Phobias

[ryan8029]

Does anyone have any severe phobias?

I myself am quite horrified of lizards (I'm somehow fine with snakes and actually find them to be quite charming) especially iguanas. I have panic attacks when I see pictures of them. I'm also just as scared of a fictional character and can't go to movie rentals too often for fear of seeing her on a DVD box.

[ElectricKoolaid]

I actually found out that I have a thing about lizards too. Not as severe as you, but I was totally convinced that I was super cool with lizards until one got into my room, and then I screamed and made my girlfriend shoo it outside while I stood on some furniture.

I get panic attacks when I fly, crying and everything. It's really embarrassing. Also I'm claustrophobic, but I think most people are to some degree. I don't like going in elevators, and even reading about small spaces makes me all short of breath and uncomfortable.

Also I'm really curious about that fictional character -- can you tell us who it is or would it freak you out even just to type out her name?

[ryan8029]

...actually it's just embarrassing but if you must know it's Stephen King's Carrie White. Yes. I'm a basket case.

[ElectricKoolaid]

At least it's a horror character though, right? She's supposed to be scary anyway. It'd be more embarrassing if it was a cartoon puppy or something.

[ryan8029]

I suppose that's true. Still though... bit extreme. I have many a story about the lengths I've gone to to avoid seeing her.

[butterbridge]

Its not really a phobia I guess... but when I was a child I used to get really uncomfortable anytime we went over bridges in our car. I never told anyone in my family at the time but I would always get this uneasy feeling and an almost-falling sensation and then breathe a big sigh of relief once we were on solid ground on the other side. I don't usually get it any more, but it was problematic because we often went to the san francisco/bay area on Saturdays and would have to cross over the Bay Bridge (sometimes inching along in heavy traffic).
I was never overcome by fear or anything but it always made me very uncomfortable. I used to have semi-nightmarish dreams about them redesigning bridges to sling you over the water by hooking onto your front axle and you get carried from hook to hook and was supposedly safer than simply driving across a flat surface. We never fell from the hook swingy thing but that feeling of partial free fall always terrified me in my sleep.
I know about a dozen people who are arachnophobic, but I usually don't mind spiders because I grew up learning to release/kill it and move on because my brother was unable to cope with the spider's presence. I mean I spaz out when one is crawling on me not because its a spider, but because I don't usually want things crawling on me. If the spider is minding its own business in the corner I really don't care that it is there while my brother and some friends would FREAK OUT til it is gone.

Just my two cents on the phobia topic :P

[gadgetfreak84]

Add me to the list of people who find spiders disgusting. I can't/won't get near 'em. I refuse.

I also have a fear of escalators (going down, not up). I'm getting better with them, but would much rather use a staircase or elevator, when possible.

[Etheric]

I'm definitely one of the ones that doesn't like small spaces. It's more the restriction of movement and idea of getting stuck that gets me.

When I was much younger, I use to really be disturbed by loud sounds. The most embarrassing of these was loud-flushing toilets and hand dryers. I often had to be coaxed into public restrooms by my parents because I didn't want to risk the loud noises. I'm still pretty sound-sensitive (I prefer quiet and startle fairly easily), but I'm not nearly as skittish as I once was.

Heights tend to get to me a little bit too. I get a bit woozy when really high up, but I can usually adjust, or else step away to a place where I'm not seeing the height.

[Nomenclature]

When I was younger, I had a mild phobia of elevators. Now, I don't really have any phobias that I know of.

Spiders or heights themselves don't bother me. . .but getting bitten by one or falling probably would.

[iheartgaymes]

I freak out when there's not a layer of glass separating a snake and me. Also maggots completely gross me out. I don't know if that's a phobia really.

Contrary to a lot of other people, I love small spaces. In a way, I guess I'm claustrophilic. The whole not breathing thing is really just more of an annoyance. Small spaces to me just mean they're cozy. I mean everything becomes more adorable when its miniature. Why not rooms?