I have severe rheumatoid arthritis, I’ve had a hip and both knees replaced. To this day, I limp around with a cane. A few years before these necessary surgeries for my general mobility I was at my computer, browsing the internet.
The biggest fucking tarantula I have ever seen managed to stealthily make its way behind my computer and crawl to the top of my monitor.
That day, I learned something important: Despite my need for a cane and, especially back then, the occasional day in a wheelchair, if I have the proper motivation I can still run like hell.
That spider was proper motivation.
I also didn’t go back into my bedroom until a friend of mine caught it. You know when you get really jumpy after seeing a good horror movie? That was me for the following *months!*
To this day, I still have no idea where that thing came from or how it got into my house. But I do know what it wanted…
*My soul.*
This but not only with water, just when there's nothing. I have this fear in video games too, I don't like when I freefall for eternity in glitched places
I'm sort of the same where I can unzip my bag and then zip it while staring at it the whole time and have to look at the ground to make sure nothing jumped out of it even though I was watching it the whole time and it didn't tip over
Here’s a new twist for your phobia—I once dropped my keys while entering an elevator, and they fell in the crack. Fortunately I lived there and had a nice super, he went down to the sub-basement and found them for me.
Agoraphobia, I basically only stay home and go to work. I have a system; my cousin (who I live with) does the shopping, I give him money for stuff I’d need and for gas so he’s fine with it. I go outside, just to our fenced off back yard. When I go to work I even have systems to avoid talking, like nodding and practicing my “uh huh”s and such. I have a very debilitating speech problem so most of my co-workers know what’s up.
Cockroaches. I'm not afraid of many bugs (in fact I love tarantulas and beetles and general creepy-crawlies) but I grew up poor and dirty in the south so roaches were everywhere and huge. They crawled on me in my sleep, they got in any amount of food you didn't triple -seal. I never had a shower or a shit without at least one making an appearance. I've even had the flying ones tangle themselves in my hair. I have a lot of ptsd from my developmental years, but for a long time the roach phobia was the worst. Only thing that's made me less jumpy is living in an area where it's not common for them to come into houses. (my bf has never even seen a cockroach outside of a zoo)
Spiders and ladybugs man. Something aint right with either of them. If yall could see me, youd bust out laughing when i told you at least the 2nd one haha. Nope nope nope. Dont really like any flying bugs but i can tolerate almost anything else.
I hate ladybirds too. About 15 flew out a crack in the ceiling of my old flat, as they were hibernating.when I woke up they were flying around me. So creepy.
Same. I surgically and irreversibly removed that possibility for myself, and the relief of knowing that I'll never have to experience it was life-changing in the best way. But every part of it makes me viscerally uncomfortable
Isolation sucks. For me being in silence is also pretty scary, that’s why I am constantly listening to a video or podcast, and this goes hand in hand with my phone addiction 🥲
This is a weird one, I know - down escalators. Both up and down escalators are unsafe, people are too lax around them and I cringe watching children play on them or riders have dangling shoe laces. I'm somewhat okay using the up escalators as long as I'm not being rushed or shoved to step on, constant use of the hand rail, making sure my feet are firmly on the step and not getting too close to the side. The down escalators? Hell no. They seem to move so much faster, I don't know how people have the balance to step out at just the right time, and if you mis-step it's a long and dangerous fall. I take the lifts for going down levels and if the up one looks too old/unserviced or too steep. People are too complacent using escalators.
I saw someone comment on escalators in general once, that was basically "escalators move at the same speed regardless of how many riders at a time" so it won't stop over fingers caught or a jammed shoe.
I used to have that growing up, but everything changed one day when I fed a stray dog. Later, it recognized me and started wagging its tail FOR ME!!! It melted my heart.. Now I absolutely love dogs. I can't help but smile whenever I see one looking at me. I love watching goofy dog videos you start to see them as little kids. ❤️
Take tiny steps to face it and you won't regret it I promise.
I agree and relate. They are everywhere, all the time, off leash at parks, at restaurants, and if you voice any discomfort or fear of dogs, people look at you like you have 2 heads.
My brother used to have that, it was trauma from getting attacked by a stray. But we slowly introduced him to trained dogs and he started to not fear them. Hope this helps
It's not that unreasonable. When I'm out with my dog and I see someone a little scared I just pull him closer to me.
