I haven't seen a topic like this in a while, and my sister and I just saw a commercial on TV that reminded us of our aunt's phobia of clowns and masks...
So, what are your phobias? Do you know how they started? How do you handle them? (I'm asking this in a lighthearted manner...I'm not asking you to confess your deepest, darkest fears.)
I'm terrified of spiders. How did my arachnophobia start? I'm not really sure, but I think it was when I was about 10 and I was holding a trophy that had been on a shelf in my room for months. It was one of those tall ones with a long hole through it that was open at the bottom. As I was talking to my mom, she suddenly said "Put it down NOW." I was always obedient, but her tone of voice made me react super fast. When I slammed the trophy down on a nearby table, I squished a very large spider that had been living inside the trophy. UGH. My mom had seen it's legs as it started to crawl out of the trophy. Double UGH.
Ever since then, I've been terrified of spiders. I don't want to see them, touch them, be around them, walk into their webs, etc. I don't handle it very well. If it is ON me, I'll turn white as a sheet and come close to fainting. If I just see it or get near it, I usually do a lot of shuddering and screeching, and I holler for someone to come kill the spider. A few months ago at school, I discovered a large spider crawling down the hallway. I looked for someone who could kill it, but no one was around. It was up to me. I finally found a huge book and threw it on the spider from a couple yards away. That did the trick, but I was left with quite a mess to clean up!
There, you know my biggest phobia. Now tell me about YOUR phobias!
We have plenty of scorpions here...and they like to come inside whenever the weather changes. We'll find a dozen or so within a couple weeks, then go months without seeing another. I don't LIKE them, but neither am I afraid of them. And yes, I've been stung...one decided MY bed would make a nice resting place, and when I crawled between the sheets, he didn't like it very much. STING!
Another fear, though it's not really a phobia, would be my fear of red wasps and yellow jackets. I'm allergic (not deathly, though) to red wasps, so it's especially painful for a long time if I get stung, and they can really carry a grudge. Yellow jackets can just be MEAN if you step on or otherwise accidentally disturb their nest. They've chased me and my mom all way from way out in the yard up to the house...and stung us too.
I was diagnosed with agoraphobia (crowds) and claustrophobia (enclosed spaces) in 2000. I went for counseling with a christian psychiatrist who I thought could help me (cuz she was a christian) but all she did was listen and I didnt know what she wanted me to say. So, it didnt work out, she tried to give me Zoloft (anti-depressants) but I couldnt get myself to admit the problem was that bad so I never took them.
anyway, over the past10 years or so I have learned so much regarding the 2 phobias and found out that the stem is fear (duh). So I have been dealing with the fear issue for about 5 years now. I know what the root was and where it started, the memories have been healed and I hardly get "episodes" anymore. God has delivered me from having those feelings and its really good to be free.
For awhile, I was afraid to leave my house and I was a bible study leader, no one knew what I was going through.
Strange huh?
I find that when I'm in situations where I'm beginning to feel the anxiety rise up, I repeat scripture over and over in my head and maybe start singing a worship song under my breath. Then it goes away.
There are times it just comes upon me but it's not nearly as bad as before.
What is the proper name for the phobia of stray cats in Santa suits coming down the chimney in the middle of the night to scratch out ones eyes while they are sleeping?
enclosed spaces - not too bad though, only if I can't turn in a circle. No scuba masks. Even just googles in a snorkle getup make me freak out a little; can't keep them on more than a few seconds.
The storms were from where I lived in Florida and a funnel cloud was above our yard. I was nine and lived in a mobile home and remember watching the sides of it s_uck in! Twin sisters ended up touching down a mile away from us and wiped out a trailer park. I can deal with storms much better now, but if there are high winds, it scares me!
Snakes; feeding horses hay and I reached into the middle of the bale and pulled out a garter snake instead of hay. Also when I went to a ladies barn to get her garden hose I felt something tickle my leg, looked down and another garter snake was licking my leg!!! That did it!
And the opossums, I'm really not sure, but I've had a couple run out of our shop/shed through the only door to get away from my dogs and come running right at me! I run screaming and jump in the back of my dad's truck or whatever else I can find!!! :ROFL:
