I had a fear of the dark and being alone for the longest time. I always lived in apartments with lots of people around and had many room mates in college. It was horrible when I first moved into our house-a house! With 3 floors, and doors and windows on all the floors that people could break into. I would force myself to sit on the sofa in the dark by myself for as long as possible. It was so silly, I knew all the doors and windows were locked, I knew that DH was upstairs in the bedroom but I'd still be so incredibly anxious. Sometimes I'd last a few minutes before I'd get freaked and run up the stairs.
I've gotten over both pretty much.
One thing that might be empowering for you to help confront the fear is to take a good self-defense course. If you can find one in your area that's specificaly taught by and for women it would be better. I took this one. It's usually free or not very expensive and it's geared toward women and taught by the local police. http://www.rad-systems.com/
I don't like enclosed spaces either, I can't handle big crowds where people are smashed up against you. That one had never come up until I visited my dh family in China...oh, my gosh- "personal space people, get away from me. stop touching me." Some of the buses and subways would be so crowded that a person would litterly shove the passengers onto the bus to get the doors closed.
Spiders, heights and dentists. Oh and fog, totally creeps me out.
I am completely creeped out by fog. I am always convinced there are serial killers hiding in it waiting for me. When I was in law school a couple years ago and would have to drive home late at night when there was fog, I would lock my doors and keep a hyper-vigilant eye on the edges of the road (where the killers would be potentially hiding).
I'm also afraid of semi's/big rigs on the freeway. I start to sweat, hyperventilate, and white-knuckle the steering wheel if they get close to me (Because of this, I don't do much long-distance driving).
Jeep Girl - I used to be afraid of the biscuit *pop* noise too! Now I just don't make them
As an add-on to my previous posts...the thing I'm most afraid of is dying in statistically improbable ways. Airplanes, lightning, allergic reactions...
Funny thing is, I'm not afraid of things that are really statistically more probable to kill me...like car crashes.
Driving over or flying over bodies of water. My heart starts racing and I just can't wait for it to be over. From LAX to Atlanta, the airplane flies over the Pacific for about 5-10 minutes. I dread those 5-10 minutes every time I make the trip.
If something really scares you, though, it is not really an "irrational fear", don't you think?
In my previous post I said I am scared of M.I.C.E. Well, for Pete's sake, they could be little rabid things that crawl up my pant leg. That is something to be afraid of..to me!! It is not irrational, because I would have a freakin heart attack if that happened.
I am also afraid of heights..but only if I do not have a gaurd rail or a barrier between me and the "drop-off point"...or if it is like a bridge with grating instead of concrete. Scares the **** outa me. I don't wanna see what I will fall into if the bridge collapses. Or if I make a wrong turn. Drive from Yosemite back to San Fran. sometime. VERY scary drive.
In fact, this whole thread is making me scared. I'm outa here.
Bees or hornets scare the crap out of me. I have NEVER been stung and I don't plan on being stung any time soon. Everytime I see something "Bee-Like" flying near me I literally run away.
Last year I developed panic attacks. Unfortunately some of the symptoms involve things that scare me. My breathing and swallowing become difficult. I fear choking or not being able to breathe for anything reason. It seems as though it would be such a long and frightening death.
Oh, and public speaking is just awful. I can barely speak one on one, but speaking to a group is so not my bag. I wish I could be one of those girls who are energenic and bubbly, but it's simply not my personality.
As an add-on to my previous posts...the thing I'm most afraid of is dying in statistically improbable ways. Airplanes, lightning, allergic reactions...
...death by whitewater...
Which, apparently in your case is not all that statistically improbable!
I'm terrified of severed heads - anything to do with severed heads - decaptiation - headless bodies etc etc. I can't watch any films with severed heads or headless bodies in - if I do, I freeze up and it takes me ages to calm down. I have to drink a cup of tea. And then I have nightmares about it for weeks and weeks.
Also spiders, daddy longlegs, small heights (step-ladders and such), and I'm a little teeny bit afraid of the dark. Not most of the time, but if I get off the bus and have to walk through a dark alley at night for example, I walk as fast as possible because that kind of thing freaks me out.
