Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls What do you fear?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The only thing I have a real aversion to is scary movies, but that's because I've been traumatized enough. Freddy, The Ring, Jason.. you get a supernatural villain, and I will freak out a bit. If there's a mortal villain, that's fine, you can fight back. But you can't fight the supernatural!

LabRat

Interesting poll.

I have a fear of heights. It's not a crippling fear, but it's there. I remember when I was really young (before 12 years old), I was really afraid of heights. When I walked across an overhead bridge, I walked right in the middle and kept my eyes on the bridge floor. Even looking over the railings and seeing the cars zoomed pass underneath me was enough to trigger the "falling" feeling. It's not so much the height that bothers me, I think, but rather the depth. I went up the CN Tower (tallest free standing structure in the world) in June, and I was fine looking out of the windows and seeing the view of Toronto city from up there. The glass floor was a different story. It took me some time to prepare myself before I was willing to walk over it. When I looked down, I felt like I was falling. :p Anyhow, I'm glad that I've grown out of my phobia. At least, I have a higher tolerance for heights compared to the time when I was 12.

This is just an observation, but I find it interesting that nobody here has mentioned that they are afraid of public speaking. After all, more people are afraid of public speaking than they are of death.


metwin1

Okay, I was going to be quiet, but I have to add my voice to the others who are afraid of spiders. Can't stand the nasty little things! It used to just be spiders, but since I got to college I've extended it to bugs in general. More common bugs I can deal with (ants, ladybugs, etc), and anything that flies is pretty much okay, but little creepy crawly things just freak me out. I think originally I was afraid of spiders because my Mom was afraid of them when I was little. I adored her and anything that scares your mom must be pretty darn terrifying indeed!

I can let them live if they're outside, but if they're in my house they have to die (if someone else wants to rescue them, that's okay, but if it's up to me I'm going to kill them). And if I find them on the wall or something I can usually just kill them and be done with it, although I'd rather call my brother to do it for me <g>. But I cannot stand finding them in crazy places, and they seem to know it and hide out just for me! I found one hiding among the pencils in my desk drawer once, and another sealed up in the cellophane on my lampshade! How the hell did he get in there? (And, more importantly at the time, how the hell was I supposed to get him out?!)

And cats are no help at all! The couple of times I've pointed out spiders to Twilight she's been completely uninterested. Buttercup, Ian's cat, will chase after them a bit but not actually kill them, which isn't particularly useful. Once I had one cornered behind the trash can. Buttercup was watching one side and I was kneeling on the floor with a shoe in hand on the other side; between the two of us I figured we could keep it there until my brother came home and he could kill it for me. Of course, Buttercup didn't understand the plan and got bored of waiting, so she reached in with one paw and slapped the spider, which of course sent it running for cover straight at me! I screamed and jumped and threw the shoe at it and hyperventilated for fifteen minutes . Then I just left the shoe in the middle of the kitchen floor and waited till someone else came home to clean it up. I had this irrational idea that if I picked the shoe back up, the spider was somehow going to come back to life and come running at me again. My Dad came home and laughed at me, but he cleaned it up for me

There was also the time I woke up and saw a spider on my cabbage patch doll next to me in bed-- I'd never gotten out of bed that fast! Or the one I found on my shirt while trying on old clothes... That one had me crying hysterically. I'd had a really horrible week, and my reactions definitely seem worse when I'm stressed out. And unfortunately spiders seem to really, really like my dorm. They don't come inside too much, but once I counted 18 of them in the windows in the stairwell...

When I got to college I started to worry about other creepy crawly things. Once when I was extremely stressed out I was packing a suitcase and some weird worm/caterpillar/furry thing came running out of it at me. So then I didn't like caterpillary things.

