Do you have any Phobias?

February 18, 2009 4:07pm CST
Hello Everyone. I was just watching a TV programme about people and their different phobias. There are some very strange ones that people have. One lady had a phobia about cotton wool....and another had a phobia of buttons. How can anyone have a phobia about buttons? lol I once used to work with a girl who had a phobia about balloons....which caused a few problems because part of her job description was to blow up balloons lol. And the age old phobia.....Spiders!! I know lots of people who have that one. But also....a real phobia is different from just 'not liking' something much isnt it? So...do I have any phobias? Hmmmm.....Im claustraphobic (small spaces, confinded spaces, lack of air) and I think I am a little agrophobic in that I dont like to be away from my home for too long. What about all of you? What are all your phobias and how do you deal with them?
3 people like this
16 responses
@TessWhite (3146)
• United States
19 Feb 09
I have three phobias. Spiders, heights and water. The water one I've mostly overcome. But since I almost drowned as a child before being pulled out, I think that one will always be a bit of an issue. Heights, I can handle that one fairly well, but you won't find me on top of a building any time soon. Spiders - thats one I can also deal with. Last year when renovating our screen room we had torn down the screens and removed some bad lumber. Little did we know it was hiding a nest of tarantulas. Over the next few weeks we found 5 large hairy spiders in our screen room. I know people say they aren't pests, but I still killed each one I found. Unfortunately, I also don't use the screen room anymore. Once upon a time I took naps out there in the afternoon sun - but not now.
@TessWhite (3146)
• United States
20 Feb 09
I don't think fear of spiders that bite is something to call silly. Where I live we have many poisonous species of spiders and tarantulas. I'm not about to catch these creatures to release them where they can come back inside. I also find it sad that you can tell several of us who responded to your topic that our fears are "silly."
20 Feb 09
How can you let something like this rule your life for you? You miss out on using one of your rooms because of a silly fear of spiders? Its so sad when people do that. As for killing them....why would you do that? Get yourself a spider catcher so you dont need to kill them just because of a silly fear.
• India
20 Feb 09
What is Phobias...???????? Check out again your Spell + Word, then come to discussion at MYLOT. See no one can respond you bcoz the PHONIAS word bad word. So delete this discussion matter in MYLOT.
@mysdianait (66009)
• Italy
20 Feb 09
Maybe you would care to take a look here to see what a phobia is http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_phobia&alreadyAsked=1
@jene1985 (224)
• Australia
19 Feb 09
i have a phobia of birds and frogs.. birds because of a trauma i went through involving birds not sure where my phobia of frogs comes from anyway..
20 Feb 09
My Dad cannot stand frogs either. When I was a little girl, if my Dad was out digging the garden he used to shout me "Come and get this Frog Now!!" lol I used to tease him and chase him with the frog.
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
19 Feb 09
My phobia is heights.. And I am afraid of caskets.. It makes me scared to see them. Also the hurst cars.. I am afraid of deep water, I can't swim...
20 Feb 09
Heights I can understand....me too. Fear of deep water is understandable if you cant swim although you ought to learn how to swim. You wont be scared anymore and being able to swim could save your life one day. Not only that, but if you can swim, you might be able to save someone elses life too! What would you feel about yourself if one day you see a child in the river who is struggling but yet you cannot help them? To me, learning to swim is very important and something that I made sure ALL my children learnt very early on.
@GemmaR (8517)
19 Feb 09
I have a phobia of being sick. I can't stand seeing or hearing anyone else be sick incase I am myself. Whenever someone is ill around me I have to ask them what's wrong and what's caused it to find out how likely it is that I'll catch what they've got. I can't eat without thinking I feel sick, and often end up leaving a lot of my meal because I think I'll throw up if I eat any more. It's not an eating disorder, it's a phobia, just the way things have worked out have made it seem like I have a disorder. I'm not underweight though, which is good. I'd have to go and see a doctor if I ever dropped under the ideal weight for my height.
20 Feb 09
A lot of people have phobias like a phobia of spiders or of birds but they dont really impact on everyday living too much. If you have a phobia that is affecting your every day living then you really need to address it and get back in control.......else you run the risk of this phobia controlling you. I can understand that you have a phobia about being sick and others being sick but you really must not let this affect you eating a meal because it will only get worse and not better as you age. Being sick will not hurt you......its not nice, but it wont hurt you.
• United States
19 Feb 09
I get made fun of for my fear a lot!! I am terrified of clowns!! I can't stand them. I have never been to the circus because if I see clowns I freak out. I don't know why but I've had my fear since I was a kid. I just try to avoid any place or event that might have clowns.
20 Feb 09
I have heard of this before. Many people get freaked out with them for some reason
• Philippines
19 Feb 09
i am afraid of being trapped. really most especially when the space is too small. it's not an extreme phobia yet but whenever i got in an elevator, i always have this feeling that it will never be open. then sharks too. though i haven't encountered a shark here in the philippines but after seeing JAWS - and deep blue sea, i don't swim in the ocean when the sea water is above my tummy. lol.