Enclosed spaces, feeling pinned in, not being able to see an easy exit route from where I am. For example, sitting in the middle seat at a booth style table would make me feel trapped. Elevators don't bother me much, as long as they work properly. If I was stuck in one that wasn't working, I would probably freak. Another example would be if I was lying in bed covered up and someone sat on the cover, making me feel trapped. Can't stand that!
Hornets and wasps. Hornets more so since they are more aggressive... wasps are actually pretty peaceful I'm told... but that loopy flying they have, eeeeks, it makes my arm hair stand up! The only time I actually was stung was by a bumblebee I was trying to "rescue" from a pool in my hand. God, the past 2 years, in the time soon to come, early fall, my apartment gets invaded by yellow jackets. In 2004, it was through my dining room window. 1-4 a day got in for like 3 weeks until frost killed their nest (and I think I killed their queen in the end.) In 2005, they came into my hallway by crawling under the front door. UGH. This year, I'm going on the attack by replacing the door flap at the bottom, and buying some natural hornet killer (any suggestions for mix-ups or anti-bee cocktails?) Honey bees and bumblebees, I have no beef with, despite the bumblebee stinging me! and I will try to get them out of the house alive in a glass if I can. Logically, I know this is fruity
Choking. Can't wear tight necklaces for long or I start to feel very anxious. (I was once choked by an ex-boyfriend, which I figure is connected to this fear.)
Recently, the dark. I mean, I was scared as a little kid, had a nightlight, but got over this in high school/college/after. But after going through a terrible break-up in 2003, and while living alone, I got weird about it again. I worry that I am going to be stabbed while I sleep, or someone will come in from my fire escape which is right off my bedroom window at the foot of my bed. Or I get scared looking down the hall from the bathroom, into the gloomy living room, and I imagine dead people sitting in the chairs in there. Where does this insanity come from?! I wish I could open up my subconscious and do a nice cleaning! Criminy!
I can't watch horror movies with ghastly visuals or I see them in nightmares for weeks. Or I just can't get them out of my head at night!
Those are the biggies. Mice, snakes, ants, spiders, all ok Give me a nice boa constrictor over a yellow jacket any day, hehehe!
Whoops, forgot to add: flying creatures in my apartment. I had a, um, bat problem here in the old building I live in (built in 1920s), and they would come down from the attic and squeeze under the attic door and start panicking and flying about, trying to get out. (Did you know bats have no collarbones and can fit in or under very tight spaces?) It got to be quite ridiculous, when I had to call in to my job and tell them I was coming in late because I had been "bat herding" until 3 AM. They are a protected species and really, I found them fragile and charming when they landed and fell asleep, but the flying right over my head made me cringe and want to run screaming out of my apartment I even had one fly with a thud into my bedroom door, crawl under the towels I stuffed there, and start flying low circles around my bedroom, making little squeaks in its sonar way. I ended up sleeping on the couch that night! I relocated a baby bat too, that I found asleep hanging from a tiny crack on glass tiles in my bathroom. It was about the size of a mini stapler. I didn't have my glasses on at the time, had just finished washing my face and putting the towel back on the rack, when I noticed it about 6" from the towel rack... I emptied out a clear sugar plastic jar, and slowly put it over it. It woke up, and the next thing I saw was it sticking out a very tiny pink tongue and licking the sugar dust Then I whipped the lid back on and ran outside and flung it open into the air, where it took off into the July night with a celebratory Hallelujah squeak!
All is well now that I bat-barricaded my attic door with hard flaps, but getting a moth in the bathroom now makes me a trembling wreck
Last edited by BerkshireGrl; 09-09-2006 at 11:13 PM.
Reason: Forgot about the bats.
Hmm. I have a pretty bad fear/anxiety about driving these days. I'll start thinking creepy thoughts like: "this could be your last drive!"
And this other one I have is just silly, but here goes... I have an irrational fear when I'm walking in public that there's toilet paper stuck in the back of my pants. This has never happened to me, so God only knows where that came from, but I've had that since I was young.
I wish I could open up my subconscious and do a nice cleaning! Criminy!
This has never happened to me, so God only knows where that came from, but I've had that since I was young.