And one day shortly thereafter I went to the bathroom to take a shower and found a giant centipede on the wall. It was as long as my hand and as big around as my finger. It was on the other side of the handicapped shower stall, so probably six or seven feet away from where I would actually be showering, but that was too close. I didn't even want to get close enough to kill it. I just admitted defeat and surrendered the bathroom to it! So then I didn't like centipedes either

If I knew they were going to be there, I think I'd survive. It's the shock I don't like. Especially when they're coming at me! <shudder>


Kaylle

Oy, join the bug club, Kaylle. When we evacuated campus for Hurricane Ivan last semester, the ants apparently took up residence and started a colony, namely, in my bathroom that I share with 3 other people. However, my latest anti-bug award goes to moths and mosquitos. They're the bane of my existence lately because I have to open the windows to air out all the smells of turpentine when I paint. The bugs clearly take it as an invitation to come right on in and settle down in my room. If it flies, it doesn't need to be anywhere near me. I hate the shock factor, too.

JD
:p

That's partly my problem with spiders, too. Although that part mostly comes into the annoyed bracket rather than the fear. I mean, if you're scared of mice you can jump on a chair if one starts running around the room and just get out of its way. But you just can't get away from these beggers. They're everywhere.

And LOL, I have that same philosophy - if they stay out of my territory that's fine. But if they come into the house, they definitely asked for it! Although, I'd love to be able to capture them and just let them out into the garden, rather than killing them. Since they're so harmless they don't really deserve killing. Some hope though.

I have a huge list of things that I do, based on previous experiences over the years. Like, I'm wary about reaching out to switch on a lamp if it has a shade - after the time one fell out of the shade and onto my hand when I did. Or walking under a lampshade on the ceiling after one fell out of one and landed on my shoulder, of closing curtains, after I found a big one sitting on the bedroom curtains...And so on.

I had a brief period of relaxation when I discovered that a wasp spray actually killed most of them - very, very slowly - but it got there eventually. They'd sit there looking unperturbed for about half an hour and then suddenly fall off the wall, all eight legs in the air. Which, I'm ashamed to admit, I always found very satisfying. Until I read that any poison strong enough to kill a spider is strong enough to kill a human ten times over! So that put paid to using that. The house used to reek of the stuff. <g>

Centipedes and that kind of thing don't really bother me. I did have a pretty freaky encounter with one a few years back, mind you. I was in the office at work, eating a peach for lunch. Was down to the last few bites, when the stone suddenly split apart in my hand as I lifted it to my mouth and out of the corner of my eye I saw this thing uncurl from the centre of it and launch itself into the air. Shrieked like a banshee and dropped the peach and then spent the next fifteen minutes trying to persuade my colleagues I wasn't nuts, because there was nothing there.

Eventually, one of my colleagues moved a file binder and there it was on the side of it. A centipede about as long as my ring finger.

I swear I've cut peaches up and disposed of the stone before eating them ever since.

And now that I've freaked out all those who love peaches...I'm off for breakfast.

LabRat

Spiders and heights seem to be winning and shockingly those were my top two and both are situational for me. Spiders I can sort of handle if I see them first and know they're there, but if they sneak up on me, conniption city!! Jumping, screaming, running, frantic brushing of hands through hair...you know.

Heights I can handle if I have something to hold onto. I climb like a monkey, even at my 35 year old self and have no problem sitting in a tree or on a bushy, craggy cliff top that can handle me, but you leave me out there free form, no handles, nothing and watch me pee my pants. We went to the Grand Canyon and found this one slice in the side that dropped straight down and, unwisely looking over, I thought I was gonna puke. My poor hubby had to drag me away as I had frozen up. Recovered quickly, but nightmares of toppling over are reaccuring.

TEEEEEJ

When I was very young I was getting in bed and a spider came walking up between my sheets. I made my mother tear all the sheets off my bed and inspect them to make sure that it wasn't a mommy spider with a bunch of babies.

Snakes terrify me because the summer I was about 6 I was almost bitten twice by poisonious (sp) snakes at both the front and back door of our house. They were both on the brick wall. One leapt off the wall at me as I stepped out of the front door and missed my head and foot both by a fraction. Ever since have hated snakes. Especially since I can't tell poisonous from non-poisonous.