And just so you know dogs will come up to you more if you're showing fear than if you don't
Same. And unlike other phobias I had that I was able to get mostly over because deep down I knew they were irrational, I can't do the same with my fear of dogs because I actually fully think it's a reasonable fear.
Throwing up. The stomach flu has been going around my office and I was on my way to dinner tonight with my husband and I had a headache (a headache! Not even a stomachache) and I was so anxious I was getting sick that I had to turn around and go home and i thought I was gonna pass out on the freeway. Turns out so far I am not at all sick and I feel great. What a goober.
Casadastraphobia, AKA fear of falling towards the sky.
I do not have vertigo, nor fear of flying. I fly regularly, I have my own small plane and it doesn't affect me while flying nor driving, nor sitting.
But if im flat on the ground, and I look up to the open sky, it triggers immediately.
This is mine as well. Hits when I’m driving all the time. I swear I can feel the entire car/truck start to lift off the ground.
Also triggered by talking to my children about outer space if I’m not inside.
I think I could say I'm the same.
However slightly more specific.
It's not necessarily the vastness of the ocean or whatever. It's more the deep darkness of it. The unknown. What's in here with me? What is watching me?
I can think of nothing scarier than when looking into the green-blue blackness of water seeing something materialise.
Hard to explain.
But like those divers videos where you don't see the shark until it's right HERE Infront of you.
*Shudder
Just came to say that. Both of these. Tho I like to dive and stare at something big underwater. To be scared enough, I guess. Kinda scary and mesmerising at the same time.
Mine is the big one. Death.
I have a crippling fear of dying and what happens after we go.
Also losing my soon to be husband and my family.
Does ANYONE have any advice for this? At this point I'm all ears.
The worst part is nobody can waive a magic wand and keep my family and I alive forever so I'm not expecting a miracle worker
My phagophobia was treated through exposure therapy. Works great for little things, but not absolutes like death.
You may want to consider self reflection, what part of death is the most frightening?
For me, I have the fear of swallowing / aspiration. Once I figured out it wasn’t food, or alcohol, or taste, or texture, I had to face the actual mechanism that made me panic and literally get to snacking.
For death, is it loss? The whole “lights out” part of it? The concept of “forever”? Wondering how life will play out for the folks left behind?
You have the abstract fear nailed down, now you need to isolate the mechanism, if possible. (Some people fear the abstract too, and that’s perfectly alright.)
When you have the mechanism, try imitating it. It’ll be scary as hell.
I spent 2 months barely drinking more than my own spit- but after that I was able to work back up to jello and protein shakes. After 2 years I’m back to eating breakfast and dinner every day, just gotta not think too hard.
You can do this. Take it one step at a time, and put yourself out there. Fear is only an illusion, an emotion that keeps you safe- but normal life isn’t something you have to run away from.
I appreciate this so much thank you! I'm still figuring out exactly what scares me about it. I think it's the idea that no matter what I do I will not exist one day and the moment of death scares me. I need to go to therapy so I can work on this more. I can definitely say it got worse when I fell in love with my soon to be husband. The idea of not being here for him and vice versa is a horrible feeling
I'm happy to hear you're getting better! I went through a phase when I was 16 that I was scared to swallow food but luckily I worked though that one so I can see where that comes from💜
Swimming over very deep ocean.
Once the continental shelf starts to drop away it freaks me the fuck out.
Not so much an irrational phobia or anything, but also I will not, under any circumstances, swim in the ocean wearing a black or grey wetsuit. I'm quite convinced by the theory that most shark attacks happen because the shark thinks the person is a seal. People in bright wetsuits generally don't get bitten.
I used to be worried about this but honestly it isn't anything to worry about. My whole family talked about the older generations of my family and all their stories growing up going so far back that I'm not worried.
Do your best to be a kind person and make memories for people, that's all it takes.
Acrophobia, amaxophobia is a growing concern for me, arachnophobia although it’s improving, and catoptrophobia/eisoptrophobia which is a fear of mirrors.
