I am terrified by horses.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I have a fear of falling from heights. I'm totally ok with being up in the air, as long as I'm not near an open balcony, floor to ceiling windows etc. I hate going to the mall with my kids because they like to stand right by that damn upper level railing and it freaks me out to no end. I truly know they are safe and won't fall through or anything, but I get all sweaty, my heart races, etc. until they step a good 2ft away from it.

 

WOW! This is me. I can't be on a balcony of a tall building because the image of getting bumped and falling over the railing keeps playing in my head - like for hours afterwards. I have a hard time seeing others on a balcony as well. Being on the deck of a cruise ship bothered me too. I just kept away from the railing and tried not to look at people who were close to it. I saw a mom holding a baby at the railing and I ended up hyperventilating from fear for her baby. Funny ... I am a rock climber. Being 60 feet up in the air with a harness, a rope, and a very trustworthy belayer doesn't faze me. Can't do multi-pitch though because the act of switching belay up high makes me sick to think about.

 

ETA: I am also clostrophobic ... I can't go into a bathroom sized cave out of fear that the rock that has been stationary for millenia will all of the sudden crash down on me. I can't have covers on my face when I am sleeping or I will wake up gasping in panic.

[nukeswife]

WOW! This is me. I can't be on a balcony of a tall building because the image of getting bumped and falling over the railing keeps playing in my head - like for hours afterwards. I have a hard time seeing others on a balcony as well. Being on the deck of a cruise ship bothered me too. I just kept away from the railing and tried not to look at people who were close to it. I saw a mom holding a baby at the railing and I ended up hyperventilating from fear for her baby.

 

I would have done the same thing. My dh is in the Navy as many know and I was a nervous reck when he took us on the air craft carrier for a tour. He was letting the kids then 6.5, 4, run all over the flight deck and just stood their holding the 6 month old about 3ft from the edge. I was FREAKING OUT!

[Desert Rat]

Toenails. Particularly losing one. *shiver*

[BrookValley.]

Toenails. Particularly losing one. *shiver*

 

 

I have lost one...the story also happens to involve a horse. I will spare everyone the details!! :)

[Remudamom]

Falling from heights. But not roller coasters. Just open areas high up. Can't lean over balconies and look down.

[Remudamom]

I am also afraid of scorpions in my pants (and other clothing, too.) I won't put anything on until I shake it and turn it inside out to be sure there aren't any in there. In my defense, I did have a scorpion in my pants once about 4 years ago and it was not any fun. What are the chances it will ever happen again, though?

 

 

 

Huge chance at our house. This past month I think we've found seven scorpions in the house. We must live over their sacred burial/dying grounds or something. I don't even scream anymore when I see them.

[bzymom]

WOW! This is me. I can't be on a balcony of a tall building because the image of getting bumped and falling over the railing keeps playing in my head - like for hours afterwards. I have a hard time seeing others on a balcony as well. Being on the deck of a cruise ship bothered me too. I just kept away from the railing and tried not to look at people who were close to it. I saw a mom holding a baby at the railing and I ended up hyperventilating from fear for her baby. Funny ... I am a rock climber. Being 60 feet up in the air with a harness, a rope, and a very trustworthy belayer doesn't faze me. Can't do multi-pitch though because the act of switching belay up high makes me sick to think about

 

 

I'm with you. I work reallly hard not to react so as not to let anyone know I am quietly losing my mind while they casually LEAN on a deck railing while sipping their drink. :svengo:

 

I have worked in skyscrapers, and have no problem with the elevators or stairs, but please don't put me in a hallway ending in a window. I KNOW someone is going to be walking down that hall and the 'mystical forces of too highness' will cause them to fall through the window.

 

So, yeah, that's reasonable.

[DragonFaerie]

My friend, you have serious issues.

 

I've been told. :rofl:

[Gentlemommy]

Roaches. I know thats not a weird one, but my level of fear is not normal. Like desperately terrified of them. I'll probably have nightmares now.

[Miss Peregrine]

I will not bend my head over a sink to wash my face. Remember Dr. Greene on ER!?!?