Have a terrible fear of heights that have made it difficult to fly, use bridges and open balconies. I fly now but make sure I get an aisle seat - for some reason that helps. If the bridge is flat and not too high its okay but for bridges that do bother me I make sure that if it is multiple lanes not to be on the outside lane. I have also learned to tunnel my vision so that I am conccentrating on the vehicle in front of me - the bigger the better like an 18 wheeler. That way I'm not seeing the down part. Its not the bridge but the height. I can go across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel which is 15 miles long and it doesn't bother me but the Annapolis Bridge is really hard. Its the height.

One phobia I have but don't know what it is called is a fear of water that I can't see through. A swimming pool doesn't bother me but water that I can't see what is in it drives me crazy. If I go in the ocean I have to have raft and I pull my feet up as soon as possible and I can't wade in it except at the very edge. The reason is when I was 9 I was in the ocean no higher than my knees and a crab tore up the ball of my left foot with its claws. Ever since the only way I can stand to be in water that I can see what is in it is to not have my feet on the bottom hanging on to a raft. So even though I live at the beach I never go in the ocean.

Edit: Found this in the page Anna linked to - this is what we have: Cleithrophobia or Cleisiophobia - Fear of being locked in an enclosed place. <g>

That is exactly what I have, too, Anne, so I completely understand you. I'd hate a joke like that too. I am not afraid of small spaces if I know I can get out. I still hate elevators, and I'm always uneasy in them, but I can ride them. As soon as I'm locked in, I freak.

Re elevators, I've hated them ever since I was little and my mom told me the story of how she and her friends got stuck in one when they were little and waited for the operators for hours to get them out. That idea terrifies me. Plus I get the uneasy feeling that the cord is going to snap. I have to add that the elevators in Canada are about 4 times bigger than the ones I had to ride in back in Israel. They're tiny. When I visited this summer my family would take the elevator all the time and I avoided it at all cost. Fortunately we were only talking 2 or 3 stories, not 14, like here (oh, the fun I had clibing THAT up and down. I may get a nice view out my window, but just wait til the fire alarm goes off with no reason). <g> And no, I don't know why they were taking the elevator down 2 or 3 stories.

Going back to the topic, I can't *stand* being locked anywhere. It was worse when I was little, but it's still there. From the time I was in grade 3 til the time we moved here, I've had my own key and would come home alone from school every night. My parents would only come home much later in the evening. I used to never lock the door behind me, because I had the uneasy feeling that it might not open again. My parents told me, repeatedly, to lock it when I'm alone, but I could never bring myself to do it.

Furthermore, when I *did* find myself locked somewhere, I freaked out, went into hysterics, and had my heart racing and my airways tightning. Even if I wasn't alone.

Once in elementary school, me and the rest of the class, including the teacher, got locked inside a classroom. I started crying hysterically, even though obviously I knew were were going to get out eventually. Even if we didn't open the door, there was a small window from the classroom to the hallway which students could fit through, so while the teacher wouldn't encourage me to climb through it, I'd like to have seen her stop me if it took them longer to open it. <g> I also have to add that I was the only one in hysterics.

Another time I got locked in the school gym with a girl a year older than me. We were only locked in it for a little while, less than 20 minutes, probably, now that I think about it, but it seemed like forever. She kept telling me to calm down, but I was in hysterics again.

And another time, when I was 12, we were having stuff done to our apartment and the door to my new room had no handle on it yet. My friend's dad was the one doing the work, and he was right outside the room we were in (my friend and I). She closed the door, forgetting the missing handle, and of course we got locked inside. Now, he was *right* outside the door and opened it in about 30 seconds with a screwdriver or something, but in those 30 seconds I went into hysterics again.

Then, when I was 13, I was riding down the elevator and it was packed with people, so I was definitely not alone, when there was a power shutdown for abour a minute. In that minute, the elevator stopped, and the lights went out, and while all the other people just sort of went, "dammit," I started freaking out and screaming for them to press the alarm. A minute later the lights went back on and the elevator opened on one of the bottom floors, so we all exited and took the stairs down the remaining few flights... but I think those people thought I was a lunatic. <g>

I also have Phasmophobia - the fear of ghosts (Wendy, put away the lipstick <g>). Yeah, I know I wouldn't normally find a white sheet floating around out to get me, and I'm only *really* afraid of them at night, but still.

