Any irrational fears?

[UglyMonsterFace]

I have been better with this, but I used to be terrified of stairs (going down). I'm now much improved when dealing with this since I have to go up and down stairs to and from work. However, I still get fearful if they are stairs that I am not too familiar with. I get extreme anxiety when I go down. I feel like someone is gonna push me down or accidentally nudge me and make me fall, or that I'm going too slow and everyone behind me is mad at me, or I'm just going to trip and embarrass myself. I always look at the people who just run down stairs, and while I can run down the very last few steps, I can't really race down the entire way. It makes me wonder how they do it. I mean, it isn't hard to just trip and fall down, but a lot of people seem so carefree about it! Those daredevils! LOL

Also, I don't know if this is considered irrational, but after discovering how amazing hiking was, I developed a fear of bears (and mountain lions, although it isn't as crazy as my fear of bears). Just the idea of coming face to face with a bear is terrifying. I know there's bear mace, but those aren't 100% bear proof. And bears are just so common in the mountains and forests where I like to hike. I've actually kind of stopped hiking due to this.

Another irrational fear, and perhaps most irrational, is my fear of people and social interaction. I have social anxiety and so it's really hard to make friends. I'm sure I act incredibly bizarre to most outgoing people. I try to put myself in the shoes of someone "normal" and try to judge my behaviour and thoughts, and I can tell myself rationally that "Oh, don't worry, no one actually cares if you do that" or "What you're doing is completely normal" but my brain doesn't believe it. Hehehe. So I just keep quiet and keep to myself.

I'm not in need of advice or anything. These are just my daily musings, lol. Feel free to share any of your irrational fears!

 

[HistoryH22]

Medical needles. I will mini-panic at the mere sight of them. When I had to have knee surgery a few years ago, I was absolutely horrified at having to be around so many of them. I have almost no fears in this world...but needles will stop me in my tracks.

 

[cornimer]

I have emetophobia which is a fear of throwing up or seeing people throw up. Whenever I am in public I am constantly scanning to see if anyone looks like they might be sick, and if I notice someone who is looking pale or is coughing I will do everything in my power to avoid them. If one of my family members is sick I will refuse to be in the same room as them and will not touch anything they touch. And in the past I've been so worried and paranoid about myself getting sick that I made myself feel nauseous. Very counter-productive

I've also been afraid of walking outside by myself ever since some idiot blew smoke in my face, shouted at me and chased me on a bike last summer. Whenever I am walking home from the bus I walk very fast as I am convinced every car or person that passes by is going to come after me. I used to go on walks around my neighbourhood when the weather was nice but now I am too scared to.

 

[Paperboy012305]

I have this weird fear of the TV magically turning on by itself without the assistance of ghosts, it will do it at will.

But when it does, I'm always afraid something scary or eerie will pop up.

 

[LadyDestani]

I have social anxiety as well. It takes a lot out of me just to go into work every day and the thought of having to go out and deal with people unexpectedly will send me into a panic. Somewhat related, I also have a fear of phones ringing. I think it's because of my social anxiety making me nervous that I'll say the wrong thing and the person I'm talking to will hate me, be offended, or some other such thing. But whenever I hear a phone ring, it always startles me and if it's my phone, I have a mini panic attack. So I keep the ringer on my phone turned off most of the time and just call people back when I'm feeling more prepared to talk to them.

 

[greyCat44]

I'm pretty scared of social interaction too!! Just yesterday I had to interview a professor for one of my classes, and he wanted to get it over with so he asked me to interview him right at the start of his class with all his students watching @ _ @ I think my brain totally froze up for a few minutes huhu

I don't know if this counts as irrational but where I live, people speak either English or Filipino, and I'm someone who is way better at English than Filipino xD That's not true for a lot of people though, so when I speak English to them and their faces start getting this puzzled *I'm taking a while to process what you said* look, I feel really bad about it or scared that they'll think I'm a snob or something xD I usually get mistaken as a foreigner because of this too, and sometimes it's fun but sometimes it's just really awkward

 

[Tobyjgv]

I don't know if this is very irrational, but it's something interesting that i'd like to share.

I love the paranormal. I love watching horror movies, and watching real-life documentaries like ghost adventures. I don't know why-but i've always been interested in this type of stuff..

The weird part is, these commonly make it hard for me to sleep, and make it so I need to sleep with a light on, sometimes. Horror movies get stuck in my head, and so do ghost/horror stories. Sometimes when preparing to sleep, I may get an impulsive thought that ruins the night for me. I can try to counteract it and think of something positive, but I am usually stuck feeling bad throughout the night. I sometimes turn on the light, and browse through instagram, or go to the living room where I feel "safe". I don't know, I am obsessed with the paranormal but also extremely afraid.. It has affected my sleep negatively, but I keep finding myself returning back to the topic.

