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Phobias! Do you have one? Have you ever?
Posted by melindaville • 4/16/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: bats, bugs, childhoos experiences, fear, humor, phobias
I have a terrible phobias about bats and bugs, which I discuss in my (hopefully) humorous article that I just posted on my blog.
My bat phobia stemmed from an traumatic early childhood experienc with them (which you can read about on my blog--hint--hint):)
blog.melindaville.com/
User Comments
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Bugs...particularly spiders. Rats give me the heebie jeebies, but mice just annoy me...go figure.
And heights...from a step ladder to flying, I don't like being more than one step above the earth.
I have learned, however, to not let these things limit me. Spiders still make me want to throw up, but I can get a can of Raid or a rolled up newspaper and dispatch them...and flying makes me a tense knot, but I do it. Giving in to irrational fear never got me anywhere I wanted to be!-
My phobia of bats is actually so bad that when I ran across one last summer when my husband was gone, I hid in my bedoom until morning and then I checked into a hotel!
That's a bad phobia! And shhhh! I'm a psychologist! Ha ha ha. -
I am the same.... Bugs and Spiders and snakes I run away from -
I love rats! I have a pet fancy rat named Pip and he is awesome. I do, however, have two strong fears:
Fear of arrest/the police and a deep discomfort with flying. -
gtally--I am also deathly afraid of being arrested. When I first was in recovery, every time I saw a cop car, I would go into a panic and automatically reach into my boot (which is where I used to hide my drugs). After 15 years of being clean, I still get nervous when I see cops.
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Bullets.
I just run away in terror when they start firing them.-
Ha ha ha. That's a reasonable phobia, I'd say!
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I can't think about "blood", but it's ok if I see it.-
Interesting! Blood doesn't bother me at all--but I used to be a junkie and used needles so I got pretty used to blood.
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Heights-
I'm also a little bit funny with heights--but nothing like bats!
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I HAVE A PHOBIA OF ALBINO MIDGETS. they scare me-
I know! And they are everywhere too! Life must be terribly difficult for you.
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Bugs and heights for me too. I'm also claustrophobic from time to time.-
I've never been claustrophobic--but I am so with you on bugs. Hate em! New York didn't help.
Oh--and I also don't like rats! Yuck!
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Yes I do have phobia with "snake" I can't stand it.....even pictures. I did encounter real snake when I was a kid...kinda freaky!!and I'm afraid of heights too.-
Snakes are awful too--but I don't quite have a phobia on them. I could easily develop one if I had a bad experience with one though!
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/writes down everyone's phobias...-
Planning to do a psychological study on all us weirdos at BC, Claire?
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Pffft nope, just torment you
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As a kid I was runtishly small & afraid of almost anything. The worst was claustrophobia & an unreasonable fear of the dark. Also escalators. My parents had me terrified about getting caught in the teeth at the end. All better now, though.-
That's good to hear! Actually, phobias are the easiest of all psychological problems to treat. Behavioral therapies such as systematic desensitization is often used and has very quick results--it's when you introduce the person to the feared object systematically and slowly.
I should probably do that for bats! -
The claustrophobia came from being so small & weak when I was young. I remember going into some restaurant bathrooms where the door was so heavy & hard to open I couldn't get out. That was the kind of problem that created that fear. When I got older, bigger & stronger, I didn't get trapped in such places anymore.
I really didn't get over my fear of the dark until my early teens, though.
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Snakes but it's justifiable.
Years ago, before children, I moved into an apt. on top of an old store. Cheap rent, huge apt. There were two apts over the store. People were moving out of the other as I moved in.
A few days later, I'm having a bath in this awesome clawfoot tub and see movement over by the door. The toilet's by the door. A snake comes out of the toilet and curls up in front of bathroom door. Apparently the neighbors who moved out had snakes and one got away during the move. They didn't choose to disclose this little detail to the landlord. It went from their apt. to mine through the plumbing. I got out by jumping over the snake and in my towel made it down the stairs and outside and refused to ever go back in.
The next day, my brother and his wife packed and moved my stuff to a more modern building with higher rent and less snakes.-
Wow! I would say that was definitely justifiable!
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I'm not as bad as I used to be but I admit I won't use rest stop facilities and I do snake checks in the garage regularly.
