What is your horrible, possibly irrational fear?

[sundog]

For me it's snakes. I hate them. I despise them. If I never had to see one again, I would be perfectly fine.

When I was young & lived in the DC suburbs, snakes would slither up from the marshes & get inside the house.

Now I live in the desert & get a little edgy because of rattlesnakes.

Ick. Hate em, hate em, hate em...

What is your phobia? :scared:

[MrScorpio]

1. Carnies

You know, Circus folk

Small hands!!

[sundog]

4. have you seen the movie "Freaks"?

very old... from 1932

[MrScorpio]

14. I've seen the stills

You couldn't catch me dead at a circus after that

[sundog]

17. All the carnies catch a rich woman and turn her into a freak

[curse10]

2. blood and crowds

I pass out and/or have panic attacks

[name not needed]

3. Bees/wasps/hornets

I don't know why

[Bonhomme Richard]

42. Same here.....Freak me out! n/t

[Dookus]

5. I have nightmares

That Rosie O'Donnell will eat Mr. Winkle

[sundog]

9. That's scary

poor Mr. Winkle :scared:

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

6. I'm such a Potter geek.

I'm terrified that JK Rowling will die before she finishes book 7.

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[eaprez]

7. Driving over bridges.

...hate it.

[nuxvomica]

38. Stadium seating and theatre balconies

Also tall buildings. I was sitting in the 30th row at Fenway Wednesday and I did my best not to look around too much cuz I probably would've had to leave. My nephew was with me and pointed out some lights that were right over our heads, saying that if they fell we were goners. The idea of the structure falling didn't scare me at all but I refused to look up at the lights cuz it would've started me thinking about how they change the bulbs!

[Bat Boy]

71. Bridges....(shudder)

They freak me out. I had to make my wife drive over Hoover Dam while I put permanent finger marks on the dashboard...

[gmoney]

8. You think I'm telling you?

Or for that matter, the entire world?

[Bronco69]

10. My phobia is snakes too!

I absolutely despise them! I can't imagine a snake getting in the house! How did you sleep at night?

[sundog]

20. I had to leave...

once one got onto my fucking bed -- it was a black bedspread & it was a black snake & I went to sit down & ahhhhhhh! Message to leave MD... :scared:

[Piperay]

11. Being trapped in an elevator

I'm claustrophobic and my worst fear would be to get stuck in an elevator. I will do whatever I can to avoid riding in elevators, will walk up or down flight after flight of stairs rather than get in one of those horrible boxes. When I can't gain access to the stairs I have to take the elevator and it is a real white-knuckler of a ride for me. :scared: :scared: :scared:

[Bunny]

12. Mice and rats.

Cannot abide them at all. They cause a visceral reaction in me. I hate hate hate them! :scared:

[Dookus]

15. aww

mice sorta suck, but rats rock. They make great pets - they're clean, intelligent, loving and faithful. You just haven't met the right rat :)

[Bunny]

24. Would you believe, I got bit by my lab rat in college?

But that is not the cause of my loathing of most things rodent. However, I could see keeping a cool white rat as a pet. But if there are ever any wild rodents in my house, theyll get the axe! :evilgrin:

[AlienGirl]

60. How'd THAT happen?

[Bunny]

67. I don't remember specifically what caused the bite.

I just remember my prof looking at me with total disgust. I must have been the first person ever to be bit by a lab rat. I had to go to the dispensary and get a shot and everything.

[bo44]

13. Emotional/Intellectual version of getting pants pulled down

If I sense somenone is about to shame me I get real heated.

[blm]

16. Werewolves.

.

[calico1]

18. Those metal grates (or whatever you call them)

that you either see on some streets or in some buildings. I feel like they are going to open up and I'm going to fall in! I've never gotten over that fear.

[realisticphish]

19. spiders

large ones; little ones don't bother me, but i can't look at a picture of a large spider without changing the channel or slamming the book shut

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[WildClarySage]

21. Sharks

even when swimming in a pool, I can get freaked out.