Once I was at the computer at night, and some plastic bags that were on the balcony started rattling because it was windy. And they were white. <g> In addition to that, back in my room I had a huge picture on the wall, and the frame was pretty light, so the wind coming from my open window made it knock against the wall every few minutes. That night I thought the place was haunted. I was in tears at the computer and in an IM convo with a friend, who told me I was being a wuss.

And really, I know I was... but I can't help it. At night, whenever I need to leave my room, I feel uneasy until I turn a light on. Fear of the dark accompanies this, though I don't know if I'd call it a phobia.

Also, like Karen, I hate scary movies. A lot. I ran out of the room in tears when I watched Scream and couldn't sit through it (course, I was 11), after only the first victim died, and when I watched The Ring there were at least two parts where I ran out of the room and started crying. I did sit through it, though. In agony.

I'm also afraid as hell of death. Not necessarily my own. I'm often paranoid about things, but for the most part I get over them.... besides worrying about my family. I find myself thinking, each time my dad leaves for work or I leave for school, "what if this is the last time I see them?" I suppose in a way it makes me not take things for granted, but it also ruins my nerves. When someone is late to come home I freak out. Once I came home from school, expecting to see my whole family home... instead, no one was home. I called my best friend, in tears, and kept her on the phone for about an hour until they came home, and in that hour came up with so many horrible theories of what might have happened to them that it couldn't have been healthy. I know it's natural to worry for family when they're late, but not this much.

I get nightmares about things like that, what might happen to them, and I'm always really, really upset when I wake up. I don't want to elaborate here, but again, it can't be normal and healthy. I'm really paranoid about these things. Sometimes I even feel like I know something horrible is going to happen eventually, and I'd like it if it just happened so I could stop being afraid of anything else happening. I know that it doesn't make any sense, of course, and I also know that I probably will still be just as paranoid, if not more, if anything happened (/me knocks on wood) but I can't help thinking that way sometimes. I think it might be because I haven't experienced any losses so far, and I know I'll have to at some point. I don't know the name for this phobia, but it's definitely a phobia.

Here's my... 2 dollars <g> It was great to get off my chest. Thanks for the thread, Anna. I'm finding other people's posts fascinating, by the way - like Wendy, I really admire those of you who are conquering their phobias, and it's kind of nice to know I'm not a lunatic after all. Sorry for ranting for so long, hope it wasn't too tough to get through. <g>

Julie

OK, I should have read though the posts before voting. 'Cause I don't really have any of the phobias listed. I'm only afraid of heights if I could fall. If there are railings, I'm more afraid that something I have with me will fall or float away (if it's papers). Like if there are binoculars or a camera around my neck, I have this niggling fear that somehow the perfectly good strap will break. On a trip my class took to Costa Rica (we built a school), we took a day off to ride on a ship around, and someone had their camera sitting on a bench right next to the water--and I was all "put it around your neck!!!"

Snakes--I'm afraid of being bitten, that's it. If I know I won't be bitten (like if someone's holding it), then they're neat and I like petting it.

Spiders . . . I am more afraid of the little ones that want to land on me than anything. Daddy-long-legs are cool! I used to remove them for this girl at summer camp, they'd be in the bathroom stalls. She was freaking out and I couldn't understand it. I had learned that they had such small mouths that they couldn't bite humans, so I was perfectly fine about picking them up, letting them crawl on my head, down my face . . . was fun to see others' reactions as they freaked out WATCHING. The little ones could bite me and that's what I'm afraid about. Never was around big ones, really, other than daddy-long-legs, but I think that tarantulas would be cool to pet, as long as I know they won't bite.

Hmm, I'm noticing a theme--I'm afraid of being HURT, not of the animals. OK, so I don't like pain or illness/injury of any sort and will avoid it as much as possible. Which is probably why I don't try anything risky, and have broken no bones yet, while my brother has broken several and knocked out some teeth in all the crazy stuff he's tried. Therefore, I love harmless stuff like earthworms--fun to play with and hold . . .