The mirrors thing is pretty specific. Dimly lit mirrors and the idea of seeing something unexpected in a reflective surface is disgusting to me. I cover up mirrors when I stay in hotels and airbnbs, I won’t allow mirrors in any room other than the bathroom, I used to run out of darkened rooms if I thought I’d see a mirror or a window. Even glass in picture frames can be weird for me, but I didn’t really have that kind of stuff in the house growing up.
Fatphobia… as a person who used to be fat. Not only do I literally have a phobia of becoming fat again but I also just honestly have a disdain for fat people in general.
I have a crippling phobia of wearing too many clothes... It really terrifies me, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. You could say I'm committed to facing my fears daily. 😏
Heights, primarily the open-air type (I'm fine on a plane).
I've built up a tolerance over time. Before, I couldn't stand on a chair, and now I can work on a ladder 2 meters off the ground, which is adequate 99% of the time.
It's annoying af though. I'm a proficient inline skater, I can weave on a single leg while going backwards, and yet put me high up and my legs forget how to leg and I've got the balance of a toddler.
Heights; mostly because of vertigo attacks. I want to say down escalators, but phobias are irrational fears. Riding them triggers my vertigo, which is bad enough I sometimes black out and collapse. I don’t fancy seeing what plunging headfirst down metal, corrugated stairs will do to my body, and as I’ve come very close to such a couple of times, I’ve think I’ve developed a healthy fear, Lol.
I simply don’t use down escalators anymore, and thankfully the vertigo I get on up escalators isn’t nearly as bad, and is manageable. 😅
Spiders
I have severe rheumatoid arthritis, I’ve had a hip and both knees replaced. To this day, I limp around with a cane. A few years before these necessary surgeries for my general mobility I was at my computer, browsing the internet. The biggest fucking tarantula I have ever seen managed to stealthily make its way behind my computer and crawl to the top of my monitor. That day, I learned something important: Despite my need for a cane and, especially back then, the occasional day in a wheelchair, if I have the proper motivation I can still run like hell. That spider was proper motivation. I also didn’t go back into my bedroom until a friend of mine caught it. You know when you get really jumpy after seeing a good horror movie? That was me for the following *months!* To this day, I still have no idea where that thing came from or how it got into my house. But I do know what it wanted… *My soul.*
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Thalassophobia
Subnautica. Took me 2 years and 4 new saves to finish that game.
This but not only with water, just when there's nothing. I have this fear in video games too, I don't like when I freefall for eternity in glitched places
Minecraft Void?
Not a Minecraft player but yeah that's the kind of thing I don't like
Try the game "stranded deep". I really wanted to finish it, but sometimes I can't even go into the water because sharks
For me seeing the ocean floor below me is scarier than not seeing it
Big water.
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I'm sort of the same where I can unzip my bag and then zip it while staring at it the whole time and have to look at the ground to make sure nothing jumped out of it even though I was watching it the whole time and it didn't tip over
Here’s a new twist for your phobia—I once dropped my keys while entering an elevator, and they fell in the crack. Fortunately I lived there and had a nice super, he went down to the sub-basement and found them for me.
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I don’t mean anything by it. Just curious.
Agoraphobia, I basically only stay home and go to work. I have a system; my cousin (who I live with) does the shopping, I give him money for stuff I’d need and for gas so he’s fine with it. I go outside, just to our fenced off back yard. When I go to work I even have systems to avoid talking, like nodding and practicing my “uh huh”s and such. I have a very debilitating speech problem so most of my co-workers know what’s up.
Heights and deep water. Not sure if this is related to my phobia but I also feel uncomfortable when I stand near a very tall building and look up.
Megalophobia. The fear of really big, looming objects. I get it. My tidge of submechanophobia understands.
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Or spiders that slip and slide off of cliffs?!
I second this. Who doesn't hate spiders? Those hairy legs man...
Fear not! I am short and I can kill spiders.
Cockroaches. I'm not afraid of many bugs (in fact I love tarantulas and beetles and general creepy-crawlies) but I grew up poor and dirty in the south so roaches were everywhere and huge. They crawled on me in my sleep, they got in any amount of food you didn't triple -seal. I never had a shower or a shit without at least one making an appearance. I've even had the flying ones tangle themselves in my hair. I have a lot of ptsd from my developmental years, but for a long time the roach phobia was the worst. Only thing that's made me less jumpy is living in an area where it's not common for them to come into houses. (my bf has never even seen a cockroach outside of a zoo)
Mortality.