[TroubleMan]

22. Pool sharks aren't scary. Minnesota Fats would never hurt you.

nt.

[Padraig18]

23. Spiders, snakes and cockroaches.

I cannot STAND any of the three!

:scared:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

25. Scorpions

I spent a year in Texas as a kid (San Antonio) and they were everywhere. Nothing my parents did could keep them out of the house. When my dad cut the grass his trouser cuffs were full of them. They seem to know when you're watching them and amble off backwards, crab-like, their tails at the ready.

[Kali]

26. mine is the weirdest of all of you

dogs,cats, horses, bats, badgers, most any mammels - love em!

snakes? no prob, have kept them as pets - not venemous ones, I do have common sense

spiders? I like 'em can pick up tarantulas no prob pets again - even giant centipedes

mice and rats? no prob - have kept as pets (and food for pet snakes)

sharks? well I have never experienced a big one - assume reaction would be common sense, not irrational fear

almost any insect or crawly critter? no prob.

worm like critters in tide pools? no prob.

earthworms? its starting

maggots and grubs? getting nervous

freaking disgusting sich evil fat twisting twitching psuedopod grasping tubercled larvea of moths and butterflies? aaaauuughghghghget it away get it away yyyyaaaaaaaaa (thud - faint)

yes, I am just a little uncomfortable around caterpillars.

[bratcatinok]

27. tornadoes

I know there is one out there that has my name on it and it will eventually find me.

When I was 5 a tornado went over our house. My Mom told us not to make a sound, not even to breathe. When I asked her later why she'd turned dinner off, she told me tornadoes could hear, smell, taste, see and touch. As a rational adult I know she did it where if we were ever in the same situation, we'd mind her immediately. As a rational adult I know there really isn't a tornado with my name on it.

However, when it gets stormy out, all thoughts of rationality leave me and I become the little child waiting on the tornado to find me.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

69. As one born in OK

and now back in the Pothandle, I know exactly how you feel. We had some nasty weather here a few weeks back and when the lights went out we got out the portable radio that picks up broadcast TV sound. So ole "Doppler Dave" is pointing to his map and saying things like "There's a tornado over here, and it appears to be heading this way." And I'm yelling at the radio "OVER WHERE?? GOING WHICH WAY?? I CAN'T SEE IT, YOU DOOFUSS!!!"
Plus, we ran out of booze.:D

[bratcatinok]

70. Channel 7 out of Lawton is my

go-to station when the weather gets nasty. I had lived in Dallas off and on for many years but was happily surprised with the weather coverage I found here in Ok. Bad weather is taken more seriously and it doesn't seem to have the same exaggeration of seriousness as it did in Dallas. It's much more factual and it feels as if I can trust it more.

When they told us to take cover a couple of years ago, it really was time to take cover since there was a tornado about 50 feet off the ground about 3 blocks from me. It wasn't like Dallas where there might be a tornado or rotation in S. Dallas and they're telling all of Dallas to take cover.

[RoadRunner]

28. hey sundog, what's wrong with snakes? I like 'em.

They're really kinda' beautiful, in their own way.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

29. Granddaddy long legs. Those things wig me out!!!!!!!!! I saw one in the

bathtub the other morning after I got out of the shower, and I freaked! I would not go back into the bathroom until I got my husband up and had him get rid of it. Blech!

[Crowdance]

30. Height.

I'm terrified of any height above a stepladder. I can't stand near a window above the second floor.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Those small, grey, indoors lizards. What do you call them?

They're beyond icky! :scared:

[Gildor Inglorion]

48. Geckos, I believe.

I think they're kinda cute. I also like the little green chameleons that inflate their throat pouches when they feel threatened. :hi:

[ott]

53. they're anoles

Florida Anoles probably if you're in the south.

[VOX]

32. Not being able to bet back home while on a long trip...

Seriously, this has plagued me for years, and it has limited my travel, but I'm working on it.