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I have social anxiety as well. It takes a lot out of me just to go into work every day and the thought of having to go out and deal with people unexpectedly will send me into a panic. Somewhat related, I also have a fear of phones ringing. I think it's because of my social anxiety making me nervous that I'll say the wrong thing and the person I'm talking to will hate me, be offended, or some other such thing. But whenever I hear a phone ring, it always startles me and if it's my phone, I have a mini panic attack. So I keep the ringer on my phone turned off most of the time and just call people back when I'm feeling more prepared to talk to them.

I completely relate about the phone thing. I hate it when people call me. Every time my phone rings, I just hold it and panic. I usually don't pick up and then I panic some more about how I will have to call the person back. I also hate when people text me to call them. About what??? I honestly prefer people to text me first, tell me exactly what they want to talk about, and then ask me to call when I have time. I need to know what the conversation will be about so I can mentally prepare.. But no one understands anxiety.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I'm pretty scared of social interaction too!! Just yesterday I had to interview a professor for one of my classes, and he wanted to get it over with so he asked me to interview him right at the start of his class with all his students watching @ _ @ I think my brain totally froze up for a few minutes huhu

I don't know if this counts as irrational but where I live, people speak either English or Filipino, and I'm someone who is way better at English than Filipino xD That's not true for a lot of people though, so when I speak English to them and their faces start getting this puzzled *I'm taking a while to process what you said* look, I feel really bad about it or scared that they'll think I'm a snob or something xD I usually get mistaken as a foreigner because of this too, and sometimes it's fun but sometimes it's just really awkward

Hey! I'm Filipino too! And I 100% can relate. I worked at a Filipino restaurant years ago and I was the only one who was fluent in English and not so fluent in Tagalog. They used to bully me and make fun of my Tagalog and even my English, saying I pronounced things funny even though I was saying the words correctly. Ever since then, around Filipinos, I start speaking English with a weird Filipino accent, and I'll always feel pressured to speak Tagalog even though I know I'm not making grammatical sense and I can't get what I mean across as well as I could if I just spoke English. I've definitely been told I wasn't "Filipino" because I couldn't speak Tagalog fluently. But yes it can be fun to be mistaken as a foreigner. I look very Chinese so sometimes people will speak Tagalog in front of me, about me, but I can completely understand them hahaha.

 

[Oldcatlady]

I have emetophobia and have for as long as I can remember. I remember instances of people vomiting in front of me since like age 4 & have nightmares about it every few months D: like that shouldn’t be a memorable event you remember lmao.
Went to therapy for it and honestly didn’t help much.
I think I’m slowly getting over it though. I’m a nursing student & last semester I had a patient that was nauseous. I just wanted to run away, but I managed to stay with her and help her when she was vomiting... I had to call in another student with me cause i just felt so anxious being alone with her. Still progress xD

 

[greyCat44]

I completely relate about the phone thing. I hate it when people call me. Every time my phone rings, I just hold it and panic. I usually don't pick up and then I panic some more about how I will have to call the person back. I also hate when people text me to call them. About what??? I honestly prefer people to text me first, tell me exactly what they want to talk about, and then ask me to call when I have time. I need to know what the conversation will be about so I can mentally prepare.. But no one understands anxiety.

- - - Post Merge - - -




Hey! I'm Filipino too! And I 100% can relate. I worked at a Filipino restaurant years ago and I was the only one who was fluent in English and not so fluent in Tagalog. They used to bully me and make fun of my Tagalog and even my English, saying I pronounced things funny even though I was saying the words correctly. Ever since then, around Filipinos, I start speaking English with a weird Filipino accent, and I'll always feel pressured to speak Tagalog even though I know I'm not making grammatical sense and I can't get what I mean across as well as I could if I just spoke English. I've definitely been told I wasn't "Filipino" because I couldn't speak Tagalog fluently. But yes it can be fun to be mistaken as a foreigner. I look very Chinese so sometimes people will speak Tagalog in front of me, about me, but I can completely understand them hahaha.

OMG I can relate so much!!!! It's so hard for me to speak Tagalog and I mix my words up everywhere but I force it rather than be called "inglesera" or "nosebleed" orz I'm so sorry you got bullied at work tho :c I hope your coworkers are better now!

