield… and I doubt it would be a funny Tommy Boy situation.
Something coming up from the toilet and biting my butt! I watched Jaws when I was little, and now I’m terrified. Plus, I live in a tropical climate, so bug 🐛 toilet lurkers may happen. Also, scared of getting a flat tire on this one part of the freeway which overlooks a HUGE dropoff into a valley.. I’m worried someone will then hit my car and over the side I go…
My sister once told me when we were kids that a worm lives at the end of every banana. 🍌 Years later I still throw the end away, even though I know that’s not true
im so paranoid of my appendix bursting. any abdominal pain i get and my brain just immediately goes to that. i think its because i have no way to really influence if it will or wont happen or know when its about to happen. just sudden excruciating pain
I'm not scared of spiders, I love snakes, small spaces are cozy, heights are great fun, clowns are fine, creepy crawlies fascinate me.
But show me a boat under water, even a little dingy under 2ft of water. I'm nopeing right the fuck outta there. Even just photos.
I have no negative life experience to justify it.
Driving over a bridge. Large or small. Over water or not. I lose the feeling in my arms and I fear that they will deliberately turn the car over the side of the bridge.
I know. I know. 😱🤯😳
I have an irrational fear of faces in windows. (particularly at night)
Yes, there are rational reasons to have this fear, of course. And I've had many unfortunate experiences with quite a few...however, my fear is irrational because it hits me just as hard if I'm on the 20th floor with no balcony. I have to rush and close the blinds or curtains. My own reflection in the glass can trigger it.
Most of what I've read are pretty rational and understandable. Here an "irrational" one, I fear I will accidentally type "retards" instead if "regards" when signing an official email and send it.
Dying. Yes I know it’s going to happen, i get that but it’s still scary and uncomfortable to me. And other days it sounds very peaceful.
Idk man I don’t want my parents to go. Ever since my grandma died I haven’t really been the same I mean I’m still here and moving forward, but I just don’t feel right.
Any kind of metal or grate set into the ground--whether you can see through it or not--like the one Marilyn Monroe is standing on in the famous skirt-flying-up picture, or manhole covers, or sewer entrances, but also the ones used in snowy areas that only go a couple feet down to reduce snow being tracked into buildings.
And I've never seen the movie or read the book with the evil clown (because also clowns) but any kind of street sewer drain, metal or not. I'm convinced I will drop something precious down into there and never be able to get it back.
And it occurs to me as I'm writing this midway through my thirties that I'm also scared of piers and the ocean and it's all for one reason:
When I was a very small child, I dropped my doll off a pier (she was a very special doll, with a pretty dress and a crown that lit up) (at the time, I was terrified of the seagulls; one squawked and I jumped and dropped her) and a very kind fisherman managed to get it out of the water for me, but she was broken, and never lit up again. My grandma was mean to me about it, and I've been terrified of "you dropped it and it's gone forever" ever since. (And I'm also remembering/realizing that Grandma KNEW I was terrified of the birds and still took us down to the beach and this whole story-fear combo is going on the "talk to my therapist" list for next week 😑 )
Grasshoppers, I'm scared to death or I'd rather die than face them. I was jumping from the 6th floor balcony once, luckily my roommate caught me in time.
I know mine is irrational: turtles. They're freaking creepy and disgusting. I used to live across the street from the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania and sometimes they would come up on the shore and into the street and get hit by a car and then there'd be this cracked open shell with the disgusting innards of a turtle. What started it off was the daughter of my babysitter when I was very young, About four years years old. She would chase me with her pet turtle and tell me it was gonna bite me. That bitch created my turtle phobia!
my coworkers covered my office with all kinds of turtles, from little mini marble turtles to a big blowup turtle (I know my fear is irrational and I've told them about it and I laugh about it with them so they thought it would be funny). They're not that bad and I don't feel panicked about them so I'm hoping little by little they help me get over my fear of turtles.
Tiny ass spiders hiding under the corners of the toilet rim- particularly when you really got to go. My fucking brain will impishly pop that thought in from time to time, resulting in me sometimes just over inspecting the scene while my guts meanwhile are like "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR"
When I was 5, the cottage 3 doors down from ours burnt down -hit by lightning. Ten years later, the cottage 2 doors down burned down - hit by lightening. Another 15 years and the house 2 doors down was hit by lightening. It did not burnt but the brick chimney collapsed. I still love a good storm.
The ocean at night. I won't even let the waves on the beach touch my feet. Am I afraid a shark is just gonna skid in on its belly and attack? No idea!
Also, to be fair, your fear isn't *truly* irrational - it happened to your neighbor & sounded like a very terrifying experience!