[Guest inoubliable]

Add "answering the phone" to my list.

[Catwoman]

Add "answering the phone" to my list.

 

Unfortunately, that's an entirely rational fear for you right now, though. :(

[Guest inoubliable]

Okay, serious ones to add to my list. Now that I know how much weirder y'all are (kidding! kinda. ;) ) and the wine is flowing freely (woot for good news!), I'll share more.

 

Green veggies that roll. I am not kidding. And I'm vegan. Mhmm. Coworkers used to think it was hilarious to clear my desk while I was at lunch and leave a single wasabi pea in the middle of it. Just waiting for me to come in and lose my mind, demanding that someone get in there and get. it. off. of. my. desk.

 

Driving over bridges, over water. Every time. I close my eyes and hold my breath. Since I was a child I've had a recurring dream of going over a bridge, in a red car, and not surviving. Over the years, more details have emerged. Like, it's the first time I've been in that car when it happens. I won't get into someone's red car for the first time without them promising that the first "drive" will be around the block.

 

What else? NYC. I've seen too much Law&Order. Again, terrified of what humans are capable of doing to other humans. And NYC just seems like a place where bad stuff goes down. Irrational, I know.

[Catwoman]

What else? NYC. I've seen too much Law&Order. Again, terrified of what humans are capable of doing to other humans. And NYC just seems like a place where bad stuff goes down. Irrational, I know.

 

Perhaps I shouldn't tell you we're shopping for a new apartment there... :eek: (Seriously, we really are.)

 

But actually, the crime rate in Manhattan is very low and I feel very safe there. I'm pretty sure that most of the really hideously awful stuff only happens on Law & Order.

[Guest inoubliable]

Perhaps I shouldn't tell you we're shopping for a new apartment there... :eek: (Seriously, we really are.)

 

But actually, the crime rate in Manhattan is very low and I feel very safe there. I'm pretty sure that most of the really hideously awful stuff only happens on Law & Order.

 

I do hear that most parts of NYC are very safe and that the bad parts are just like any town's seedy parts of town - nothing to be so frightened about. I think the sheer size of NYC adds to my anxiety.

[Catwoman]

 

I do hear that most parts of NYC are very safe and that the bad parts are just like any town's seedy parts of town - nothing to be so frightened about. I think the sheer size of NYC adds to my anxiety.

 

I think a lot of people feel the same way you do. It's different for me, because I have always spent a lot of time there, so it just seems sort of normal to me. I would feel much differently if I didn't know which areas to avoid, and which ones were safe! (And I still don't know every single area, so sometimes I have to ask other people about a particular address.)

[Wendi]

Heights.

[Guest inoubliable]

 

I think a lot of people feel the same way you do. It's different for me, because I have always spent a lot of time there, so it just seems sort of normal to me. I would feel much differently if I didn't know which areas to avoid, and which ones were safe! (And I still don't know every single area, so sometimes I have to ask other people about a particular address.)

 

Good to know! If I ever end up in NYC and get lost, I'm whining for you to come save me. LOL.

[Catwoman]

 

Good to know! If I ever end up in NYC and get lost, I'm whining for you to come save me. LOL.

 

And I'll rush right out and save you!

 

Well, unless you're in a really bad neighborhood... ;)

[Guest inoubliable]

 

And I'll rush right out and save you!

 

Well, unless you're in a really bad neighborhood... ;)

 

:thumbup:

 

In that case, can you call the police and request that Detective Stabler come to rescue me? :drool5:

[Catwoman]

 

:thumbup:

 

In that case, can you call the police and request that Detective Stabler come to rescue me? :drool5:

 

OK, you can have him first, but he has to come check on me later on, or maybe the next day if he ends up staying with you... to console you and everything. ;) I mean, it's only right that he would want to make sure I'm OK eventually though, what with me having been so worried about you and all.