And yes omg I look Chinese too! One time I was walking around a protestant church that I wasn't a part of just because it looked so pretty, and the guard accosted me because apparently that was trespassing huhu. But he thought I was a lost Chinese tourist so he was really nice and I totally just rolled with it xDDD

 

[Hat']

Needles omg like even just seeing them makes me feel nauseous.
I'm very much afraid of pain, like I know everybody kinda is but it makes me feel so much anxiety like that's mainly why I'm afraid of needles.
Also for some reason idk how to categorize that but whenever I see too much of my blood or see something disgusting happening on me (like a pimple acting very weird) I just have a reflex syncope.
I also a so afraid of spiders, like not your basic "oh i'm scared of spiders" no the, seeing the tiniest, or even a drawing of a spider makes me go wild. At a zoo we were forced to pass next to the enclosure (it was kinda like a log) of a big spider and my mom went too fast so i just stood there, petrified, turning my back to the spider, crying. My mom had to come and pick me up because I wouldn't move hhhhh
I cry easily with those things.

 

[RedTropicalPeachyFish]

I have trypophobia. I think it's nothing minor - it even has the name so it's common. But I feel it somewhat weird as I neither can explain nor even know to why I feel those shapes hideous. Honestly no clue. :/
This affects me when the season is fall in NL, and if the mark on the ground of the town is circle type, it makes me unsettling. Hahaha yes it's ridiculous, but I do feel so uncomfortable there that I can't even look at the ground.. It's unreasonable.

 

[Miii]

I really hate June bugs. They?re harmless, but I?ve had them caught in my hair more than once.

 

[dedenne]

snakes planes and puke. big spiders as well.

 

[Bcat]

I hate escalators-specifically the ones that go up. I'm paranoid I'm going to fall backwards and smash my head open.

 

[piske]

Yes! It?s getting better, but I used to be incredibly and irrationally afraid of sloths. I saw one at a zoo once, and I literally ran. Idk, they?re just so creepy to me!

Also, maybe it?s not a fear per se, but I always rip-up plastic bags and cut open tubes and cut-up pop can rings, because I?m super paranoid once it goes into the garbage, somehow an unsuspecting animal will get its head stuck in it if I don?t. But, then I saw a sea turtle mistake a plastic bag for a jellyfish in this PSA online, so then in that instance it doesn?t even matter if the bag is torn-up or not. ;3;

 

[Zura]

Don't know if this is a irrational fear or not but I'm afriad of heights.

 

[2kimi2furious]

I don't like spiders. I am starting to get better with them: for instance, if I see a web outside in my back yard, I'll leave it alone because the spider is eating bugs and it's supposed to be there. If it's inside, however, I lose my mind until someone either kills it or takes it away. I don't like roaches either, but I don't like them inside or outside.

My biggest irrational fear is the ocean. I believe it is called thalassophobia? I have been to the beach multiple times and I've even been on boats before, but I cannot STAND being in the ocean, especially if I can't see my feet. If I see pictures of the deep ocean with weird sea creatures in them, I start to panic. It really freaks me out if I think about it too much. I don't like not knowing what's in there. I walked into a big giant jellyfish once when I was younger at the beach and I guess it's stemmed from that. But it's more than not wanting to get stung. It just makes me so anxious and freaked out. My husband gets mad because he's a beach guy, but the ocean closest to us is really a muddy gulf so I hate going into it because I just know some horrible creature from the depths is going to get me in the knee-deep water.

 

[Wallows]

When I was younger I accidentally tripped on a going down escalator in front of many people... It took awhile for me to get over going down escalators, and I still get nervous lol.

I'm also afraid of elevators, every time I get on one i get so scared that it's just gonna plummet and then I die. I also hate it when I see people constantly press on the buttons thinking it'll come faster, that just scares me because I feel like it'll mess up the elevator and then I have to get on it I'm only okay with riding elevators where you can see through it. Like my mall has an elevator that's like glass but not glass? Idk what the material is but as you're going up and down you can see the entire mall. I guess that's because if the elevator suddenly stops then help comes faster because everyone can see, opposed to the regular ones.

I'm also afraid of airplanes and trains... woo! Love my life

 

[Snowesque]

Finding hair in my food.
I cannot eat without quickly glancing at what is on my food/utensil first. It makes me eat slower but it is so annoying when I am in a rush or just trying to relax. I have lived around pets all my life until a month ago and I still do it... When I lived with my in-laws they let their pets freely roam on the counters, even while they were preparing food/cooking. It drove me absolutely insane.

Getting lost.
It is most likely an anxiety thing, but I check/ask for directions so many times. My memory is not the best so I really stress it.