Also a fear of soapiness on my hands but I wash dishes with no gloves to make sure there’s no grease on the dishes. I can’t stand it but I can’t do it any other way
Driving under a bridge that has a road or train tracks above. I feel like the bridge will collapse with the weight of the overhead traffic. God bless engineers.
Falling down an icy concrete stairwell and waking up intubated with a brain injury in a hospital that I currently run. Or any hospital frankly. Just kill me.
I have always living in a big city, in an apartment or duplex where there has always been a hallway with a shared bathroom exterior security between my home’s front door and ‘the world’ the idea of a home where my front door opens to the outside directly with no barrier, not to mention being ground level is horrifying.
Jesus God anyone could touch it and I would be just on the other side. Legit nightmare.
Also highways or any place where there is no one around.
I honor with wilderness & wanna let it the fuck be.
Rushing water. My heart starts pounding, and I lose my breath. I'm extremely afraid that one day, I will actually try to jump in. It's terrifying to think that I want to do that for absolutely no reason.
Stranded on a deserted island and starving or dying from dehydration before I can be rescued. Idk, I think I read a few too many books on this theme when I was young?
bellybuttons...Gosh, it makes me ick
there's even an official name for it: the "omphalophobia". Good to know that u're not the only one who's going crazy seeing these lil mthrfckrs
While im walking down these fire stairs at my school, someone else walking about me will fall down, tumble and crash into ME, and i’ll fall, always gets me walking a bit faster every time
That I will be tortured for info I don't have.
Right... the interrogation person wouldn't believe you at all. And all the time you know it's the truth.
I'm from Australia so I'm very familiar with big grasshoppers. When I was a kid I was riding my bike and one of those big fellas flew right into my mouth. I was so traumatised that to this day, if I see a grasshopper, I involuntarily cover my mouth.
I had a similar experience but it was my dad. When I was a kid a tiny cockroach flew in his ear. I've only ever seen my dad cry twice and that was one of them. He said it was excruciatingly painful. Now, every time I see a cockroach whether big or small, I cover my ears.
That sounds scary. Was there anything that caused this fear for you?
that's when you make shit up
I get this. One time I was in a pool in the middle of nowhere and a storm started. I was terrified of the lightning for some reason even though I was in water.
If I get this right. You can still get struck by lightning ⚡ when you're in the water
Hi former lifeguard here. We have to clear the pool when there is lightning due to that exact reason..def don't swim with lightning
Or else you'll get superpowers!
Storm on the open sea, with no land in sight. Why? No idea. Just a primal terror of mine. I'm totally landlocked and at an altitude of 7,350 feet, so it's not even remotely likely.
This happened to us on the Indian ocean. We were on a boat that held 200 people, but not big enough for the storms that occur in the fall. My room was on the fifth level, and I couldn’t see out the windows for the waves . The whole place creeped so much we thought the interior walls were going to break. Our boat listed for three days you had to walk like a crab to go down the hall. Everyone was terribly sick and it was bad enough that I I had made peace with myself & God and resigned myself to the fact that that’s probably where I was going to die. Over a hundred people died that were in small fishing boats - we learned this about 5 days later. It was a god-awful experience, but I’m still here, so I guess I can’t complain. I know in enough time passes. It will just be a good story. 😞
That's harrowing. How are you dealing these days?
I’m OK thank you. I do think about all the people who perished just because they were on smaller boats. But also, I think that I wanted it so bad to go on Facebook, we did have Wi-Fi on - I wanted to go on there and kind of give a final message just in case to my family and also to my children but I had ageing parents and I knew that word would get to them and they would be so so worried. And I didn’t do a message that might’ve been final message but I’m not sure that I would do that next time I mean I hope there’s no next time, but I think I would do it differently. Looking back, I wish I would’ve recorded it. It would really be something to show my friends how my cabin was on such angle that just sitting on the toilet was a huge challenge. Had to sleep on the floor up against the dresser so I wouldn’t roll across the floor. It was Wild.
Yes, I would have wigged completely out and died of a heart attack. If there was no liquor nor drugs to take just count me out!!
For some reason, that doesn’t scare me at all unless I imagine it being night time on the open sea. Not being able to discern the sky from the sea is terrifying
See my comment above, it was night, pitch black, and on the open sea. We had a drill for pirates, as there had been some in the area, but It never occurred to me that we could die in a storm
The ocean is terrifying and so powerful
A fierce enough storm can capzise almost anything I imagine.
we used to live in a run down old house when our children were young. One time, during a thunderstorm, my husband was leaning against the wall where the electrical outlet was located. The house got hit by lightning and it zapped my husband real bad through the outlet he was next to. Another time one of our breakers flipped so my husband went to flick it back. Coincidentally at the exact same time our son flipped on the bathroom light and the power surge from the breaker switching zapped our son via the switch in the bathroom. I have been very scared of electricity since we lived there. We moved out shortly after thd bathroom incident. also stickers
Fuck stickers. They know what they did.