The idea of flying to say, London or Paris is an anxious one in itself, especially after 9/11, but I'd have trouble enjoying myself for the pestering thought of "Can you get home? How long would it take you, etc.?" As I said, I'm working up to it with desensitization and exposure. I've gotten several hundred miles away from home in the past year, and I'm building on that.

When I see lunar astronauts' photos of Earth from the moon, my stomach does a flip -- and there it is, that thought -- "How are they gonna get home?"

[jdonaldball]

34. Your fear of being stuck on the Moon is well founded.

One of our Astronauts really DID get stuck on the Moon!
Here he is:
http://www.campchaos.com/show.php?iID=497

[VOX]

36. This is great! Never saw this!

Art has a way of saying it all.

Thanks for posting -- :toast:

[flamingyouth]

33. How much bandwidth does DU actually have?

and you do have all night to read them? :D

Let's just say I could go on and on...

[Mara Steele]

35. has no one said MOLD???

MOLD really scares me.... I don't know why!! It's so weird and potentially toxic, I guess... :shrug:

I also have an irrational fear of having my wrists slit...

If I think about it I have to cover them up... :scared:

[RebelYell]

37. Dead bodies

I don't do funerals - creepiest custom ever

[VoteDemocratic2004]

39. I have a phobia of snakes as well

:scared:

[DODI]

40. Mine is very specific and very irrational

There is one intersection I have to go thru all the time. My fear is that one night, if I don't take right on red the person in the car in back of me will shoot me. There is a no turn on red sign. I don't know when I developed this fear -- but it is the only true fear I have and I would love to be rid of it.

[TOhioLiberal]

41. Nuclear bomb blast...

...I have to know EXACTLY where I am in relation to Downtown (I figure thats the most logical place for an explosion.) I am constantly thinking about it, and it doesn't help that we have a loose cannon in the WH. I had the fear under control during the Clinton years, but as soon as Shrub started showing his true colors it was all back...the nightmares, the worry.

[solinvictus]

43. Change

Any sort of change. I'm cat-like in that regard.

[ScreamingMeemie]

44. Airplane crashes...

I always slightly freak as the plane takes off that we will flip over and go crashing into the ground. Bad memories from that horrific crash with the picture at Chicago O'hare when I was a youngster. :scared:

I cannot stand it when planes bank, or taking off over the ocean out of LAX and both my brothers live there...yikes!

[Red State Rebel]

45. Dying young...Dad died at 32, Mom was 46

I just hit 47 so I've lived most of my adulthood feeling like any time now.......

[Gildor Inglorion]

46. Edges...

I'm afraid of falling off things. Not afraid of flying, or of being up high (as in Denver), but of being on the edge of a high place and falling or jumping. The HORROR!!! For that reason, I will never visit the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Park. I've never been higher than 17 stories in a tall building, as much as I love New York and would adore the view from the Empire State Building. I'm also terrified of driving in fast, unregulated traffic (as on interstate highways). As long as there are traffic lights, I'm OK.
And snakes, too. I detest them, and I think they know it. They seem to seek me out and stare at me with knowledgeable smirks....
:scared:

[woofless]

68. My same phobia EXACTLY, edges, high ones.

I used to be seriously freaked about hitting a large animal at high speed on my motorcycle and that one came true. Now I avoid edges AND motorcycles.

[TrogL]

47. water

it's an autistic spectrum thing

[Briarius]

49. Clowns

mimes too...I can get violent trying to stay away from them.

[jukes]

50. a long, long

life.

[Mordecai]

51. Death.

Or anything related to death. :scared: :scared: :scared:

[slutticus]

52. Spiders.

Any size, any where, any time....they scare the shit out of me.

[antigone382]

54. cockroaches and volcanoes

Reasons why:

1: My whole life, cockroaches have been trying to eat me. If you don't believe me, ask my brother, who had to save me from a particularly gargantuan one once.

2: I used to watch Reading Rainbow, and I still remember the episode when they read the book about the Mexican guy who plowed up a volcano in his field. The creepy part was that it was supposedly based on a true story. I don't know how many nights of my childhood were spent curled up in my bed, terrified that a volcano would come through the floor in the middle of the night (even though my room was on the second floor of my house). Anyway, lava just strikes me as a very unpleasant thing.

