Do you have any irrational fears?

from JoeUser Forums
Now that the sun is beginning to rise I feel safe to blog about my irrational fears. Since I often blog in the dead of night, my fears of the dark lead my mind to this topic a lot.

Some of my fears include:

1) Opening a curtain to the outside only to find a dark figure standing RIGHT THERE looking in my face;

2) Walking by an open closet in the dark and someone jumps out at me;

3) Aliens. (Thanks to my parents for letting me watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind as a very small child, I will forever be interested in, and slightly afraid of, aliens. Then in high school I read Whitley Strieber's Communion & subsequent books...but I think he's full of crap. Anyhow, it's still possible that they're out there. I've had a couple of weird experiences too...)

4) Walking around alone in the house, entering a room to see someone leaving into an adjacent room. Sends chills down my spine;

5) Walking into the kitchen to see all the cupboards wide open after I'd just been in there a second ago when they were all closed. Or seeing all the dining room chairs stacked up when moments ago they were all in place under the table. Thanks to the movie Poltergeist which I also watched dozens of times as a very small child.

OK, there are some of my irrational fears. The sun is well on its way to rising now so I'm not really scared right now. Maybe by writing this I rid myself of these stupid thoughts that pop into my head once and for all.

So are you scared of any stupid things? Or did you get rid of such things when you grew up? ;)
misc
18,296 views 26 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Heights.  I cannot look down from a high place, even with the safety of a railing in front of me.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm a pretty daring person, i'll jump off of stuff, climb stuff, eat stuff, run around in the dark, get up in front of people, go in small spaces, go in large spaces, whatever. Most things don't phase me, but I have this crazy fear of grasshoppers. I can't stand them, I don't know why, but they creep me out. I will run away if I see one, I won't walk outside in long grass during August and September. I hate them!
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
My irrational fears aren't really about anything in particular. They are just fears. Mornings I lay in bed, scared to get up, scared to even move much. I'm just glad it doesn't happen often.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
I can't stand heights without feeling strapped in securely. I actually had a panic attack when driving up a one-lane mountain road in CO. Falling and drowning are two of my irrational fears. My other one is more nondescript. My main irrationaly fear is of something happening to one of my loved ones. When I was little I constantly worried about my dad getting hurt or dying or my dog getting hurt when I wasn't there to take care of her.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have a fear of bridges, a fear of driving off a bridge and being trapped in my car which is slowly filling with water. I have nightmares on a regular basis with this theme.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
I hate talking about voodoo, exorcism, and other past lives. Creeps me out.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top

I have a fear of bridges, a fear of driving off a bridge and being trapped in my car which is slowly filling with water. I have nightmares on a regular basis with this theme.

Guess you have never driven across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  It is only 17 miles long.

Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
My fear is that I will lose control on a freeway overpasses going to the left and turn the wheel in the opposite direction and drive off the overpass. It is very embarrassing and somewhat crippling. I am supposed to face this fear before I meet with my psychologist again, but I'm having a hell of a time doing it.

Knowing that all fear is irrational doesn't help lessen the fear.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have both a fear of and fascination with wolves.

I had a dream once when I was younger that occurred three consecutive nights, three times each night and has never repeated since. In the dream, I was walking down the street to my friend's house. When I got to the top of his driveway, there was a wolf standing there; not growling or snarling, just looking menacing. My only escape would have been the door, but that path was blocked by the wolf. Knowing that I had no chance, and running would only extend the pain that would be inflicted I kneeled down and put my head to the ground. At that point the dream ended.

After that friend moved away, I used to house-sit for the family that moved in. I always hated walking over there around dusk because I was constantly on the lookout for a wolf to appear from the side of one of the houses. Mind you this was a suburban town on Long Island, not exactly prime grounds for wolf appearance.

I like to keep a picture of a wolf as my destop wallpaper now. The look in the eyes is quite haunting and gives me a chill everytime I look.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
My main irrationaly fear is of something happening to one of my loved ones. When I was little I constantly worried about my dad getting hurt or dying or my dog getting hurt when I wasn't there to take care of her.