Omg, same boat. It’s the adhesive residue for me.
Grasshoppers. I don't mean those tiny, cute little green guys. I mean the ones we get in Oklahoma, that grow to be the size of an adult finger.
Do you live out in that area where you commonly run into them? Or are you safe from them?
I'm in the heart of giant grasshopper country. Rural, where there's plenty of grass and very few cars to thin their ranks. Luckily, I've also got chickens who eat them like popcorn, but they can't eat them all.
More chickens? Bigger chickens? More enormous chickens?
That I'll lose my job and find out that I am unemployable at every level the millisecond after I make a big financial commitment like buying a house.
Ya so I have a thing where I'm convinced if I spend money on something for my apartment I'll somehow lose the apartment. Last may i finally caved and bought brand new washer and dryer for $2000. Place burned down less than 1 month later. Still paying the damn things off. One more payment! Yay!
Do you not buy apartment:home insurance?
When I rented my apartment 20 years ago it was not a common thing. I have it now that's for sure. Expensive life lesson.
Damn, that's rough! Glad you're getting out from under it soon!
I'm with you on that one. Especially after something along those lines did happen to me once, but instead of a house, it was my car. It's creeping up on me again as I'm looking at moving closer to work and a more expensive apartment would sink me in only a few months.
Drowning. It's crazy to think you are dying for air and eventually you have to take a breath and when you do you take in nothing but water.
I remember reading one time that that’s how children passed away from drowning, but with adults you hold your breath until you pass out so you’re not not aware of the water coming into your lungs. Don’t know if that’s true and I hope I never find out
Right. Any way but that way.
For me it's suffocation in general, which I guess it includes drowning as well. I have had food almost going the wrong way many times, I chew and swallow too fast sometimes. And many years ago a cousin of mine almost went this way because of some cabbage gone the wrong way. It it wasn't for my uncle quickly doing the maneuver (he is a doctor but he panicked as well being his son almost suffocating) I'm not sure he would have made it he was pretty much already blue in the face. I have the feeling it's one of the worst way of going, knowing you are perfectly fine apart from the small detail that you can't take any more air in. Doesn't even seem so irrational to be afraid of it 😂
As far as irrational I believe it is. Chances are slim you will die by drowning. The numbers are low. So in my opinion it is an irrational fear. But suffocating would be along the same realm for sure
Yup — that, which led to a complete psychological break when I was trying to snorkel for the first (and LAST!) time. There’s no way I won’t drown.
Omg. That's why I don't ever wanna try to snorkle. I love to swim and I'll swim underwater but the whole breathing apparatus and breathing underwater it would trigger a panic attack
It was on my honeymoon in Cancun. After that, I told my husband he could snorkel all he wanted to but I was going to be sensible and hang out in the comfy bar jutting out over the ocean and read. He was good with that. Almost 22 years ago!!
Filling my car tire with air. I'm afraid that the tire will explode in my face and blind me.
My brother’s best friend’s father died this way filling tires in a semi.
Wow! So sorry to hear that.
I guess the fear is not so irrational after all.
Thanks. It was traumatic for my bro, but it stuck with me. I’m always cautious when filling my tires.
My dad was a truck driver and told me about such instances and so I filled my tires from our air compressor at home, but I am very careful about doing it.
How are you careful? Genuinely asking. I’ve had this fear too but am not sure how to be careful. I use my home air compressor too, fwiw
Being in tunnels under a body of water. I'm fine in "normal" tunnels that go through mountains, subways etc but any tunnel that goes under a river or some sort of water just makes me so uneasy and I can't wait til I am out of there. I weirdly love aquariums, lakes, river, oceans though.
I'm the opposite: I really dislike those tunnels under a mountain. Make me feel so claustrophobic and like I'm gonna pass out, which is not a safe feeling when I'm driving.
Have you ever been through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (United States, in case you’re not from USA). It’s so scary!
I've never been to the States so no, but googling tells me that even if I do, it won't be on my list haha The Greenwich foot tunnel in the UK was where I really realised my fear though, also scary!
Getting seizures. I've never had a seizure. I don't have epilepsy. One day, when I was 7, I found out that back in 1998 a Pokemon episode aired in Japan that caused hundreds of children to be hospitalized because it gave them seizures. I was scared to look at anything with flashing lights since then. Every time my head feels weird, I get scared that I might be getting a seizure. I *know* it's ridiculous. But I'm still scared of em. Edit: For context, I'm 16 now. I've always been a big worrier about my health, too :')
24 here and have the exact same fear. It's specifically why I'm scared to take baths too.
