A topic for people to share their personal phobias or those of people they know. I’ve always been fascinated by the intense effect that phobias have on people and the wide array of strangely specific phobias that exist. For example, a coworker of mine suffers from submechanophobia, in which she’s terrified of seeing man-made objects submerged in open water. She has said that even looking at the side of a boat that’s underwater makes her freeze up, or barrels that have been washed into a lake. If writing about your fear causes you discomfort then you certainly don’t have to do so, but I’m interested to hear if any of you have personal experience with phobias.
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Haha, I have… A list…
I’m an easily frightened person, usually by the normal stuff. Arachnophobia, fear of heights, that sort of thing. Though the arachnophobia I’m pretty sure runs in the family. Living with someone terrified of spiders tends to make kids become scared too.
In slightly stranger (though actually super common!) news, i have ridiculously bad emetophobia. I can sort of mention it myself but even reading the word generally used to describe throwing up that begins with V really makes me uncomfortable, and if people make gross gagging noises it’s often almost enough to make me panic. I’m generally okay these days though. Generally.
And for my oddest phobias (though I don’t know what they’re called) we’ve got fear of horses and fear of fleas. I can discuss horses just fine but if I talk about fleas too much it gives me intense flea-related paranoia. I also have a fear of old, grey angelic statues, specifically ones that aren’t on a plinth or grave, but that one’s thanks to Doctor Who. Traumatised by a kids show? It’s more likely than you think.
I’ve gotten pretty used to telling people about these though (gotta make sure they avoid the topics and don’t make gross noises y’know?) So I don’t mind answering questions too. No flower emoji on this post, I know I’m oversharing haha!
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I have an intense murophobia (rats). Mice, too, to a lesser degree, but I’ve sort of managed that one. Rats, however, get all the nopes.
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I’m totally with you when it comes to the statues, and for exactly the same reason 
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Is there something specific about rats rather than mice that makes them more bothering? If you don’t mind of course.
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I have no idea. I live in a very forested area, so interacting with little wood mice is pretty unavoidable. I’ve just sort of accepted that they’re here and I have to deal with them. Just thinking of rats fills me with revulsion, though. I can do all of the other “creepy” animals no problem.
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I really super dislike lady bugs. I once saw them swarm this tiny sapling of a tree…and like for some reason as a kid it was so weird that ive been scared of them ever since. Logically like they are literally harmless…still dont like them.
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Fire. I’m almost positive I must have been burned as a witch in a past life.
The dark. Very seriously. I’m 35 years of age, and afraid of the dark. I refuse to leave my bed after 3am. I swear I can feel a presence near me, even when I’m with someone else.
Spiders. Just no.
And yeah, @SabineBean, fellow emetophobe here. I can’t even think about it. I just never knew until I read that post that it’s actually a thing, and not just me.
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You too? It turns out it’s more than just a thing, 6% of women and 4% of men (apparently, don’t quote me on the numbers) have mild to extreme emetophobia. That’s just over the population of the entire United States of America! It’s weird that it’s not more well known, especially since it’s not even that irrational, it comes from the same part of the mind that likes hygiene and doesn’t want to get illnesses (unless it’s trauma related but even then it’s usually related to that too)
For me I get really bad food paranoia because of the phobia too. I have to burn everything I cook a bit to make sure it’s done and i rarely try new food. Anything that seems even remotely undercooked I can’t eat at all. Even stuff that can be eaten rare like beef. I basically just live off microwave meals and rice because it’s less awful for my brain if I don’t have to think about how it was prepared. Cooking? That’s a Bad Time for me. The microwave saved me haha
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i have hardcore fear of the dark, to the point of full on paranoia. I also am absolutely terrified of flying insects and i guess also death? I hate the unknown, and death just poses the ultimate unknown, so AAA.