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I have a fear of falling. Stairs, balconies, fire escapes and large windows worry me.
Once I went out on my friend's balconey to have a cigarette. She's on the 23rd floor and when she looked out to check on me I was pressed against the wall, freaking out because I was convinced the wind would push me over. Yeah, I can't stand near railings or anything like that.
I don't think it's a severe phobia anymore though. I took ropes courses when I was in middle school to try and teach myself not to be afraid of falling anymore. Still afraid, but at least I can go up and down stairs.-
I have actually had a fear of falling down stairs also--but it's not a phobia. Every once in a while, I get this weird vision of myself flying down them, head over heels. I took a bad fall once, which likely explains it.
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Oooh--I hate all bugs! Ick!
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Spiders and bugs...but mainly spiders...I am absolutely hopeless! I walk around with a shoebox to throw over them in September when all the massive housespiders are prowling! You know, the ones that hiss at you... *shudder*
Shameless linkdrop: siuilaruin.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/creatures-from-the-dark/
me encountering a spider...-
SiuilARuin--I'm with you on the spiders--but any bugs just make me crazy! It was a big reason I moved back to San Francisco from NYC--because there are lots of icky creatures lurking there!
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Water once it is chin level and snakes.-
My sister is terrified of water also. I love to swim, so thankfully, that's not one of my fears.
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eww! what about a pile of snakes at chin level? gives me the shakes just thinking about it. -
I can't watch The Abyss it makes me hyperventilate
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That would definitely be awful. Being trapped in water with a bunch of snakes. Yikes!
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Ok that officially creeped me snakes/ water.
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you mean people!
"I'm scared of snakes and water"
"Ooh! imagine snakes AND water!"
mean mean mean -
This thread might actually trigger some phobias!
Shame, shame, shame on ME!
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Spiders. Ever tried to kill a spider in your sink by running the water? they just seem to crawl BACK UP. Ew Ew Ew Ew.
I don't like slugs either. Ew Ew Ew Ew Ew-
Yes! I had that happen--it really creeped me out. Now I smash them with tissue and throw them away. My husband is kinder--he picks them up and puts them outside--but I can't pick up a live spider!
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you're better than me...no way am I getting close enough to squish one! I stand on the sofa and scream like a pathetic sissy!
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I'm that way with bats. I literally go crazy. My husband scoops them with a net and takes them outside. They don't bother him at all. Bugs I can deal with *slightly* better than bats--but bugs make me feel creepy too. And after I see a bug, I keep feeling crawly things on me. Ick!
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i'm what you would call acrophobic and a qualified thanatophobic. a piercing scream comes out of me when i suddenly see a dead animal: roadkill mostly, birds, etc.
i'm also a hemophobic (no, no, not homophobic; heeemophobic). i feel light-headed when i unexpectedly see blood. blood in movies is fine, but in real life is a different story.-
My mom is the same way with blood. In fact, when she gave blood the last time, she passed out!
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I have a problem with blood...MY blood. I used to work in an ER so other people's blood doesn't bother me. But I got my nose broken in a...erm...altercation once, and when I went to the ladies room afterward and saw the blood all over me...and I was still bleeding...I nearly passed out. I did pass out when I donated blood, and I can't watch when my blood is drawn or I get queasy and light-headed.
Snakes freak out my husband but don't bother me at all. Spiders, however, if large enough, will send me screaming from the room. My husband is not disturbed by them at all...not even baboon spiders which have visible fangs and eat mice and small birds!! So, if we get a snake, it's my job...the spiders are his! (Oh, and we flush them because we once thought he had squished one but it had just curled up and later it uncurled and crawled out of the tissue and then out of the trash can and I nearly died of fright!)
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small and very tight places and spiders.-
Spiders are winning as the most popular phobia! Spiders are awful, I agree--but they are no more awful to me than any bug (except ladybugs, which don't scare me at all).
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I hate that white polystyrene they pack stuff with I could never unpack a TV or a stereo I have to have someone else do it. The noise is just awful and the feel of it makes me shudder I would walk out of a room if someone brought some in. -
I can't really say I have a phobia. I really dislike stink bugs and it is the only thing that I will not even get close to. And if one lands on me I bug out! Funny they don't even bite, and yet I will let a 8 foot snake wrap around me and be cool with it. Yes I am strange
Oh yeah and I know a lot of people have a phobia of spiders, my mom is one, but they say it is bad luck to kill a spider. Just get a cat the spider is on their food chain
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I plan on getting some animals again at some point but my husband and I are bicoastal and so it is not in the animals best interest to live with us
When we stop this crazy back and forth across the country, I will definitely be getting a couple of cats and maybe even a new puppy. I love animals! No phobias there!
