Author Topic: Phobias  (Read 32757 times)

Thaurismunths

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on: April 24, 2007, 05:26:45 PM
What's yours?

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Thaurismunths

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Reply #1 on: April 24, 2007, 05:34:20 PM
The chest freezer in my basement.
It's not the cold, and it's not claustrophobia; It's the scraping of the ice.
Just thinking about rummaging around in it for steaks or frozen vegetables makes me want to break out in a cold sweat.

(Hey! Stop snickering! It's a phobia because I have no rational reason to be afraid of it) ;)

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


clichekiller

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Reply #2 on: April 24, 2007, 06:50:42 PM
Spiders!!!
And if you asked my wife housework



lowky

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Reply #3 on: April 24, 2007, 08:23:07 PM
claustrophobia and demophobia (fear of crowds) To me the later is more a subset of the former.  Crowds in general don't bother me so much as being stuck in a crowd bodies pressing in from all sides.  Get the same way in heavy traffic, so I think it's more the claustrophobia thing.  Didn't used to bother me much til I got stuck in an elevator during a power outage for over an hour.  At least I wasn't alone, my roommate and another friend were stuck with me. 


Bdoomed

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Reply #4 on: April 29, 2007, 01:16:23 AM
i dont really have a phobia... im scared of heights but thats just looking down from high up and gettin vertigo. i have no problem being high up... edges kinda creep me out tho

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Holden

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Reply #5 on: May 06, 2007, 02:07:28 PM
Pretzels used to disturb me (specifically, small straight pretzels with large granules of salt cohered to them). Not only did I not want to touch them, I didn't want to be in the same room. Eating them was absolutely unthinkable. I conquered this fear about six years ago, though. Now I'm able to say, "I'm not afraid of pretzels; I eat them!"

Here's a pic of the type of pretzels that used to...disturb me.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Mini_pretzel_rods.JPG

Emory boards still bother me a bit, but it's not a fear thing. I don't like the way the feel or the way they sound when someone is using one. Feeling or hearing emery boards can sometimes make me convulse, but I'm afraid of them. I could be in the same room as an emery board and not be bothered at all.



Alasdair5000

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Reply #6 on: May 06, 2007, 04:29:07 PM
Used to be spiders.  Now, not so much.  I have a top size that if they're over I go into screaming girlie man mode but aside from that...I kind of like them now.  They're faintly goofy (Eight eyes!  What's up with that?! etc).

   Now, it's heights and claustrophobia (Big guy, small spaces...).  I live in York and periodically we go up the central tower of the Minster.  There's a point halfway up where you step out of the staircase and onto a gantry which is about six storey's off the ground and about this wide.  Normally by that stage though I'm so wired about having spent ten minutes in a staircase narrower than I am that the height terror is a welcome change:)



Russell Nash

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Reply #7 on: May 30, 2007, 11:04:59 AM
I had an MRI recently and discovered a newly found bit of claustropobia.  Before I was never scared of small places unless there was some reason to expect they were unsafe like digging some kind of tunnel.  I don't consider that a fear as much as just good survival instinct and common sense.

I think the MRI got me, because everybody always talks about how claustropobic they are.  Also with the thing started it made a sound a little like a fire alarm and I was thinking, "Oh no. I'm stuck in here and the place is going to burn down.

After a little deep breathing and counting my problem was just that it was boring as hell.



Thaurismunths

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Reply #8 on: May 30, 2007, 11:34:35 AM
I think the MRI got me, because everybody always talks about how claustropobic they are.  Also with the thing started it made a sound a little like a fire alarm and I was thinking, "Oh no. I'm stuck in here and the place is going to burn down.

I don't think I'll ever be able to get an MRI with out thinking of "The Killing Jars."

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Bdoomed

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Reply #9 on: May 30, 2007, 05:43:03 PM
I think the MRI got me, because everybody always talks about how claustropobic they are.  Also with the thing started it made a sound a little like a fire alarm and I was thinking, "Oh no. I'm stuck in here and the place is going to burn down.

I don't think I'll ever be able to get an MRI with out thinking of "The Killing Jars."
haha i was just thinking that!
the next time i need an MRI, i'm gonna be so freaked out about anything and everything

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Listener

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Reply #10 on: May 30, 2007, 06:47:49 PM
Pretzels used to disturb me (specifically, small straight pretzels with large granules of salt cohered to them). Not only did I not want to touch them, I didn't want to be in the same room. Eating them was absolutely unthinkable. I conquered this fear about six years ago, though. Now I'm able to say, "I'm not afraid of pretzels; I eat them!"

One of the guys from Penny Arcade is that way with the "ass" of foods -- the end of the bread, the pucker at the tip of a hot dog, etc.

I had an MRI recently and discovered a newly found bit of claustropobia.  Before I was never scared of small places unless there was some reason to expect they were unsafe like digging some kind of tunnel.  I don't consider that a fear as much as just good survival instinct and common sense.