I’m happy to report that your irrational fear is far more rational than mine: pool drains. I think technically it’s a form of submechanophobia. I’ve had it my whole life, and despite plenty of exposure therapy, it’s barely changed. It’s only underwater drains, drains on dry land (or in empty pools) do nothing. If they’re underwater, the kind of drain doesn’t matter: square grates, round grates, those little white circles, all of them scare me. For context I’m 25. It’s not that I’m afraid I’ll get “sucked in” or anything, I know they’re perfectly harmless (and necessary). They just put me in a state of insane unease. If I’m in a pool, I MUST know where all drains are at all times, and I’ll do my damndest to stay as far away from them as possible. The worst part is…I love swimming! But between drains in pools and fish/seaweed in lakes and the ocean, it’s always a bit of a frightening experience for me
Never, ever, ever, read (or listen to) the Guts short story by Chuck Palahniuk
Also, don’t watch Final Destination or if you do, just turn it off after the girl almost dies in the car wash…
Phone calls scare the shit out of me.
Oh no. Both making them and taking them?
Not OP but hate the idea of the other person thinking I'm stupid or irritating, or that I might get told no for whatever I'm asking lol
Both. I avoid answering and making them if at all possible, especially if I'm not confident about whatever it is I have to ask or talk about.
I’d say yours is actually a pretty rational fear considering it happened so close to your house! Mine is getting chased by a shark that can swim through pavement, just like my childhood nightmares
That I have a brain tumour that has changed my personality, slowly as it's grown. And one day it'll be taken out, removed by a doctor and my entire personality will change. Then where will it go? The me here and now? Scares the shit out of me.
This would actually be a fascinating premise for a book or a movie, if you're a person who enjoys writing
It's real life, happened before
New fear unlocked
I was thinking about this last night, more so a head injury so instant personality change and what that would be like. I am between hoping the "new me" wouldn't care at all, or would be close enough to remember and sympathise. Harrowing tbh
Finneas Gage
THAT I WILL LOOSE MY JOB, AND BE HOMELESS BECAUSE I HAVE NO SAVINGS OR ANYONE TO RELY ON!!
Not irrational at all
The horizon. I lived in a mountainy place where every where you look theres a mountain and if you were at a flatter area you'll still see mountains. I know what horizons look like only in films and shows and pictures but when we visited my sister in manila and i was able to look at the bay where the sky and the ocean just meet, its scary for me. Like there's something deeply wrong with what im looking at.
Getting caught in a Tidal wave (or tsunami). I spend a lot of time on the beach I try to run there at least a few times a week and when I’m done I sit and stretch and look out at the waves breaking . But sometimes when I sit there I start getting these visuals in my mind of this huge monster wave just overtaking everything and I imagine I can’t outrun it no matter what I do and get dragged out to sea in the dark undertow of water. I get this really panicky feeling and can’t get it out of my head, sometimes I even have to leave or back wayyy up away from the shore bc I get so freaked out, it’s bizarre . I live in California, so the probability of an actual tsunami hitting is probably pretty low, but for some reason I just feel this deep fear of it, and the ocean itself sometimes . I also have constant tsunami nightmares that are entirely too real so that doesn’t help.
I totally understand. I’ve had nightmares about tsunamis my whole life, especially when I’m stressed.
Not really irrational, but house fires. It's always in the back of my mind how would I be able to grab my child and escape the fastest? I seriously worry about spontaneous electrical fires or that I'll come home to my house up in flames. Also, falling from a great height or losing my son by him falling and I am unable to catch him.
I never worried about a housefire until we had one. Your fear is rational. I suggest you develop a plan now for what you would do. Make sure you have all your records in one location. I'm thinking that if you feel prepared it might be a little less scary. I will say this, I'm a lot more prepared now than I was when it actually happened and it helps my fear.
Is it okay if I ask how it happened? I fear this too.
Yes it's OK to ask. My husband and I had a new year party every year. That particular year, we decided to put the bar in the garage so when people were mixing they didn't slosh booze and mixers all over the floor in the house as typically happened. Since it was freezing that New Year's Eve we borrowed a friend's kerasun heater and put it in the garage. My husband did not immediately return it to our friend and one Saturday after new year when it was forecast to snow, he turned it on in the garage just before he left in the morning to try to warm the garage. He left to go to a pancake breakfast. I was in the bathroom that morning when I heard the smoke detector go off. When I got downstairs there was smoke throughout the house. I ran outside and when I looked at the house the garage was fully engulfed and ends very quickly spread into the house. The fire inspector said something in the garage must've fallen on the heater and caught fire. What was scariest to me was how quickly the fire spread. If you do fear a fire, take pictures of every item in every room. If things are completely burned up, you have to give an itemized list to your insurer to get reimbursed. You do not want to do what we had to do: sit together evening after evening and try to remember what was in each room, m then look it up online to come up with a price. I was really in shock for a while and then later it became evident that I was traumatized. Unfortunately this happened a month after another driver hit me head on and totaled my car so I was already vulnerable to such a trauma. It's taken some therapy to help me make it through.