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I'm very shy to say "I love you" to woman who I love. Is it call phobia too?-
No--I don't think that is quite a phobia, unless you break out into a cold sweat and start screaming and crying like I do when I see a bat!
Just remember--we women are just as scared!
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red bell peppers - green are fine, yellow are fine and hot chilis are my favourite food. But red bell peppers, nup can't even be near them-
They make me gag...even the smell...or the tiniest amount in food I can taste...blech! But I wouldn't say I have a phobia of them...
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Yeah mine definately comes into the phobia catagory. I have to wash my hands if i come in contact with them.
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I'm like that with peas...I have serious issues with them...they are so disgusting I can't bear to touch them or have one near my food!
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You wouldn't last long in Yorkshire. Mushy peas are the food of the gods. That's actually what soylent green was made of.
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I actually feel sick now...you people are wrong in the head...
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That's how we are weened we go straight from the nipple to the mushy pea, of course it then goes to Yorkshire bitter back to the nipple and then round to the peas again.
It's a vicious circle, like the M25.
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@mtyler77
Your post was really hilarious. I left you a comment.-
Thank you, timethief! I saw that and responded. I appreciate it!
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OMG!!! I just posted about my snake phobia today.
I'll pop over now and give yours a read.
Hilarious!!!-
I'll be checking yours out also, Margo! You know what they say--great minds think alike!
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Indeed!
Thanks for stopping by - misery does love company! -
You're welcome--yours was a great article!
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Do I have to pick just one? That's far too limiting. I like to give all of my myriad phobias equal billing.-
LOL! I see I'm in good company!
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Yep - spiders.-
Ick! Spiders!
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I'm afraid of commitments.-
You must be male!
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Irrational fear of air travel. And guess what? I will fly to Belgium on Sunday.-
I hate flying myself--even though my hubby and I are bicoastal and we fly constantly. But this is a hatred rather than a phobia. I can get on a plane--but I don't like it! I think my hatred of flying is mostly based on what a hassly flying is anymore.
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Definitely spiders and being alone in the dark!-
Combine the two (and scale the spiders up a bit), and you've got a horror film!
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Spiders seem to be the most popular of the phobias, according to this non-scientific poll.
I don't like the dark either--as I have a long history of nightmares. I have a nighlight--and I'm in my 40's! -
As long as it's not a Barney-themed night light, it's all good.
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i had a huge fear of heights. but now it has reduced a great deal-
Irtiza! Hi! Long time, no see! Nice to see you here again.
I'm glad to hear your fear of heights has lessened. -
yap...it has been a while
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It's nice to see you! I need to go check up on your blog now.
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snakes and lizards!!! uuurrrrr -
I deal with any kind of phobia, and have information about most of them on my blog hypnotherapy-online.blogspot.com -
Acrophobic I am, I am afraid of heights, I get paralyzed with fear and the shakes. -
I have Alektraphobia -
Okay everyone! I have an update! You know how I just wrote this post out last week? Well last night--THE BAT showed its ugly miserable face in my house--totally freaked me out. Hubby's away and I am so outta here. I'm checking into a hotel for the rest of the week until Les returns!
God I really hate bats! Totally irrational I know--but G.D. my father for wrapping up that bat in a gift box when I was 4 years old. I blame him for my phobia! -
i'm have a bit of haemophobia, the sight of blood causes a bit of dizziness in me. i'm also acrophobic ... i can never be on a giant wheel or roller coasters. apart from that i also have a fear of losing those who are really close to me ...-
I have that same fear of losing someone close to me. My first husband died of an OD and I've lost a lot of friends. It's not a phobia, though--more just a fear.
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mtyler.....I share your bat phobia. I was in a cottage upstate and a bat flew inside during the middle of the night. I thought retreating inside the bedroom and closing the door would work, but somehow the bat crawled through a crack and started whizzing around. I grabbed my car keys and drove to the Marriott! LOL.
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