I had a scan done once on my kidneys.  They had this really cool version of an open MRI -- it was one big donut that I was on the table and slid through.  The only thing I didn't like was that the tech was just, "pull down your jeans so the metal doesn't interfere with the scan" so I'm laying (lying? I always get that wrong) on my stomach on the table with my ass facing the door (I had shorts on, but still).  They didn't even offer a blanket.

I'm not really afraid of anything with a phobia-like intensity, but even thinking about paper cuts gives me that freaky taste/feeling under my tongue that you get when you're really disturbed by something.

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Russell Nash

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Reply #11 on: May 30, 2007, 07:50:02 PM
I think the MRI got me, because everybody always talks about how claustropobic they are.  Also with the thing started it made a sound a little like a fire alarm and I was thinking, "Oh no. I'm stuck in here and the place is going to burn down.

I don't think I'll ever be able to get an MRI with out thinking of "The Killing Jars."
haha i was just thinking that!
the next time i need an MRI, i'm gonna be so freaked out about anything and everything

I was thinking about that while I was in the "tube".  I just couldn't come up with the name while I was writing the message.  Also I didn't look at the tube as I was getting settled down.  When the table slid in, the edges of the tube pushed my arms in.  I had a minor freak wondering how far it was going to squeeze me.  Turned out it wasn't very far.



Thaurismunths

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Reply #12 on: May 31, 2007, 11:22:46 AM
I'm not really afraid of anything with a phobia-like intensity, but even thinking about paper cuts gives me that freaky taste/feeling under my tongue that you get when you're really disturbed by something.
Funny thing about phobias. One of my psyche profs spent about half a class session trying to explain that "Phobia is an irrational fear of something" and that "irrational" means that you have no reason to be scared, not that you're going to curl up in to a ball and wet yourself. Phobia only denotes that you have no logic basis for a fear, not that silly things scare you to death. So, for instance, if pretzels make you nervous, that's a phobia, but if pretzels make you nervous because the remind you of getting beaten as a child, it's no longer a phobia, but a real fear.
Just wanted to clear up that very, very common misconception.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Russell Nash

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Reply #13 on: May 31, 2007, 06:22:53 PM
I'm not really afraid of anything with a phobia-like intensity, but even thinking about paper cuts gives me that freaky taste/feeling under my tongue that you get when you're really disturbed by something.
Funny thing about phobias. One of my psyche profs spent about half a class session trying to explain that "Phobia is an irrational fear of something" and that "irrational" means that you have no reason to be scared, not that you're going to curl up in to a ball and wet yourself. Phobia only denotes that you have no logic basis for a fear, not that silly things scare you to death. So, for instance, if pretzels make you nervous, that's a phobia, but if pretzels make you nervous because the remind you of getting beaten as a child, it's no longer a phobia, but a real fear.
Just wanted to clear up that very, very common misconception.


Thanks for the clear distinction. I'll be explaining that to someone I know tomorrow.



Simon Painter

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Reply #14 on: May 31, 2007, 07:57:16 PM
I'm terrorfied of bees and wasps.  I've absolutely no idea what caused that one, but I get utterly insensible whenever one of them gets near me.

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Reply #15 on: May 31, 2007, 08:44:58 PM
I'm terrorfied of bees and wasps.  I've absolutely no idea what caused that one, but I get utterly insensible whenever one of them gets near me.

So's my wife.  She's afraid because she's never been stung.

She also used to be pathologically afraid of barf -- either barfing herself, or seeing it on TV or seeing someone else do it.  Now that we have a baby, and now that she had very severe morning sickness, she's a little more okay with it, but she still turns away whenever she sees it on ER or something.

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #16 on: June 05, 2007, 11:17:35 AM
I have a fear of bees that might be a phobia.
I was attacked by a hive as a child. I only got stung three or four times, but being surrounded by a swarm is scary as heck when your 5.
In my adult life I've been stung a few times, and it really just doesn't bother me. They don't hurt much, and it goes away in a few hours. Unfortunately, I freak the hell out if I hear something buzz by my. Just the sound of a bee/wasp flying sets me on edge, and should a friendly bumble bee wander past my leg, I nearly jump out of my skin.
You can imagine how amusing hiking can be for my companions when we cross open fields.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2007, 11:21:40 AM by Thaurismunths »

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


AmoryLowe

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Reply #17 on: June 17, 2007, 01:41:46 PM
Harpsicords...

I won't say anything more.



Leon Kensington

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Reply #18 on: July 09, 2007, 04:30:02 PM
Clowns, minor claustrophobia, MRI's (especially after that one PP episode), needles, and suffication.  I don't know were many of them come from but a few I can barely control (mainly the suffication and claustrophobia) but others I can get over easily if I must.  Unless there are clowns with needles surrounding me in a box canyon.  Chills...