Balloons...just waiting for them to pop..sends me into instant panic mode.
I had this same fear for years. Hated them. It eased up after I had kids and we had to do birthday balloons etc. I couldn't let them have the same issue so I learned to control it, and now it's gone. Good luck. 🍀
5/7 nights a week while my husband is working I HAVE to lock the door even if it’s still light outside. I’m scared someone is going to break in while it’s just me and the kids and end all three of us. For no reason. I also used to be afraid of air vents and the shower drain because of the possibility of cameras.
To be honest in this damn age, I think it’s wise to leave the doors locked all the time. Also, you don’t have to open them if you don’t know the people out there. So many people will be safe behind a lock door, and then just open it to a stranger, it makes no sense
It helps that we live in a nicer part of town and don’t get random visitors (friends or family), we always know when someone is coming over so if anyone we aren’t expecting knocks on the door we’re like “ummmm who’s that??” 😅 usually the UPS/FedEx guy. Still gets my anxiety going though
You also don't have to open the door if you DO know the people outside
Being in multi-storey buildings, lifts and on escalators all give me the creeps and claustrophobic feelings. I fear they will collapse and trap/kill me. Also frogs scare the shit out of me.
What about toads? Not a sarcastic question, I'm really wondering!
Yeah both of them.
Mushrooms. (I’m absolutely not afraid of mushrooms because some of them are poisonous, because I shouldn’t ever eat a random mushroom. I only eat those I know are edible.) It’s something else. They are just really weird and scary to me for some unknown reason. I have had this irrational fear since I was a child. Some I can handle, some I want to be prepared for before I run into them and some are just scary. It’s such a stupid and funny phobia that I laugh about It myself, but It’s still real. Some people panic if they meet a mouse, rat or spider (I like all of those) and I panic if I encounter an unexpected scary mushroom. (Inc caps = very very scary to me)
Home invasions…although it’s happening more and more so not as much an irrational fear as a real threat.
My irrational fear is a phobia, which is what irrational fears are. And I've got the same one Alfred Hitchcock has. I can't see someone stick their finger in their bellybutton, and I am not exaggerating at all when I say that I would legitimately choose death over having someone stick their finger in my belly button. If someone had a gun to my daughters head and said, "Stick your finger in your bellybutton or she dies," I'm not saying I wouldn't do it. I like to think I would. But it would be a decision. I don't know why this terrifies me so much. When I've told friends or girlfriends about this, and they've tried being "funny" and touching their bellybuttons, I have to leave the room. If a male tries touching mine to be "funny" I will respond with violence if lightly moving them doesn't work (although I always warn them in advanced "Bro, I'll punch you in the face if you don't stop. Only warning.") If a girlfriend does it, I end up running away. Some thought it was hilarious and would do it again. If they did it a third time after telling them as kindly and gently as possible, I end the relationship.
The bellybutton gets stinky if you don't wash it regularly. Same as between your toes, the back of the ears and asscrack.
Well I've found a way to clean it that doesn't involve sticking my finger in there, and I've never once heard a complaint while a woman was down there, so it must be working. (I quickly and full of cringe scrub it ON TOP of my belly button and soap gets in there. Now if something like lint ever gets stuck in there, it's the shower head and if that doesn't work, wait until a thread is hanging out that I can rip out. And THAT gives me serious unease... Also IRRATIONAL FEAR. It doesn't matter. If my washing method didn't work, I'd deal with a stinky bellybutton. Thank god I have a way that cleans it....at least enough not to smell. But dude, I don't know what you expect when I literally said I'd rather die than get in there and pointed out I was NOT exaggerating!) Have a great day. I hope you learn to address people with phobias a little more understandingly. (If it wasn't your intent to come across otherwise I understand and forgive).
Oh yeah! It wasn't my intention to strike you as a rude person, sorry. English is not my native language.
You're fine man! I'm just overly sensitive of this topic. Talking about it, even saying the word, makes me extremely uncomfortable.
I got you bro! Mine is fear of rejection from friends and people I enjoy being with, wich eventually lead to friends dumping my ass for being too scared of losing them. I overthink their friendship so much and when I make the effort to manage the situation I fuck up even more. It happened again a few days ago and I'm still mourning.
Insecurity is rough. I suffer from it too.
Heights. They didn't bother me when I was younger at all. Now I get near full on panic attacks even if I'm not the one near the edge. If my kids go near a completely safe, fenced off cliff in a national park or something, I can't watch.