@izathewzia (5134)
• Philippines
19 Feb 09
I hate dogs. When I was a kid, one of them bite me. It hurts and made me hate them. But I do appreciate their looks and their works. It just that, I don't want them as a pet. And I am afraid they might bite me or other children.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
18 Feb 09
I have two phobias--cockroaches and slime. I will not go into a body of water that has a slimy bottom, it grosses me out and makes me frantic. Same with roaches, I don't know why I hate them so much but they're the only creature on earth that I loath so much I have trouble stepping on them, even with shoes. My house doesn't have them and I go to great lengths to avoid them, refusing to bring paper bags into the house. They love to lay their eggs in the glue that's used to keep the bags together.
20 Feb 09
I dont like to stand on beetles.....I dont like the crunch sound or feel, so I guess it would be the same for cockroaches. We dont seem to have the same sort of cockroach problems here than they do in places like the US.....which is a good thing for someone who doesnt like them! Maybe you should move here :-))
• United Kingdom
19 Feb 09
I definitely have a phobia, probably a very common one too, spiders! I just don't like the critters! They are ugly and they scare the living daylights out of me! They are obviously here for a reason but I just don't know what that is. Before I go to bed each night I always check beneath my pillow and I also remove the quilt just in case there's a spider lurking underneath somewhere. There are all kinds of different phobias but my heart really starts beating whenever I see a spider. Andrew
18 Feb 09
A phobia is an unreasonable and oversized fear of something, indeed. A lot of us dislike many things, but phobias usually mean sweaty palms, that cold feeling of fear and a sort of mental retreating into the back of your head to avoid the thing in question. Personally, I'm an arachnophobe (spiders) and that's about it. I'm not fond of bugs or snakes, but they're bearable. One thing I found really interesting was watching the movie Arachnophobia: it really taught me exactly what I dislike about spiders, rather than just having a basic fear of them. Strange phobias? I used to date a girl who had two: she couldn't bear the sight of those little plastic coffee creamer containers you get with a cup of java in a cafe (!!) and she hated melted ice cream. Couldn't eat it at all, though if it was fully frozen it was fine. But then she was a total fruit-cake anyway. Seriously unstable.
20 Feb 09
I agree with the definition. So many people say they have a phobia about something when they dont. What they mean is they dislike it :-)) I saw arachnaphobia and i thought it was a silly film. I thought it was going to be really good but it turned out to be a bit of a comedy. I got the impression actually, that the film was taking the micky out of people with a spider phobia ....maybe it was. I dont like spiders much.....but I am not Phobic about them.
• Philippines
19 Feb 09
my phobia has always been feathered animals, i dont kow the scientific name for it, but i really dont like their looks...even birds im really terrofoed of it...when i was young a turkey bit me in my neck, coz our neighbor they let loose their turkeys and it so happen that i passed by and it run after me...till then i cannot even afford to look to any feathered animals, especially chicken, geese, turkey and ostrich...
20 Feb 09
Yes, I have heard of people having fears of birds before....my sister doesnt really like them flying near her. It is very extreme for you if you cannot even look at them though....doesnt that spoil your appreciation for nature?
@itsme_cha (504)
• United States
19 Feb 09
hi there yes i do have phobia. i am afraid being on higher building it gets me nervous i just can look down it make me nausea, i dont know why is it but i think it something that i dont wanna do it looking down while i am in the higher floor. happy mylotting.
20 Feb 09
Ahhh yes....heights. I fogot about that one....I have the same....cannot stand being up high and I really do get panicy. I dont let it control me and stop me from doing things because I wont let anything like that control my life, no matter how bad it makes me feel.
@xhaylea (361)
1 Apr 09
I have a phobia of blood, i just cannot stand seeing the sight of blood, it just makes me want to run away or something when i see it. I also have a phobia of spiders, especially the big hairy ones like many people do, whenever i see one in the same room as me, i scream and run a mile, and get my dogs to eat it or someone to put it outside lol. I also have a phobia of flies, i think they are DISGUSTING, they sit on dog poo and whatever, then they enter your house and end up going on your food, we always spray the flys we get with fly repellent killer. I also hate bees and wasps, yes bees create honey and things which is good but whenever i see a bee or wasp near me i get really scared cause i think they're gonna sting me or something.
• Indonesia
19 Feb 09
yes i have a phobias with seafood especially with bivalve menu,because i have an experience when i eat that food i have a stomach-ache and i have throw up again the food until my stomach feel very pain. after that i never eat a bivalve again and when i saw someone eat it i feel queasy and i have to get out from that place. that is my experience with my phobia, i don't know this is a phobia or not but i feel very disturbed with this
• United States
19 Feb 09
there is not alot of things i would say i'm scared of, but i tend to get anxiety attack like symptoms when i'm driving in heavy traffic especially at night time, i dunno why but it is something that always happens to me.