[Dandelion]

 

:thumbup:

 

In that case, can you call the police and request that Detective Stabler come to rescue me? :drool5:

 

Just make sure he doesn't ride out on a horse.... :smilielol5:

 

 

 

Sorry KK, couldn't resist. :D

[Catwoman]

 

Just make sure he doesn't ride out on a horse.... :smilielol5:

 

 

 

Sorry KK, couldn't resist. :D

 

 

And we'll all remember that day fondly as "the day KK overcame her fear of horses." ;)

[Guest inoubliable]

 

 

And we'll all remember that day fondly as "the day KK overcame her fear of horses." ;)

 

Quite! :lol:

[Dandelion]

 

 

And we'll all remember that day fondly as "the day KK overcame her fear of horses." ;)

 

Ayup. :D

[Dandelion]

[Guest inoubliable]

 

I cannot stop laughing. This was HUGE on my screen when I opened the thread. Tell me you have more...

[Dandelion]

I wish.... That's the only one I could find (I didn't even know there was an Elliot Stabler Hey Girl meme version until just a few minutes ago). :p

[Guest inoubliable]

I wish.... That's the only one I could find (I didn't even know there was an Elliot Stabler Hey Girl meme version until just a few minutes ago). :p

 

I didn't either! Amazing.

[Elinor Everywhere]

 

 

 

Huge chance at our house. This past month I think we've found seven scorpions in the house. We must live over their sacred burial/dying grounds or something. I don't even scream anymore when I see them.

 

I had never seen a scorpion until we moved here, but we get them in the house regularly. I used to freak, but after 12 years I'm getting rather blasé about the whole thing. I used to imagine we had some huge Stephen King-type scorpion living in our walls, spawning all these ceiling-crawling devils. Now I just kill them and move on, and even the kids no longer think it's fun to get the black light out and find them glowing in the rocks outside. Sigh....amazing what you get used to.

[greenbabybottoms]

I'm scared of cats. Kittens or grown cats it doesn't matter they freak me out. We have had one lurking outside our house for weeks and I have nightmares that it sneaks into my room.

 

Flying, although that's not so unusual. An asteroid colliding with the earth, clearly I have a lot of anxiety. Traffic, just the thought of drivingin a high traffic are gives me the sweats.

[maddykate]

Sinkholes. Although, it doesn't seem like this is too irrational, given what happened in FL recently.

[Mergath]

I will not bend my head over a sink to wash my face. Remember Dr. Greene on ER!?!?

 

 

I don't remember this. What happened? Wait, do I want to know?

[Miss Peregrine]

 

 

I don't remember this. What happened? Wait, do I want to know?

 

He was washing his face and an attacker came from behind and smashed his head into the faucet.

[jhschool]

Fear of having to "talk" to people when there is a "situation."

Maybe it's stress more than fear, but sweating, feeling short of breath,

huge butterflies...I can't take it.

Like when you are teaching a class,

having to talk to a mom about her student who cheated on a

test...that is a huge fear...that I have to face soon...

I'm pretty sure it is fear. And it's pretty irrational...

 

But I like snakes, spiders, horses, mirrors, and the dark just fine.

[Mergath]

He was washing his face and an attacker came from behind and smashed his head into the faucet.

 

 

Ouch.

[fraidycat]

Snakes. I hate snakes. I despise snakes and I am terrified of them and I wish they were all exterminated from the face of the earth! Right now, the US has a plan to deal with some very nasty tree snakes in Guam by dropping mice that have poison on them so the snakes will gulp up the critters and die. I'm all for it! I could practically throw a party in favor of it. Mice dead....snakes dead...very, very good day for the Department of Defense! War on snakes, something I can get behind. lol

 

Faith

 

You may be my long lost sister. :p Although, I have nothing against mice. I think they're kinda cute - as long as they stay out of my house.

 

I have a fear of falling from heights. I'm totally ok with being up in the air, as long as I'm not near an open balcony, floor to ceiling windows etc. I hate going to the mall with my kids because they like to stand right by that damn upper level railing and it freaks me out to no end. I truly know they are safe and won't fall through or anything, but I get all sweaty, my heart races, etc. until they step a good 2ft away from it.