Hi

I voted and then thought about it for about four hours.

I picked only other.

I don’t know if I have a full blown fear, therefore phobia. I used to be too scared to see any sort of doctor or dentist, but I gradually got over it enough to see a doctor now. I went to a dentist regularly for a few years a few years back after not going from elementary to university. Though, I have to make myself go back now. I didn’t have the moola before so that was my excuse. Now my excuse is I have no time. The real reason is - I’m lazy.

I don’t have a fear of spiders. They are my friends. But I won’t go out of my way to touch ones that I think might bite; then I get scared.

I find I am afraid of dark corners, only when I am sleepy. My imagination goes wild. Is that a phobia? My psych prof says no, but sometimes it is really scary!

Heights…hmm. I don’t like going up ladders or standing on a roof. I’ve done it and get scared. though if I know I am safe and my agility is good (it isn’t now) I love it. Being able to see around. I would love to go sky diving, but I am afraid of being the part of the percentage that don’t make it. So….I kinda have a phobia? I have not been around high places a lot.

If I have control over a situation I am not scared. If I am being forced it depends. If I panic then it is gave over and I guess I get ‘phobic’ (brain power is minimal, can’t think of a good work). I think this plays for claustrophobia and some others. If someone poured a bowl full of ants or spiders on me I’d freak out, but trying my hardest not to kill them. Being stuck in an elevator or stuff like that doesn’t freak me out. Now if I get stuck in a cupboard and my air is compromised and don’t think I get out on my own then I’d get scared. But that’s not a phobia, that’s just "get me out!".

I’m leery of stuff.

I am frustrated by the idea of death that I think it scares me, but not to the point of it being a phobia. I just can’t grasp the idea of nothingness.

Okay. I guess I don’t have a phobia.

No wait! A HA! I have a fear of PAIN. No matter what I try and avoid it. I don’t go doctors, etc. b/c I don’t like them touching my eyes, ears and throat b/c I don’t want any pain. Dentist = pain (my root canal hurt way less than fillings), I want my ears re-pierced =pain. I would like a small tattoo = pain (well there’s also "will I like it in 10, 20 years?"), I want to skateboard again like I did nine years ago…um PAIN! I bought new in line skates …I’m afraid on them well guess what! PAIN. I have never fallen on my blades. I never tried many tricks b/c of pain. I got my first pair in ’95 and stopped using them in 2003 b/c they were creaking. I bought a new pair in 2004 and it just feels so different that I am afraid to fall = pain. What a waste of money.

I quit martial arts after 10 years b/c I didn’t want to spar any more. I could take the bruises, but when I was introduced into uncontrolled sparring…well PAIN!

I do have a fear of doing stuff in front of people. But I think that is a crazy anxiety thing. It prevents me from doing awesome in life. I get afraid and I take too many baby steps. Is there a phobia for that? Though, if I am confident that I know what I am taking about I am not afraid, e.g. public speaking… I guess it isn’t a phobia, just anxiety.

Ok I have it figured out now after my verbal spaz - I have a pain phobia.

****shad up Roo**** K

Bringing this thread back to the top as I have something to say. I don't know if this can be any help to other plane-phobics, but in the spirit of conquering my own fear, I'm going through an experience that I thought I'd share.

The one plane I always take is the Air France flight 358 from Paris to Toronto. I always take this one because it's the only direct flight that operates all year round, and I've got my frequent flyer card with Air France.

Now, some of you may have heard on the news that the Air France flight 358 crash-landed when it ran off the runway in Toronto airport last week. It happened during a major thunderstorm; visibility was poor, but the pilot still decided to go ahead and land. It turns out that the crash may have been caused by human error (they landed too far down the runway) and a sudden gust of wind that took them even further down. Thankfully, the cabin crew managed to get everybody out in under 2 minutes, before the plane caught fire.