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I had two phobias when I was younger, one of of the dark and the other was of heights. I got both of them when I was on a outward bounds school trip. I got my fear of heights first when we had to climb up this tree and then jump off it. I went up the tree but then decided I didn’t want to jump. So my teacher came up the tree and pushed me off the platform. My second phobia was also caused by this same teacher when we were doing a night treasure hunt and I lost my team. So I attempted to follow an adult I knew very well out of a gate onto the road. But the teacher stopped me and screamed in my face. So I ran back into the wooded area and had a panic attack. Since that one trip I was scared of heights and the dark for a long time. Now I don’t mind heights or the dark now but I got new phobias which are spiders and wasps.
@SabineBean I do the same thing with food!
@Cj_Heighton ye same here with that particular unknown, even just thinking about if for a few minutes is awful and is the only thing that makes me cry or express any emotion. When I lose pets I just bottle it up and shove it deep down as I just can’t handle it
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Sounds like that teacher is a straight up evil person, I’m sorry you had to deal with someone like that…
It’s relieving to know I’m not the only one who does it. Most of my friends think I’m weird for it (one jokingly says I don’t eat human food because I’m not human. I don’t mind the joke, it’s friendly banter!) and don’t really get it. Lots of people try to push me to cook and get weirded out if I get mad at them haha. It’s just like that sometimes I guess 
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Ye this teacher was old fashioned and pure evil if you weren’t one of his favourites
If the food ain’t black and crispy it ain’t cooked
I haven’t eaten yogurt for over 10 years now as my mum once gave me a mouldy yogurt and since then I’ve never trusted them
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I recommend giving the New York subway system a wide, wide berth…I’d never seen a real live rat before in my entire life and now it’s such a common sight I don’t even think about it anymore.
My big one is bugs. Once I spotted a massive roach in my boyfriend’s apartment (the joys of living in NYC) and had to wait outside on the street until he got rid of it, and even then went promptly home afterwards. 
Unsupported heights I’m not great with either. I don’t mind tall buildings/planes/roller coasters, but I almost failed my high school wall climbing class because I would get halfway up the wall and then panic-freeze. Diving boards and cliffs are a big ol’ nope for me too.
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Yeah. The times I’ve been on it, I do not as a rule look down.
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AG_Catherine went to a high school for ninja. Headcanon accepted.
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eyes, honestly. i am not a terribly easily frightened person, but something about cold, dead, dark eyes really spook me. anything to do with eyes, evil eyes and horror films with monsters /ghosts that get very close to eyes, i can’t handle that.
probably an underlying fear of being watched due to that, although i would liken that to more a mild anxiety.
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I have an extreme phobia of most insects. Bees, wasps, moths most of all. Summer is hell for me, I generally stay indoors with the windows shut as much as I can bear temperature wise (We don’t have air con here). I had a really severely traumatic incident a couple of months ago with a swarm of bees that I’m still recovering from so really don’t want to go into any more details there but it’s very very bad.
I also have a fear of falling, caused by a recurring childhood nightmare. When I used to go mountaineering I was more comfortable climbing on a vertical face even without a rope than I was walking on fairly uneven/sloped ground. Never got over it, though I did my best to push through. Just cried an awful lot and needed encouragement from whoever I was with, lol.
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I think I have something about eyes too, but it’s morphed into a sort of fascination with them?
I’m autistic, so I have an aversion to eye contact, and I get nervous and weird if I’m required to look someone in the eyes. I wouldn’t call it a phobia exactly, but I get uncomfortable.
But I like to look just slightly frightening when it comes to fashion, and while that includes the usual Gothic spiders and spiky things, I am especially drawn to jewelry and accessories with eyes, specifically because I am uncomfortable with them, and so wearing a pendant or something with a realistic eye makes me feel powerful.
There are more stylized eyes in my collection too, but they don’t make me feel as much. They’re just fashion.
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I know exactly what you mean with the eye thing I love how you deal with your uncomfortableness through your fashion which I must say is amazing!
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