 

Ok, so it's not just me. My stomach jumped to my throat, then dropped to my toes just watching a show on t.v. when an unexpected "heights" view came on the screen. They were in a high rise building with floor to ceiling windows and it gave me the heebie jeebies. This is a new fear, since becoming a parent, too. I used to handle heights just fine. :001_unsure:

 

The dark. I never outgrew that fear.

 

Me either - but only outside. I'm fine if I'm inside the house in the pitch black.

 

Falling from heights. But not roller coasters. Just open areas high up. Can't lean over balconies and look down.

 

This. I think because I'm strapped in on a roller coaster. I'd even be fine anywhere where I have a harness - such as ziplining, rockclimbing, etc. Just don't put me near a floor to ceiling window or a balcony railing without my safety gear on. :p I might spontaneously lose my balance, and fall over the railing or crash through the glass.

 

To be fair: The spontaneous loss of balance is NOT outside the realm of possibility. I do it, standing on flat ground, for no reason whatsoever. My nickname is Grace (with all the sarcasm that it implies) for a very good reason. I'm a clutz, plain and simple. :blushing:

[AlmiraGulch]

I share some of these. Falling from heights (although I've been skydiving and loved it), getting eaten by a shark (although I've been cage diving with them in Hawaii and would do it again in a heartbeat), driving on bridges over water, that "IT" will get me if my foot hangs out over the bed. Normal stuff.

 

What really gets me, though, are vines. I hate them. I think if I walk though the grass and there are vines in there they're going to wrap themselves around my ankles and legs and pull me down into their green, vine-y tomb of death.

[lynn]

Sleeping alone in a room at night with the door shut.

 

I almost forgot, big barking dogs and some smaller ones. I absolutely freeze. When I was 8 I was riding my bike by a house and a German shepherd jumped the fence, chased me and bit my leg. Neighbors say "Oh he won't bite" when they see me stop running and freeze when they are walking their dog by me. Yeah right give Fido a chance, he'll chase me and try to eat me.

[BFamily]

1. Butterflies. And I am glad to see I'm not the only one. If one looks like it might be about to land anywhere near me, I get on the move fast. I think I'm afraid of them, because my younger sister used to catch them all of the time, and she was not careful about doing it. By the time she got the butterfly to show it to me, at least one, or both, of its wings would fall off. :scared: :ack2:

2. Deer. We live in a very rural area, and there are lots of deer around. I refuse to walk in the early morning or late evening for fear of being run down by one. I think I watched way too many episodes of "When Animals Attack" when I was younger.

3. Raccoons. They get in our carport frequently, and I always make lots of clatter on my way out in the evening. But, I'm always afraid of the one that I "just know" is under the car that will slice up my ankles as I try to get in.

[Hunter's Moon]

Vomiting.

Deep sea. I cannot watch the scenes in Titanic where they show the ship underwater. It gives me the heebie jeebies.

The dark.

Mirrors. When I brush my teeth, I look everywhere but the mirror because I am afraid something will appear behind me.

[Lucy in Australia]

Dugongs/manatees. Yes, I realise I'm weird, and no, I have no idea where this comes from. All I know is that a friend recently posted holiday pics on Facebook of her 3 precious little children FEEDING THE HORRIBLE MONSTERS and I nearly had to go and have a little lie down.

 

I share some of the others listed above but I say they are perfectly normal :coolgleamA:

[DragonFaerie]

 

Mine is running out of toilet paper. Eek!!

 

My dad used to tease my mom that the only way he would ever leave her is if she let them run out of toilet paper. My mom says she just keeps the house well stocked, and they've been happily married for 44 years. LOL...

[Critterfixer]

Grasshoppers. While I acknowledge their variety and superior nutritional value as chicken treats I cannot even stand to pick up a tiny dead one.

[Guest inoubliable]

Grasshoppers. While I acknowledge their variety and superior nutritional value as chicken treats I cannot even stand to pick up a tiny dead one.

 

This reminds me (perhaps TMI)... as a kid once, I was just home from school when I felt a little sick to my stomach. I'm in the bathroom and wondering just what it was that I ate at school that was causing me so much misery. As I'm whimpering and deciding that I'm calling it a day and planning an afternoon of no homework and copious napping, a MASSIVE black cricket jumps OUT of the bathtub. AT. ME.