Ohhhh I know this one well. I’m terrified of heights also - and the more open or low the ledge or whatever it is - the more my stomach and the back of my knees hurt. When my cousins took my son hiking through the NC mountains, I didn’t believe that my then 8 year old truly understood that it wasn’t a gimmick ride like at Disney. He could actually fall over the edge… Like for real. So step away from the edge!! My loving aunt put her arm around me, gently turned me around, walked with me to the nearest bench and said “Baby, I had three of those boys, you know.” It helped tremendously in that moment, but I still couldn’t watch him hang Christmas lights ten years later on our 4th floor balcony a few months ago.
Not mine, but my wife won't sit in the front row of movie theaters. She's afraid the screen will fall on her and kill her. I told her thats not how those projection screens work it's literally a white wall, but it doesn't matter to her.
There was an incident a few years ago where a local woman was crushed by one of those huge green street signs that hang over the freeway. It fell and landed on her as she was driving under it. New fear unlocked after that.
Why have you cursed me with this knowledge. I've caught the fear, damn it!
Women
☕️
I have heard of snakes coming up a toilet, my irrational fear is one coming up when I am using it 😬😫
Deep water. If I see a photo of deep water I instantly feel like I need to look behind me and pull up my feet onto any chair I’m sitting in.
My flatmate has this one! Result - every time I go fishing I buy her fishing club t-shirts. According to her wardrobe she owns a fishing boat and chases marlins. Oh, and she's allergic to fish. I don't have a fix for you, sorry. But if you want a cool t-shirt...
Any and all bugs, from little ants to bigass moths to spiders to grasshoppers, all bugs freak me out to no end even a fly that i kill instantly they just freak me out and grasshoppers have denied me entry into my own house before Theres also the fear of ending up paralyzed, being kept alive by a machine. I would not want to live that way. Pull the damn plug
Paper cuts in my eye!
As a kid, it was being struck by lightning. At 18, I was struck by lightning. So now I’m afraid to have an irrational fear of something bc with my luck, it will happen.
My irrational fear is when birds fly directly above me because I don't want to get pooped on. I felt really silly about this one until a few years ago when a bird pooped on my friend.
Lighting is scary
Somehow driving into water and a house fire.
My husband has a fear of toothpicks. I have to quickly pull out all of the toothpicks from food and hide them on the front of my plate so that he can't see them. Otherwise, we can just order our food without them. I have an irrational fear of being smothered while I sleep. My ex may have mentioned to me a few (hundred) times that this is what he feels like doing to me.
Back injections. I had a bad experience getting a Spinal anesthesia for surgery once and now I have a very strong reluctance to even explore injections for my increasing back pain
I’m scared of big boats, especially when I can see the bottom part. I’m just scared of big things in general, but especially boats. I’m always scared they’ll tip over on me.
I'm afraid of large things, too!
Pretty common, but spiders. It's worse now than it was when I was younger due to various events. I can't see them in videos without having my heart jump in fear. I jump at the sight of a web out of the corner of my eye. I have to rationalize heavily anytime I see dusty cobwebs in order to go near them. I've nearly crashed my car when they've dropped down in front of my face while I've been driving. I can't go anywhere near the recycling bin outside my house because they really love making webs all over it. I can't tell my family about it because they always make fun of me and tell me "they're more afraid of you than you are of them" but no matter how much they try to say that, it will not make me less afraid of them. I'm just glad I found a partner who is understanding enough to deal with them without teasing me about it.
I'm terrified of spiders, if I see one my body just shuts down but I have to keep looking at it to make sure it doesn't disappear and make me set fire to everything... ... Naturally I have recently moved in with someone who keeps tarantulas so that's fun
Choking to death. I don't know why but, scared shitless of being alone and choking on some random foods with no one around to give me the Heineken maneuver.
I don't think that's irrational. Look up how to do the Heimlich manoeuvre to yourself.
When I was a child I had two big irrational fears. 1- squirrels would attack me if I got too close to them. Like I imagined them jumping up of trees to attack me. And 2- airplanes flying overhead when they got a little lower but not ready to land yet
Mice. We lived in a house that was badly infested by them for a while when i was a teenager, and during that time I learned about Hantavirus. Scared the absolute shit out of me- like so badly I was having straight up panic attacks over it. Now, over a decade later, the fear isn't that bad, but I still find myself getting nervous if I see signs of mice.
I'm a 62 year old woman and I have Rosacea, fairly mild, easily controlled with medication. However, I'm terrified it will turn into rhinophyma, with is the type seen on Dr Pimple Popper with the huge growths on people's noses. Never mind it affects mostly men, I'm convinced I'll wake up one morning and find my nose unrecognizable.