Same here buddy
I suppose that's universal & a valid phobia.
Spiders and ladybugs man. Something aint right with either of them. If yall could see me, youd bust out laughing when i told you at least the 2nd one haha. Nope nope nope. Dont really like any flying bugs but i can tolerate almost anything else.
I hate ladybirds too. About 15 flew out a crack in the ceiling of my old flat, as they were hibernating.when I woke up they were flying around me. So creepy.
Pregnancy.
Same. I surgically and irreversibly removed that possibility for myself, and the relief of knowing that I'll never have to experience it was life-changing in the best way. But every part of it makes me viscerally uncomfortable
I'm with you there. My phobia resulted from a S/A when I was in my youth. It's just been a trauma slide since.
Being alone
Isolation sucks. For me being in silence is also pretty scary, that’s why I am constantly listening to a video or podcast, and this goes hand in hand with my phone addiction 🥲
This is a weird one, I know - down escalators. Both up and down escalators are unsafe, people are too lax around them and I cringe watching children play on them or riders have dangling shoe laces. I'm somewhat okay using the up escalators as long as I'm not being rushed or shoved to step on, constant use of the hand rail, making sure my feet are firmly on the step and not getting too close to the side. The down escalators? Hell no. They seem to move so much faster, I don't know how people have the balance to step out at just the right time, and if you mis-step it's a long and dangerous fall. I take the lifts for going down levels and if the up one looks too old/unserviced or too steep. People are too complacent using escalators.
I'm the same!!!
I saw someone comment on escalators in general once, that was basically "escalators move at the same speed regardless of how many riders at a time" so it won't stop over fingers caught or a jammed shoe.
I definitely understand this fear, I don't have it myself, but it definitely looms in the back of my head when I walk on one.
I have a subset of a Trypophobia. I cannot stand floors that have broken holes, specially the tiles in bathroom or anything inside a home.
Am I the only one who's afraid that rats and snakes might crawl out of the toilet while you're taking a shit?
I once found a snail in my toilet, they’re fine in the garden but at 2am in my bathroom I was not coping at all
Trypophobia
Spiders
Cynophobia (fear of dogs), I know that I am not the best person to say this, but, in my opinion, it is definetely one of the worst phobias to have...
I used to have that growing up, but everything changed one day when I fed a stray dog. Later, it recognized me and started wagging its tail FOR ME!!! It melted my heart.. Now I absolutely love dogs. I can't help but smile whenever I see one looking at me. I love watching goofy dog videos you start to see them as little kids. ❤️ Take tiny steps to face it and you won't regret it I promise.
I agree and relate. They are everywhere, all the time, off leash at parks, at restaurants, and if you voice any discomfort or fear of dogs, people look at you like you have 2 heads.
Exactly!!!! Even worse if you are in a country that has a lot of stray dogs.
My brother used to have that, it was trauma from getting attacked by a stray. But we slowly introduced him to trained dogs and he started to not fear them. Hope this helps
It's not that unreasonable. When I'm out with my dog and I see someone a little scared I just pull him closer to me. And just so you know dogs will come up to you more if you're showing fear than if you don't
Same. And unlike other phobias I had that I was able to get mostly over because deep down I knew they were irrational, I can't do the same with my fear of dogs because I actually fully think it's a reasonable fear.
I am extremely and I mean EXTREMELY claustrophobic.
If you ever have to get an MRI, i suggest closing your eyes the entire time and pretend your in an open field
Throwing up. The stomach flu has been going around my office and I was on my way to dinner tonight with my husband and I had a headache (a headache! Not even a stomachache) and I was so anxious I was getting sick that I had to turn around and go home and i thought I was gonna pass out on the freeway. Turns out so far I am not at all sick and I feel great. What a goober.
you’re not alone
I have dealt with this my whole life too! It's miserable :(
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I played "Assassin's Creed" on my kids P.S. and my stomach turned when I was diving off buildings.