As I'm sitting on the toilet.

 

I won't share the rest, except to say that my silblings (the only ones home with me) thought I was either being killed or doing the killing behind that locked door. Young Sister screams "do I call 911??". I scream "CRICKET!!!", Even Younger Brother screams "GET HIM!".

 

Crickets sorta skeeve me out.

[nukeswife]

 

This reminds me (perhaps TMI)... as a kid once, I was just home from school when I felt a little sick to my stomach. I'm in the bathroom and wondering just what it was that I ate at school that was causing me so much misery. As I'm whimpering and deciding that I'm calling it a day and planning an afternoon of no homework and copious napping, a MASSIVE black cricket jumps OUT of the bathtub. AT. ME.

As I'm sitting on the toilet.

 

I won't share the rest, except to say that my silblings (the only ones home with me) thought I was either being killed or doing the killing behind that locked door. Young Sister screams "do I call 911??". I scream "CRICKET!!!", Even Younger Brother screams "GET HIM!".

 

Crickets sorta skeeve me out.

 

It's not really a fear of mine, but your story reminded me of a bad pattern I have when mowing the lawn. It seems the last few years we've had an abundance of praying mantises here in hampton roads, or at least in my area of it. EVERY SINGLE TIME I go out to mow the lawn from about July-Oct, I'm jumped by at least 1 if not 2-3 of them. They seem to jump out of the trees as well as the lawn and land right on my head or shoulder. I used to freak out but after the 4th time in a row that happened I just brush them off to a safe place or let my kids grab them and relocate them for me. Sometimes I don't even notice and my kids will flag me down to let me know I have a Mantis on my head, so they can pick it off.

[Critterfixer]

Crickets and mantids don't bother me so much, unless they are very, very large. Last summer I was reading on the porch swing when I looked at the top of the book and there was an enormous Chinese Mantid leaning over the top. She was an easy 3 inches in length. But I was more impressed than afraid once I got over the idea of a large bug having crawled up my leg and onto my book.

I will admit to feeling more than a little creeped out by large katydids which remind me of a souped-up grasshopper.

Most bugs don't bother me one bit and I am happy to capture spiders of promising size for relocation. I even captured and fed for a day or so a large centipede. Easily entertained, that centipede. Loved canned cat food.

My father keeps bees, and I'm not at all bothered by clouds of them. I've even had them up under my glasses without feeling any need to panic.

But I CANNOT get past the grasshopper phobia. I've tried learning about them, I've tried exposing myself to small ones. Can't get away with it. And we had these massive BIrd Grasshoppers last year....shiver!

[ktgrok]

Crickets and mantids don't bother me so much, unless they are very, very large. Last summer I was reading on the porch swing when I looked at the top of the book and there was an enormous Chinese Mantid leaning over the top. She was an easy 3 inches in length. But I was more impressed than afraid once I got over the idea of a large bug having crawled up my leg and onto my book.

I will admit to feeling more than a little creeped out by large katydids which remind me of a souped-up grasshopper.

Most bugs don't bother me one bit and I am happy to capture spiders of promising size for relocation. I even captured and fed for a day or so a large centipede. Easily entertained, that centipede. Loved canned cat food.

My father keeps bees, and I'm not at all bothered by clouds of them. I've even had them up under my glasses without feeling any need to panic.

But I CANNOT get past the grasshopper phobia. I've tried learning about them, I've tried exposing myself to small ones. Can't get away with it. And we had these massive BIrd Grasshoppers last year....shiver!

 

You would hate the Lubber Grasshoppers we get in florida. They look like small lobsters walking around.

[jeninok]

I don't mind little crickets so much, but when the grasshoppers morph from their usual little selves to the big plaque type locust creatures and then swarm parking lot and other light sources, it totally freaks me out. Like end up dancing around batting at the air while screaming in the middle of a public parking lot freak out!

[Liz CA]

Snakes. I do NOT like snakes, poisonous or not.