A few other fear-related things: I'm not necessarily scared of spiders, but I try to avoid poisonous looking ones. I absolutely *cannot* sleep if there are any uncovered windows in the room (I've lived in frequently burglarized neighborhoods in the past). But snakes don't scare me at all...it's easy to tell apart the poisonous ones, and even they probably won't hurt you as long as you know how to act around them.

[ilovenicepeople]

55. Breeding

:hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :scared:

[REP]

64. That One Is Super-Easy To Avoid!

I've had a tubal ligation and a uterine ablation to make sure I'd never get sperm-poisoning. Pregnancy and labor are awful enough, but even worse, you're expected to take the wrinkled, screaming thing home with you.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

56. A couple

I really dislike spiders and most other insects. Some are okay, such as lady bugs and um...butterflies. Everything else freaks me the fuck out. I think the worst was being in a car (thankfully as a passenger) speeding down the freeway and noticing a HUGE spider right on the window next to me. Let's just say that anybody who's called me "butch" ever was proven wrong right there. I became the girliest girl that ever lived. Oddly enough, I don't really have a problem with things like pet tarantulas or hissing cockroaches. Mostly because they're pets. That makes them different. I also know that spiders are a good bug and I shouldn't kill them, but I always kill them. I always save the lady bugs...a lot of those. They come in on organic produce all the time.

I CAN NOT DEAL WITH fingertip blood tests. I become too flinchy and freaked out to really do them. Doctors make fun of me because I don't have an issue with any other needle really. Regular blood tests/shots are fine. I have 2 lobe piercings in each ear, both tragus, both conches, left side industrial, right side rook, right upper cartiledge, and my right nostril. Retired piercings include ear lobes that were closed up, septum (middle nose piercing...didn't like the way it looked) and two eyebrow rings. I also have five detailed tattoos. Those needles are no problem. Just don't stick anything in my fingertip.

[Radical Activist]

57. eternity

the idea of living forever in some form scares the hell out of me. It would go so BORING after a few million years. ack!

[VoteDemocratic2004]

58. To die alone

But It might be better to die alone then to die around someone that doesn't really care for you.

[AlienGirl]

61. Better than being killed by someone who is totally indifferent to you...

[VoteDemocratic2004]

62. You took the words right out of my mouth

When your ex tells you that a gun has your name on it that's kind of scary which happened to me.

[AlienGirl]

59. My most bizarre? Paperwork/bureaucracy

The idea of going to the drivers' licence place or even the Post Office is dreadful. And filling out college paperwork is the WORST.

Other phobias:

Vomiting. I'd rather die than toss my cookies. I find vomiting intensely painful and terrifying.

The dentist--I know everybody has that, but I used to have *incredibly* bad phobias of everything medical. After two babies and a bout with cancer, I'm over most of that; but anything dealing with my face is still bad enough to require lots of unusually potent anti-anxiety drugs.

Putting my face under the water. That's just an Aspie thing. It feels bad.

Spiderwebs. Again, an Aspie thing related to the feeling. But I still will not go anywhere near a big ol' web glinting in the sunlight.

And the Biggest Fear Of All--society crumbling, the world as we know it ending, and Something Terrible Happening To Me. I have been convinced since I was a kid that this would happen, and spent my life preparing for it. Good thing; it's gonna happen any day now... :scared:

Tucker

[REP]

63. Severe Acrophobia

Makes driving on elevated ramps and the Golden Gate Bridge miserable, to say the least.

[scarlet_owl]

65. Spiders!

They are the only animal I'm not fond of. I don't necessarily dislike them, I'm just afraid. I love snakes!

[Deja Q]

66. Society collapses...

Unfortunately, that's too rational. My irrational fear is insect life. I hate insects. Little gross bugs that don't even taste good. :puke:

[Spirochete]

72. Going blind

my eyesight keeps getting worse and worse. I don't want to die in the dark.