Phobias and daily living

I have ocd so have quite a few phobias including shaking peoples hands, but I force myself to do it as I dislike hurting peoples feelings. I hate germs and dirt and have to wash my hands with liquid soap when I go to a toilet outside the home. I hate it when they have bar soap that looks like it has been well used it doesn't clean you properly. I also hate using outside the home toilets unless they are very clean. I have a phobia about catching other peoples germs though this has gone a lot less since I had my baby. I am scared of spiders and flying. I am also afraid of heights.

Lilapsophobia - Fear of TORNADOES and hurricanes. I'm extremely afraid of tornadoes. It sucks. Everytime it storms and I even think it might be bad I start to freak out. It started when I was in 7th or 8th grade and got worse over the years. I use to have my cousin (who is also afraid of storms) come and check me out of school if the clouds looked dark. I'd sit in the guidance counlsors office until she got there. I wouldn't buy a house or rent a place without a basement either. I did once and truly regretted it. I was freaked out and running to my sister in laws house at all hours of the night because she did have one. My husband thinks I'm nuts. I also will call into work if there is a threat of severe weather that night. It wouldn't be so bad (about going to work) but there is no TV to watch the weather, no internet, and it's a big warehouse (walmart). And one of the first things they tell you in tornado safety is don't go to a warehouse. My guidence counlsor is high school told me to learn more about them and that would ease my fear. It back fired. The more I learned about them and their unpredictable ways the more my fear grew. I think I'm doing better until that first bad storm hits - then I'm freaking out again. All the things that I did learn and all the things that I know when it's not storming (about probabilty and everything) is thrown right out the window. My poor family gets phone calls in the middle of the night to talk to me while it's storming to calm me down. God love them. My hubby is usually at work durring those calls. I've even went and stayed with my in laws cause I was scared (they came and picked me up) and they didn't want me to be alone. I've nerve pills too that I take. But they don't do me much good for work - cause they put me to sleep. The funny thing is it's only 1 millagram!!

I think any fear or phobia will alter the way you live. I HATE rodents. Mostly rats and mice. I know it is a phobia and there is no foundation for the fear but I just can't help the way I feel. I know when there is a mouse or rat nearby, I can "feel" their presence. But because of this, I keep decon in the closets and pantry and in the garage.

i don't like being in any kind of crowds, happened when i got older. i freak out. i used to go to all kinds of concerts, bars whatever. now if i go anywhere, i have to go to an outdoor function. that way i can control where i am. but i also have a fear of driving. i don't know why. i hate to drive. especially at night because i have difficulty seeing. which is normal, but i think it hinders my life, as i don't go out anywhere after dark unless someone drives me or i go to the local market. now it gets dark here at 5pm so you can imagine how bored i am. : ) when i go out on the weekends it feels like i am in a new world.

I have a big fear of closed spaces and heights, espcially heights. What is strange is that both of these fears came on late in life. I was not afraid of either of these until my late 30's! There was not a precipitating event either!

I'm afraid of grills on the ground (like for water drainage or heat vents.) I know it comes from my childhood when I was little & fell on a heating vent and burned my hand. I don't actually remember it, but in 1985 I had to walk across a grill that connected the ferry to the loading dock, I was in shock by the time I got across. The whole, uncontrollable shaking & cold to the touch. Took most of the trip to recover! A friend had developed agoraphobia a number of years ago but Wellbutrin helped her recover. Have you tried anti-depressents? My running into grills isn't as frequent as you having to adjust your life to your phobia.

Wow! I didn't know there were so many names for phobias. Let's see.... Aphenphosmphobia - Fear of being touched I have this but only when I am sleeping. I feel as if I need to protect myself so I sleep with a body pillow on one side and my partner on the other. I used to have the position the bed so I would have the wall on one side and my partner on the other...but since getting a body pillow (and I'm s short stuff), I can turn my bed anyway. Arachnephobiba - Fear of spiders This is the big one for me. It is a fight or flight each time I encounter a spider. If I am alone, I will kill it but my heart is racing to the point of 30 minutes of aerobics. ha ha If anyone else is home or can help, then they best get it for me because I am not forced to fight. And my kids even know that if they miss it, lie to me! Because I will not go back into that area and will be scared each time I have to go past the area. But my son is great! He will get it every time and ensure me sometimes by asking me if I want to see it. LOL My 6th child (little girl) does not like killing them and will get a piece of paper to free them. Now that I really can't watch! I'll have to bookmark that page. There are some pretty interesting phobias there. Thanks for sharing!