Now, being the plane-phobic that I am, I have to confess the whole thing really spooked me. And all right, everybody got out alive, but for a while there I couldn't help think that it was truly spooky that a serious crash had to happen to the flight I usually take. What made it worse is that when I got over here (here being Canada) in July, I got very upset and frustrated because there was a huge thunderstorm over Toronto, which made our pilot decide to divert the flight over to Montreal. Back then, he explained to us passengers that the visibility was very poor, that more and more planes were circling around Toronto airport, and that we were running out of fuel, which was why we were flying off to Montreal to land there and refuel and wait until things got better. Back then I was extremely upset at having to go through another take off and landing, especially as these are the parts of the flight that I hate the most. Right now though, I wish I could see my pilot and thank him for his very sensible decision. If he hadn't taken that decision, it could have been my plane that crashed down into the ravine in Toronto.

You're probably wondering why I'm rambling on and whether I actually have a point.

Well, here's the thing. I was very lucky to have friends offer their unconditional support when I wasn't sure I could get back on a plane after hearing about the crash. I was very lucky to have a friend break the news to me very gently and focus on the fact that everybody got out alive. And I'm okay. And I have to fly back to France on Sunday, and I'm going to be fine and take that plane and okay, I'm probably going to be scared out of my wits, but I will cope, because fear cannot possibly win.

So here's a message to all plane-phobics (and I know we have at least a couple on the boards). You might think your phobia will always be there and that you'll never manage to conquer it, but I think that someday you will. And okay, you're never going to enjoy flying, and you will probably be scared of flying for a while even if you actually force yourself to take planes, but what matters is that if you decide to fight your fear, then the more you do it, the more in control you feel. And there are some steps backwards (as the past week or so was), but you get there, because you don't actually go all the way back to square one. I always thought that the day I heard about a plane crash, I'd be back to before I started flying - I'd never actually imagined that the flight involved would be my usual one... - but it didn't happen. And you know what? I'm not going to let it happen!

Kaethel

Well said, K! Keep going with that positive attitude.

Yvonne

Good for you, Kae! And yeah, when I heard about that flight crashing, my first thought was of you and how you were never going back to Europe But I'm glad to see I was wrong!

PJ

I'm very proud of you also, Kae, especially since I saw first hand that you really do have a phobia.

I'll be thinking about you all day today and wishing that I was there with you supporting you instead of cheering you on from afar.

Irene

Hope it goes well, Kae! It sure must have been a shock, and it's great that you managed to conquer your fear.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

Having watched Kae walk into the gate and conquer that side of her she had to defeat, I am definitely proud of her.

Kae, it's great that you won't let your phobia win over your life. You're a winner every time.

Julie

YAY!!!! I'm so proud of you, Kae!!!

Hope your return journey was nothing but boring and routine!

Let us know when you get home safely.

Sara

I'm home! Well, as home as France can ever be to me.

Anyway, got back into my apartment around 5 pm today, and I haven't slept in 29 hours so I'm a bit woozy right now (but funnily enough, rather hyper, too).

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who have posted your encouragement. Yesterday at the airport wasn't easy. :p So I want to give big hugs to Irene, who called Wendy's cell phone and talked to me and promised me she'd be with me in thought, Wendy and John, who were there all the way through, gave me hugs, reassured me while forcing me to be strong, and Julie, who was also an absolute sweetheart and a great support at the airport. You guys are fantastic!

The flight was a bit of a pain. I had to wait a long time before boarding as they improvised a huge security check at the boarding gate. They searched through every single passenger's carry-on. So we took off over two hours later than planned. As for the flight... well, some of you may have heard I'm crazy about rollercoasters (love 'em, can't get enough of 'em). So okay, I adore rollercoasters... but I'd never had a 7 hour ride before!!!! In other words, we went through turbulence all the way through, and some of them were pretty bad. :p It calmed down when we got to Ireland.

All right, so now I'm going to go and have some dinner and then I'll probably hop over to IRC before bedtime.

Btw, for those of you who've been trying to email me over the past week or so, apologies for the full mailbox. It's now been taken care of.

Kaethel