What is your phobia?

[Clueless Morgan]

What do you have an irrational fear of?

Is it a fear that you want to overcome?

(For sake of those with visual phobias, please don't post pictures, or if you do put them in hide tags)

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Mine is spiders. Especially if they're black. And inside. If they're outside I only really freak out if I walk into a web or find one crawling on me - outside is their territory. Inside is mine. They can stay outside.

I'm slowly improving on my ability to handle them on my own. I used to have to stand across the room and throw heavy things at the wall hoping to hit and squish the spider. Or I would have to suck it up with the vacuum hose and then put the vacuum as far from my bedroom as possible.

I've progressed to the point where I can squish the little, itty bitty ones, but there is a very specific size limitation to what I can handle.

[shep]

Dementia.

[Whateverist]

We used to have another member with an upfront fear of spiders who made similar requests. I'm afraid a number of people would post spider pics anyway and it seems to have driven her away. I think maybe people without such phobias have a hard time relating. It is hard for me to imagine what that would be like to have a strong reaction to a mere photo, but I won't deliberately spook you. Hopefully no one else will feel it necessary to test if yours is for real.

[Doubting Thomas]

I have a fear of heights since I was a child, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I don't mind looking out the window at the top floor of a tall building, but I really don't like getting on the roof of our house at all, though getting on a ladder to clean the gutters doesn't bother me.

And flying doesn't bother me, either. I guess as long as I know I'm enclosed and not going to fall out or off, I'm OK.

[BrokenQuill92]

Clowns, and losing my hearing

[Alex K]

Clowns

Oh, definitely Clowns.

[Clueless Morgan]

I have a fear of heights since I was a child, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I don't mind looking out the window at the top floor of a tall building, but I really don't like getting on the roof of our house at all, though getting on a ladder to clean the gutters doesn't bother me.

And flying doesn't bother me, either. I guess as long as I know I'm enclosed and not going to fall out or off, I'm OK.

Is it a fear of heights, or a fear of falling from those heights? I don't have a fear of heights, but I share (to some degree) your fear of falling off a sloped roof. Do you also have a fear of falling off flat roofs with parapets?

When I was in New Zealand I went to the top of their Sky Tower (the NZ equivalent of the Space Needle) where they have glass panels in the floor that you can walk on where you see all the way down to the ground (something like 20-stories down). I had to shuffle out over the glass because I couldn't pick up my feet and my knees were wobbly for about ten minutes after.

Here's the non-scary photo assuring you the glass is safe to stand on:


And the scary one of me standing on the glass looking down:

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Clowns

Oh, definitely Clowns.

What is it about clowns that are scary?

[Alex K]

What is it about clowns that are scary?

I don't care, get it away from me!

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And the scary one of me standing on the glass looking down:

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Man did I get wobbly feet standing on a similar contraption on the Willis tower in Chicago. Did I fell silly afterwards.

[Doubting Thomas]

Is it a fear of heights, or a fear of falling from those heights? I don't have a fear of heights, but I share (to some degree) your fear of falling off a sloped roof. Do you also have a fear of falling off flat roofs with parapets?

It must be a fear of falling, as I said I don't have a problem with being near the window in a very tall building. I often enjoyed going to the top of the John Hancock Tower in Boston when I lived in Massachusetts. And I really don't like a sloped roof, but a flat roof with a parapet wouldn't bother me, though depending upon the height I would probably have sweaty palms.

Here's the non-scary photo assuring you the glass is safe to stand on:


And the scary one of me standing on the glass looking down:

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Yeah, that would be interesting. I don't know if I'd like to stand on that glass or not, but just thinking about it gives me sweaty palms.

[Paraselene]

I am unsure if I even have a phobia. I used to state that it was spiders, but the truth is that I do not freeze up from overwhelming fear when confronted by spiders. I am perfectly capable of moving fast enough to kill the stinking buggers.