Oh my gosh I can totally relate to this one. When I was young I used to worry constantly that something would happen to my mom when I wasn't with her. I would literally wait by the door or keep looking out the window waiting for her to come back. I did outgrow it to an extent, but now I worry about my husband. I realize it is illogical to think that something would happen to him just because I am not right there with him, but I always worry about him getting in a car accident or something. I think its just that I care so much for my loved ones that it puts me in a panic to think of soemthing happening to one of them, and I wish I could just stop worrying!!


"3) Aliens. (Thanks to my parents for letting me watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind as a very small child, I will forever be interested in, and slightly afraid of, aliens. Then in high school I read Whitley Strieber's Communion & subsequent books...but I think he's full of crap. Anyhow, it's still possible that they're out there. I've had a couple of weird experiences too...)"

Haha! This is so funny because my dad would always make me and my sister watch that movie and any UFO specials that were on when we were young because he thought we would "get a kick out of them". Wrong! I would lie in my bed at night worrying that if a UFO landed right above my house and wanted to suck me up in their ship that there wouldnt be anything I could do about it. I had nightmares for years about aliens, and even the movie Signs completely creeped me out!
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
Heights.


That's a good one. It's odd that heights have never bothered me until fairly recently.

I'm a pretty daring person, i'll jump off of stuff, climb stuff, eat stuff, run around in the dark, get up in front of people, go in small spaces, go in large spaces, whatever. Most things don't phase me


Ah, the joy of youth! You say you'll "eat stuff"...could you be a contender on Fear Factor? In my twenties I could have been on that show (if it existed back then), if it weren't for the bugs and eyes & other gross stuff to eat. That's where I'd draw the line. But do you think you could do it?

Mornings I lay in bed, scared to get up, scared to even move much. I'm just glad it doesn't happen often.
Your'e concerning me Ted, because you've mentioned this before in one of your articles...and then there was your article where you posted a picture of yourself with a tear on your cheek (were those in the same article?). Being scared of getting up or even moving in bed in the morning -- I've had that a couple times in my life -- I think in my case it was associated with feeling trapped in life at one time, and another time it was just leftovers from a bad dream.

But maybe you can tell the doc about this Ted? If you haven't already? I know I suffer from chronic depression. Waah. Poor me. Bla, blah. But I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. You've lived an awesome, adventure-filled life. Keep it going Ted!

I can't stand heights without feeling strapped in securely. I actually had a panic attack when driving up a one-lane mountain road in CO.


Yikes...
When I was little I constantly worried about my dad getting hurt or dying or my dog getting hurt when I wasn't there to take care of her.


It sounds like you've got strong nurturing instincts and they were on overdrive! There's nothing wrong with worrying about loved ones (unless of course the worrying is irrational because everything's fine!). Everyone should have such a big heart as you.

Gosh, listen to me trying to analyze everyone. Sorry. If that annoys you just ignore it.

I hate talking about voodoo, exorcism, and other past lives. Creeps me out.


Stuff like that gives me the heebie-jeebies too, particularly anything dealing with conjuring spirits, Ouija boards, haunted houses, supernatural phenomena...but it fascinates me enough that I can't help but to think about it occasionally or even discuss it with people...but it's only a matter of moments until that "evil" feeling surrounds me so I know to back off and be a good girl again.

I have a fear of bridges, a fear of driving off a bridge and being trapped in my car which is slowly filling with water. I have nightmares on a regular basis with this theme.

Guess you have never driven across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is only 17 miles long.


So where do you draw the line between rational and irrational fears? 'Cause falling off a bridge sounds like a pretty rational fear to me. Who knows, maybe your fears are trying to tell you something to protect you. But looking at it from a different angle, Locamama, if you have recurrent nightmares like that maybe you could take a stab at analyzing it. Maybe it has some metaphorical significance in your life (hopefully there's no literal signficance though ).

I had no idea about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge! I googled it because I went across it two years ago, but it was at night and I was in the back seat. My mother-in-law in the front seat told us as we were crossing it that she has an irrational fear of bridges too. The whole thing about the bridge collapsing and the car filling up with water. Yup. But she endured the trip. So when I googled it I had no idea that we were on THAT marvel of engineering. Woo-hoo! Link
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
Guess you have never driven across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is only 17 miles long.