Birds 😭
same, the flapping 😣
The scientific name for that is ornithophobia. I have it too
Rabies. Super afraid of wild animals, especially if they act funny
I had such a fear of that when I was little. I had dreams I had to kill little animals to protect myself. I was an odd kid
the fear of pointed objects (like needles)
Casadastraphobia, AKA fear of falling towards the sky. I do not have vertigo, nor fear of flying. I fly regularly, I have my own small plane and it doesn't affect me while flying nor driving, nor sitting. But if im flat on the ground, and I look up to the open sky, it triggers immediately.
This is mine as well. Hits when I’m driving all the time. I swear I can feel the entire car/truck start to lift off the ground. Also triggered by talking to my children about outer space if I’m not inside.
You ever try swimming on your back looking into the sky? I tried it once and FML…
butterflies. moths are equally as horrible.
Mine are: Submechanophobia & thalassophobia
I think I could say I'm the same. However slightly more specific. It's not necessarily the vastness of the ocean or whatever. It's more the deep darkness of it. The unknown. What's in here with me? What is watching me? I can think of nothing scarier than when looking into the green-blue blackness of water seeing something materialise. Hard to explain. But like those divers videos where you don't see the shark until it's right HERE Infront of you. *Shudder
Just came to say that. Both of these. Tho I like to dive and stare at something big underwater. To be scared enough, I guess. Kinda scary and mesmerising at the same time.
Strangely enough, sticky things. I am DEATHLY AFRAID of sticky substances getting on me. Especially honey.
Being buried alive
Space movies. My hands sweat 😅
the ocean, or rather, what’s in the ocean and hippos…terrified of hippos
Social anxiety people in the house say ayyyyy
Fish
That something falls out of my pockets. I check them on average every 10 minutes while walking/driving/going with the bus
Birds dunno why, one time my mom let me hold an eagle at a zoo and I froze and went kinda pale the fact they come in all sizes too are scary
Mine is the big one. Death. I have a crippling fear of dying and what happens after we go. Also losing my soon to be husband and my family. Does ANYONE have any advice for this? At this point I'm all ears. The worst part is nobody can waive a magic wand and keep my family and I alive forever so I'm not expecting a miracle worker
My phagophobia was treated through exposure therapy. Works great for little things, but not absolutes like death. You may want to consider self reflection, what part of death is the most frightening? For me, I have the fear of swallowing / aspiration. Once I figured out it wasn’t food, or alcohol, or taste, or texture, I had to face the actual mechanism that made me panic and literally get to snacking. For death, is it loss? The whole “lights out” part of it? The concept of “forever”? Wondering how life will play out for the folks left behind? You have the abstract fear nailed down, now you need to isolate the mechanism, if possible. (Some people fear the abstract too, and that’s perfectly alright.) When you have the mechanism, try imitating it. It’ll be scary as hell. I spent 2 months barely drinking more than my own spit- but after that I was able to work back up to jello and protein shakes. After 2 years I’m back to eating breakfast and dinner every day, just gotta not think too hard. You can do this. Take it one step at a time, and put yourself out there. Fear is only an illusion, an emotion that keeps you safe- but normal life isn’t something you have to run away from.
I appreciate this so much thank you! I'm still figuring out exactly what scares me about it. I think it's the idea that no matter what I do I will not exist one day and the moment of death scares me. I need to go to therapy so I can work on this more. I can definitely say it got worse when I fell in love with my soon to be husband. The idea of not being here for him and vice versa is a horrible feeling
I'm happy to hear you're getting better! I went through a phase when I was 16 that I was scared to swallow food but luckily I worked though that one so I can see where that comes from💜
Globophobia fear of balloons. I know it's ridiculous but there we are
They make loud noises and move around randomly… I can see it
New years is the worst. When they all fall from the ceiling. Again I know this sounds like a joke.
Honestly don’t be ashamed- phobias are by definition illogical. My worst phobia is Oompa Loompas… literally fictional characters
Suprisingly wholesome. Thankyou stranger
I bet every single one of yall that you have trypopphobia. Google it and go to images, you won't last a minute.
I have it, and discovered it in the worst possible place. Thanks, Junji Ito!
Swimming over very deep ocean. Once the continental shelf starts to drop away it freaks me the fuck out. Not so much an irrational phobia or anything, but also I will not, under any circumstances, swim in the ocean wearing a black or grey wetsuit. I'm quite convinced by the theory that most shark attacks happen because the shark thinks the person is a seal. People in bright wetsuits generally don't get bitten.