I have a really bad phobia about worms, My phobia is so bad that I don't go out in the rain, if I can help it. I can't even do gardening, I buy planters and fill them with potting compost.

I'm claustrophobic and it does sometimes effect my life. For example, any time we go in to Pittsburgh I try to avoid having to go in the tunnels.

I am afraid of heights! I also get scared wen i am amongst a big crowd.Thats why i am not able to travel in local trains! Its really miserable. Wen i see a crowded train coming onto the platform my legs get shaky!!

I swear I have a phobia of stupid people. It isn't that they frighten me--far from it, but when I'm about to go into a situation where I have to deal with a known stooge, I get the same sort of anxiety that an ophiophobe might get if they're about to deal with a snake. I wish I were kidding.

Wow I hear you girl. I once hid out in the automotives section in Walmart for at least a half hour before I could get a grip on myself and make it to the safety of my vehicle. I've even left half filled grocery carts in the middle of an aisle just because it was time to go and that means now. I think my phobia is a product of my Crohns disease. Which always left me in a panic. I had to start planning everything around it. I hate the way that it rules my life and has made me so "paranoid" about being away from home.

I have claustrophobia. This is the fear of small places. What makes this phobia a pain is that I also have Asthma. When my asthma is acting up I feel like everyone near me is taking my oxygen. I have a hard time breathing. My mom likes to go to these free dinners, where you listen to a speaker for an hour and then you have a nice dinner. It never fails these meeting are in very small restaurants. For the most part this phobia is controlable, however there are times when it is best for me to stay at home. When my claustrophobia is acting up I hate everyone. I feel like the room is closing in on me ever if I am outside. Some times these episodes are followed by panic attacks. The best think is that as long as my asthma is not acting up I can control my phobia and when my asthma is acting up I have medication to control the symtoms. There are more than 300 phobias that are listed. I did not know there were so many. When I saw this discussion I looked up phobias and could not believe some that I saw. I can understand a fear of animals of all types. There were phobias listed where people are afraid of air. That is strange. The best thing is there is medication or actions that we can take to aleaviate the symptoms of the phobia.

mine is INJECTIONS first. i m really afraid of getting admitted into hospital too. i just want to be fit. dont want to be admitted there and live under phobia.

Wow....can I relate to this...I was like that a few years ago...I suffer panic/anxiety too...Now I have trouble travelling on the subway and transit alone...and I haven't in a long time...I need to get over that..because it really hinders my life living in a big city...I also don't like crowds or gatherings but I can deal....It is hard when you have stuff like this..because other's have a hard time understanding it.....

I am terrified of spiders. It's not an unusual phobia I know but I am particularly scared of them. There was no single thing that made me scared of them, I have just been scared for as long as I remember. Even a tiny money spider that is only about 3mm wide being in my room would be enough for me to go and sleep on the sofa when I was small. I don't think I can get over the fear because everything I have heard of that is meant to cure a phobia involves facing that phobia and I never want to be that close to a spider. I don't even like saying the word because it makes me think of them.

Aichmophobia - Fear of needles or pointed objects. This one would probably be me. I have had to have several adults hold me down to stick me. Hate them. This one made me laugh though: Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth

I am phobic of other people vomiting, which is a form of emetophobia and it's tough to have when you are a parent. My daughter got sick this weekend and my husband had to take care of it 100%. I am tired of those comments "oh you are a bad mother if you cannot take care of your sick kids" or "you need to get over it" NO I cannot! And I am a fkn good mother! Besides most of the time my kids have illnesses that doesn't involve vomiting thank goodness and I am ALWAYS there to take care of them! Just because I cannot handle puke doesn't make me a bad person!!

I have just began having phobias in the past 2 years. I have no idea why. I have panic/anxiety and closraphobic also. Scary since it began suddenly and wont go away

The strangest one i've come across is a friend of a friend that I know has a phobia of buttons, he will not let anyone into is house with clothing with any kind of buttons on them. Really strange one. Mine like yourself is agoraphobia, it causes me all kinds of grief dealing with every day life. I also suffer from emetophobia which is the fear of vomiting. I used to think I was a total nutter with this one, but apparently is one of the most common phobias.