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Reply #19 on: July 10, 2007, 06:28:54 AM
Bees, wasps, hornets, and any black and yellow flying insect that looks like one.
I've had it long before I ever got stung (which wasn't so painful after all). I can still point out a place where I saw a bee once near my grandparents' garage (back in, like 1963 or so) which I avoided for years.

Last summer bumble bees were getting into my basement and hanging out near the window by my work bench. some were alive, but about 1/3 of them were dead on the floor. I came up with the scheme of sucking them up (dead ones and living) with a shop-vac with an extra couple of extension tubes on the hose. Worked even better when I added an inch of soapy water to the canister, so they drowned almost as soon as they hit the bottom. That way, I was able to empty the canister without wondering if there were going to be some PO'd live bees waiting for me inside. I was collecting anywhere from 10 to 20 bees each day for a couple of weeks with the shop-vac and a strong flashlight, then nothing. None this year either.

I don't mind spiders (even in the house), as long as they stay off me. I figure they're just doing their job of catching flies and mosquitos. I would never pick one up. Most other insects and arachnids either, but I wouldn't jump up spilling my coffee to avoid them like I would for bees.

On the other hand, I have no trouble handling houseflies, caterpillars, fireflies, ladybugs, ants, and small hermit crabs.

I used to be able to climb trees and (later) towers, but about when I turned 35, I just could not go any higher than about 40 feet, even with a safety harness and safety rail inside a triangular tower. One day I tried going up about four times. I'd be on the ground, look up, and say, Okay I'm surrounded by the tower structure, I've got this harness on, which is clipped to a rail on the ladder that stops you before you drop a few feet, and I could go totally limp and nothing would happen to me. I had done it before, with less safety equipment, on the outside of a higher tower, but this time I'd only get to 40 feet high or so, and I'd have to go back down. Once I got on the ground, I could not remember what was so bad about the height, so I'd start climbing up again. Reach 40 - 50 feet, I freeze again, and go back down. Four times in a row.
I'm fine with aircraft, balconies with decently high railings, glass elevators on the outside of buildings, and I'd probably try hang-gliding too. Jumping off a ten-meter diving board (into a pool of water, of course) is my idea of a good time, but maybe that's because it's just under my limit.

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Reply #20 on: January 05, 2009, 03:54:52 PM
Water.  Well, water over 7ft deep.  I freak out when anyone gets near me in a pool over 7ft deep.  If someone touches me, I might drown us both.  My wife wants me to go on a cruise!  Just a week or so ago, SOMEONE FELL OFF THE CRUISESHIP!!!  No thank you, I'll fly.

Not a phobia, but I get freaked out if people crowd me.  I can be in a tiny area and be fine, but put me in an area with some kind of boundaries and put a person in there with me and there might be blood.  It could be a 5' x 5' area with just a bar at 3' off the ground, and I still might hurt someone.  The intensity of the irritation is proportionate to the stupidity of the individual near me and the degree of physical exertion I'm engaged in.



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Reply #21 on: January 05, 2009, 08:06:13 PM
Heights (on ladders and ledges - not in planes) and claustrophobia.  I had a hell of a time when I heard that I needed an MRI on my head a couple years ago. 

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


cuddlebug

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Reply #22 on: January 05, 2009, 10:08:03 PM
PEOPLE - am agoraphobic and eytanz can tell you exactly what starts to happen to me when I am not far from a panic attack.

it isn't too bad though, it's just that I can't deal with crowds and have panic attacks when I feel like there is not enough room to breathe or I can't find an escape route. start to hyperventilate, cold sweat, get dizzy, really low blood sugar, have palpitations, that sort of thing, and the funny thing is ...

..... tuh dah ... I start taking my clothes off. Weird I know.

I have no problem with open spaces though, and am not klaustrophobic, have no problem with elevators, unless there is a crowd.

It is actually quite mild, more like a milder social phobia, makes me very bad at parties, dance clubs, bars and such. Oh, and concerts are slightly problematic. That's where I had my first panic attack, at a smallish concert when I was 14, blacked out, wasn't nice. But I survived the Jonathan Coulton concert quite well, despite the breakdown I had when I found out we JUST MISSED NEIL GAIMAN by about 3 minutes.   >:(



eytanz

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Reply #23 on: January 06, 2009, 01:01:39 AM
PEOPLE - am agoraphobic and eytanz can tell you exactly what starts to happen to me when I am not far from a panic attack.

I can't really - I mean, the most I've ever seen is that you get really uncomfortable and have to leave the crowded area.

As for my own phobias - have a minor fear of heights, especially on high balconies and bridges (walking, I don't get it driving). Anywhere where there is a low railing tends to be more terrifying than no railing at all.

I have a fear of horses, as a result of a childhood event where I was almost crushed by one. Not sure if that's quite a phobia, though, as I don't get uncomfortable if I see a horse, I just don't like getting near them.



Alasdair5000

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Reply #24 on: January 07, 2009, 11:56:55 PM
Spiders.  For ages.  Now not so much provided they're not eighty feet wide, undead and covered in blood and ebola or anything...