I would die. If I was a passenger, I would have to take a prozac and crawl in the back seat with a blanket over my head while saying Hail Mary's.
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
I dream of horribly irrational things happening to my kids or husband. Them getting hurt in bizzare accidents, kidnapped by crazy people, etc. I replay the dream over and over looking for a way to prevent it and then my mind finds another crazy element to add to the dream to complicate it more. I'll wake up with a strange fear of door to door salesmen or hot air ballons falling on them before I realize that it was just after effects from the dream.

I'm afraid of discovering my life is a dream and I'm really in a coma. Also the aftereffect of another bad dream.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have a fear of sharks to the point where I hardly go to the beach for a swim anymore.

It's not an irrational fear. I actually went swimming one day and saw this huge dark shadow under me and I was crying waiting for it to just tear to pieces.

One irrational fear would be to look at myself in the mirror and seeing something coming up behind me when there is nothing. Too many horror flicks i suppose, lol!
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
sn#k#s i can't even type the word! I can't watch them on tv or in movies and if i saw one in real life I"d probably faint!
Charissa
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
Erm, I'd say the biggest two would be snakes and growing older. I may only be 19, but just thinking about what lies ahead just freaks me out. I honestly doubt I am ready.

Anywho, my other fear, though I'm not too worried about it so much anymore, is of heights. Especially open heights.

~L
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
growing older


IMO that is a perfectly rational fear. Especially if as one grows older and has achieved little to show for it. That is scary. Being an old, wrinkly 12-year old is how I often feel.

Oh, here's another one of mine: Spiders. AAAAGGGGGHHHH!
Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm like Amanda, I don't fear much, but . . .

Once, when serving as a missionary for my church, I had to perform an exorcism. That's not a story I'll ever tell, and not one that should be told. Previous to this, I had no problems seeing any horror movie or reading things like that, but since that moment, when I realized that things like that really do take place and there are powers at work that terrify and torment, exorcism/demonic posession is something that I won't tallk about or see a movie about.

Other than that, bring it on!
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
I can honestly say that I don't have any of the fears/phobias that are common among people. Heights, snakes, darkness, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, none of these things has ever caused me any undo concern.

I used to get a bit nervous around gas appliances but that's because I blew up our kitchen playing with the gas stove when I was little. I wasn't too badly burned, but enough. I got over it though.

I do get a little nervous around green and yellow spotted space frogs though.
Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
yes. dieing while on the toilet. {happened to a friend of mine}What an awful way to be found.
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top
I had to perform an exorcism.


I knew another RM who'd been involved in an exorcism. He, like you, would not talk about it even though I begged him to. I was impressed that he wasn't remotely tempted to say a single thing. Are you all sworn to secrecy, or do you each make a personal decision that it was too horrible to ever discuss?
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top

do get a little nervous around green and yellow spotted space frogs though.

Aren't they the Cane Toads of Australia.

Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
Are you all sworn to secrecy, or do you each make a personal decision that it was too horrible to ever discuss?


I think it's a personal thing. I was never sworn to secrecy or anything like that, it was just such a life-changing experience (in the scary way) that I don't talk about it. I will however tell you that few experiences have strengthened my faith in Christ. I know that God was helping me through that experience, but I was also very glad that it was over and hope and pray to never have to deal with something like that again.

But hey - it's all good.
Reply #24 from JoeUser Forums Top
Gee SC, you cant talk about it? Man I was looking forward to a whole article about that! But like you said (and since it's you): It's all good
Reply #25 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have an irrational fear of knives. PLease don't laugh. I can cook, chop, slice, dice and otherwise function--sometimes a little white-knuckled. But I get the heebie-jeebies if the kids are in the kitchen with me. I'm afraid I'll turn and not know they're there. Of course my ex-husband (Lord Voldemort) loved to freak me out by licking the butcher knife or pretending to cut himself or me or the kids with the back edge.
The weird thing is I really liked the movie Psycho (not the awful "there's two hours of my life I'm not getting back" sequels). Can't stand other slasher movies, don't even try.