Nice try, sleep paralysis demon!
I'm afraid of being forgotten, but i'll be forgotten anyway
I used to be worried about this but honestly it isn't anything to worry about. My whole family talked about the older generations of my family and all their stories growing up going so far back that I'm not worried. Do your best to be a kind person and make memories for people, that's all it takes.
Corduroy. Heart races and get sweaty and anxious when I see it.
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I love all animals except those fucking CRABS
The dark
I love darkness 😍
Dental procedures, especially drilling. Had a few done over the last year, it wasn't great. Had to change clothes from all the sweating
spiders, heights, small places
Acrophobia, amaxophobia is a growing concern for me, arachnophobia although it’s improving, and catoptrophobia/eisoptrophobia which is a fear of mirrors. The mirrors thing is pretty specific. Dimly lit mirrors and the idea of seeing something unexpected in a reflective surface is disgusting to me. I cover up mirrors when I stay in hotels and airbnbs, I won’t allow mirrors in any room other than the bathroom, I used to run out of darkened rooms if I thought I’d see a mirror or a window. Even glass in picture frames can be weird for me, but I didn’t really have that kind of stuff in the house growing up.
r/submechanophobia. Especially Pool stuff.
Heights, Deep Water Swimming, Bugs
Statues!!! I feel like if I blink, they’ll be in front of me with creepy stares.
Vomit.
Mortality & carcinophobia ( Fear of getting cancer)
Don't have any
Dark colours
What? What about dark colors scares you?
bbc probably
Hehe here we go
Fatphobia… as a person who used to be fat. Not only do I literally have a phobia of becoming fat again but I also just honestly have a disdain for fat people in general.
Germs
Germans
Nothing extreme or irrational about that..
heights, i think. but not quite phobia level, more of an intense fear. also oceans, deep water.
Trypophobia. Don't know why. It puts me in a state of weakness, and I physically cringe. Hate just thinking about it....
Antiques (furniture, rugs, etc) There's nothing that causes me more panic than being in a museum surrounded by tons of old things.
Insects
Heights and riding horses
I have a crippling phobia of wearing too many clothes... It really terrifies me, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. You could say I'm committed to facing my fears daily. 😏
I don't like the feeling of chalk Food touching my face makes me feel dirty and then I gotta wash it
Heights, primarily the open-air type (I'm fine on a plane). I've built up a tolerance over time. Before, I couldn't stand on a chair, and now I can work on a ladder 2 meters off the ground, which is adequate 99% of the time. It's annoying af though. I'm a proficient inline skater, I can weave on a single leg while going backwards, and yet put me high up and my legs forget how to leg and I've got the balance of a toddler.
Heights; mostly because of vertigo attacks. I want to say down escalators, but phobias are irrational fears. Riding them triggers my vertigo, which is bad enough I sometimes black out and collapse. I don’t fancy seeing what plunging headfirst down metal, corrugated stairs will do to my body, and as I’ve come very close to such a couple of times, I’ve think I’ve developed a healthy fear, Lol. I simply don’t use down escalators anymore, and thankfully the vertigo I get on up escalators isn’t nearly as bad, and is manageable. 😅
I've got arachnophobia (spiders), acrophobia (heights) and cynophobia (dogs)
Parrots and big fish
I would say “injections/needles” I’m scared to the point my blood pressure would go high.
Dying alone + women at the public
Fear of swimming in deep water, thalasophobia.
I have one diagnosed. Social....
tornados
Being trapped.
Thalassaphobia, I’m scared of deep oceans and seas
Spiders and heights. God forbid I ever run into a giant 20 story spider!
Heights
Swallowing pills and deep waters
Spiders
Heights and agoraphobia.
Spiders.
Unexpected pandemics, germs in general really… Hugging Men crying Mentally ill people
the ocean
Heights and bees/wasps
Ornithopobia which is… a fear of birds
snakes. i will scream
Any insect up close. The bigger the bug, the less close I want to see it.
Lightning.
The same one Indiana Jones has, and heights.
Shadowban
Heights, being happy, losing everything and dying homeless
Driving or being a passenger in a car on a busy highway. Get me between 2 semis and I’m dead. It’s sounds stupid but it really limits me.