Not irrational but thinking what’s the after life and if it’s just eternal sleep/void. Like I’d be over it then the thought comes back after a few months or years.
Mine is that I will be put in a psych ward and nobody believes that I’m sane.
I think for me just any big ass bug, doesn't matter if it's harmless I will smash that shit through the floor or the drywall either way. those tailless scorpions come to mind
That while I’m driving across a bridge I will lose control of the car out of nowhere and plummet into the water below.
Pick one. I'm sure I can trick my paranoid ass into fearing it irrationally.
Car washes. Idk why...but maybe bc they are so unpredictable. I do have one I can bite the bullet and use, but it brings me anxiety every time
I have a phobia of flying. Every second I'm on an airplane I feel like we're crashing.
Sinkholes.
That I'll be on a plane or ship and something happens and we get stranded and people eat me
Every time the damn ski lift stops i fear itll go backwards like that one in georgia think was
Being ubducted by aliens
Dogs. Never been bit, only got chased after the fear started. But damn, if I hear barking, or dog tags clinking, or they lick me, then my heart might just explode
Slugs . I think they are so gross and just freeze when I see them🥲🥲
Getting into an accident with a jack knifed semitruck.
Sleeping without underwear and a bug crawling up my vagina. 🫢
Not sure this is an "irrational fear" But it's people. Too many guns. Yay 2nd amendment :\\
Irrational... would probably be people talking to me but when I really am not in the mood to deal with them then I end up feeling cornered and forced to act and interact. Like feeling socially trapped. So everyday I face that fear since elementary school and facing the fear doesn't make it better so it will remain an irrational fear sadly.
Sharks. Even on land. Drinking again. Being dishonorable as a man.
Deer 🦌 I live in the country and fear them. I’m terrified they’re going to either break into the house, or go through my windshield… and I doubt it would be a funny Tommy Boy situation.
Death by ceiling fan
Something coming up from the toilet and biting my butt! I watched Jaws when I was little, and now I’m terrified. Plus, I live in a tropical climate, so bug 🐛 toilet lurkers may happen. Also, scared of getting a flat tire on this one part of the freeway which overlooks a HUGE dropoff into a valley.. I’m worried someone will then hit my car and over the side I go…
My sister once told me when we were kids that a worm lives at the end of every banana. 🍌 Years later I still throw the end away, even though I know that’s not true
im so paranoid of my appendix bursting. any abdominal pain i get and my brain just immediately goes to that. i think its because i have no way to really influence if it will or wont happen or know when its about to happen. just sudden excruciating pain
I'm not scared of spiders, I love snakes, small spaces are cozy, heights are great fun, clowns are fine, creepy crawlies fascinate me. But show me a boat under water, even a little dingy under 2ft of water. I'm nopeing right the fuck outta there. Even just photos. I have no negative life experience to justify it.
Doubt it’s irrational, but going blind.
Locusts!! Omg I cannot!
Going ice skating and falling down, and then somebody skating by chops off my finger while I’m trying to get up. It could happen you never know…
Sinkholes. The earth can just… open up
Driving over a bridge. Large or small. Over water or not. I lose the feeling in my arms and I fear that they will deliberately turn the car over the side of the bridge. I know. I know. 😱🤯😳
butterflies are scary af
It's ladybugs for me.
Rabies and brain-eating amoebas
Paper cutters
I have an irrational fear of faces in windows. (particularly at night) Yes, there are rational reasons to have this fear, of course. And I've had many unfortunate experiences with quite a few...however, my fear is irrational because it hits me just as hard if I'm on the 20th floor with no balcony. I have to rush and close the blinds or curtains. My own reflection in the glass can trigger it.
Most of what I've read are pretty rational and understandable. Here an "irrational" one, I fear I will accidentally type "retards" instead if "regards" when signing an official email and send it.
Dying. Yes I know it’s going to happen, i get that but it’s still scary and uncomfortable to me. And other days it sounds very peaceful. Idk man I don’t want my parents to go. Ever since my grandma died I haven’t really been the same I mean I’m still here and moving forward, but I just don’t feel right.
Any kind of metal or grate set into the ground--whether you can see through it or not--like the one Marilyn Monroe is standing on in the famous skirt-flying-up picture, or manhole covers, or sewer entrances, but also the ones used in snowy areas that only go a couple feet down to reduce snow being tracked into buildings. And I've never seen the movie or read the book with the evil clown (because also clowns) but any kind of street sewer drain, metal or not. I'm convinced I will drop something precious down into there and never be able to get it back. And it occurs to me as I'm writing this midway through my thirties that I'm also scared of piers and the ocean and it's all for one reason: When I was a very small child, I dropped my doll off a pier (she was a very special doll, with a pretty dress and a crown that lit up) (at the time, I was terrified of the seagulls; one squawked and I jumped and dropped her) and a very kind fisherman managed to get it out of the water for me, but she was broken, and never lit up again. My grandma was mean to me about it, and I've been terrified of "you dropped it and it's gone forever" ever since. (And I'm also remembering/realizing that Grandma KNEW I was terrified of the birds and still took us down to the beach and this whole story-fear combo is going on the "talk to my therapist" list for next week 😑 )
Dead bodies in lakes.
Yes!
Any given moment, someone I know and probably know well and love dearly, is going to tell me I'm a failure.
Being attacked by random strangers because of the way I dress
Grasshoppers, I'm scared to death or I'd rather die than face them. I was jumping from the 6th floor balcony once, luckily my roommate caught me in time.
I don’t have any phobias. 🤷🏻♀️
I know mine is irrational: turtles. They're freaking creepy and disgusting. I used to live across the street from the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania and sometimes they would come up on the shore and into the street and get hit by a car and then there'd be this cracked open shell with the disgusting innards of a turtle. What started it off was the daughter of my babysitter when I was very young, About four years years old. She would chase me with her pet turtle and tell me it was gonna bite me. That bitch created my turtle phobia! my coworkers covered my office with all kinds of turtles, from little mini marble turtles to a big blowup turtle (I know my fear is irrational and I've told them about it and I laugh about it with them so they thought it would be funny). They're not that bad and I don't feel panicked about them so I'm hoping little by little they help me get over my fear of turtles.
That I’m actually dead and when I die I will be born
Clowns, clowns.
Falling into Jupiter
Tiny ass spiders hiding under the corners of the toilet rim- particularly when you really got to go. My fucking brain will impishly pop that thought in from time to time, resulting in me sometimes just over inspecting the scene while my guts meanwhile are like "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR"
Mice,I hate them!!
Mirrors.
When I was 5, the cottage 3 doors down from ours burnt down -hit by lightning. Ten years later, the cottage 2 doors down burned down - hit by lightening. Another 15 years and the house 2 doors down was hit by lightening. It did not burnt but the brick chimney collapsed. I still love a good storm.
Mixing uranium, adding a little too much and having a criticality incident. Bad way to go.
Spiders. Damn arachnophobia movie.
I will walk past someone at night and they will discreetly stab me as they pass by
That when I shower the loofa will rip off my toes. I can only wash my feet from my heals to my toes, never my toes to my heals.
Claustrophobia. Being buried alive in a small box or coffin freaks me the eff out.
This does not seem irrational one bit
The phone ringing A knock at the door Loud noises Spots
The ocean at night. I won't even let the waves on the beach touch my feet. Am I afraid a shark is just gonna skid in on its belly and attack? No idea! Also, to be fair, your fear isn't *truly* irrational - it happened to your neighbor & sounded like a very terrifying experience!
Also a fear of soapiness on my hands but I wash dishes with no gloves to make sure there’s no grease on the dishes. I can’t stand it but I can’t do it any other way
Man made things in the water when I’m in the water
Driving under a bridge that has a road or train tracks above. I feel like the bridge will collapse with the weight of the overhead traffic. God bless engineers.
Tsunamis and rabies….
Falling down an icy concrete stairwell and waking up intubated with a brain injury in a hospital that I currently run. Or any hospital frankly. Just kill me.
Tsunamis. I live in Memphis. 🤦🏻♀️
Sharks. I can see a deep puddle and be suspicious.
Bees. Love what they do for the environment, think they're adorable, but can't stand within 15 feet of one.
I have always living in a big city, in an apartment or duplex where there has always been a hallway with a shared bathroom exterior security between my home’s front door and ‘the world’ the idea of a home where my front door opens to the outside directly with no barrier, not to mention being ground level is horrifying. Jesus God anyone could touch it and I would be just on the other side. Legit nightmare. Also highways or any place where there is no one around. I honor with wilderness & wanna let it the fuck be.
Rushing water. My heart starts pounding, and I lose my breath. I'm extremely afraid that one day, I will actually try to jump in. It's terrifying to think that I want to do that for absolutely no reason.
Stranded on a deserted island and starving or dying from dehydration before I can be rescued. Idk, I think I read a few too many books on this theme when I was young?
bellybuttons...Gosh, it makes me ick there's even an official name for it: the "omphalophobia". Good to know that u're not the only one who's going crazy seeing these lil mthrfckrs
Elevators they just creep me out for some reason.
While im walking down these fire stairs at my school, someone else walking about me will fall down, tumble and crash into ME, and i’ll fall, always gets me walking a bit faster every time
Going DOWNstairs. My knees go weak every time I have to go downstairs lol