I have two main fears, my fear of the dark and my fear of heights. My fear of the dark is a common phobia because it's pretty natural for human beings to fear the unknown. I don't really know why i'm afraid of the dark - I know there's nothing there. But I think it's more the fact that there could be, and if there was I wouldn't know about it. I don't really know why i'm afraid of heights. My fear of heights is pretty weird. I'm fine with heights, as long as i'm not too close to the edge. I don't know why - i'm not really afraid of falling - they just make me kinda dizzy and I just can't go near the edge, if I do I freak out.

My fears are some what normal... i guess. Well i am so afraid of having a nightmare. I think that there is a man in my bathroom. So when i go to sleep, sometimes i dream about the man and its scary.
I am so scared of a man coming and like tormenting me during the night. When i'm trying to go to sleep i think about him being in my bathroom waiting until i'm asleep to come and kidnap me. I am so deathly afraid of this that I sometimes make my little sister sleep with me. haha I also have coulrophobia.(I think that's how you spell it.)

I have a form of agoraphobia which basically means that I get extremely nervous and I often panic when I'm completely alone. It's ok if I'm in my room and someone's in another room in my house but when I'm really alone, I freak. I'm sure it's because I've always been around people. The fact that I suffer from frequent panic attacks could be another cause for it. Sometimes, my attacks get so bad that I will actually vomit everywhere, I can't catch a breath and keep thinking "I'm going to die. I'm going to die!". It probably sounds stupid but it helps when I know someone is with me and able to help if I need it.

I also have a fear of snakes. I probably wouldn't call it a phobia but I definitely wouldn't touch one or be in the same room as one. I'm afraid of them because my sister had a pet snake a few years ago and she had to take it to the vet as it wasn't eating. We got new food and it still wouldn't eat. My sister let this snake sleep at the bottom of her bed every night and one morning, she noticed it was lying straight out, not slithering and bent like a snake should be. She took it to the vet again and it had to be put down. It's plan was to strangle my sister in her sleep and eat her. Since then, they've always scared me.

Do you have any evidence for that?

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Thanks.

^ Um, that's what snakes do when they don't eat for weeks and lay flat out. They make room in their stomach and size you up so that they can eat you. Why do you think 3 qualified vets would suggest that was what it was going to do and put it down? It was a danger and I knew it all along. I've always hated snakes but now I hate them even more.

This is a really interesting discussion.

I have a great many fears and phobias. I'm awfully neurotic.
I show traits of being a hypochondriac. Every little sign of a cold makes me terrified I'm suffering from and will die of a terrible, fatal illness.
Once I was having a panic attack and was so convinced I was having a heart attack, I actually started having shooting pains up and down my left arm.
I'm claustrophobic. I can't stand small spaces and also have fears of a space (any size) I can't escape from. The trapped feeling can trigger dreadful panic attacks.

One of my worst fears is suffocating. Even just having a cold and not being able to breathe freely and easily through my nose freaks me out!
I have been diagnosed with OCD which makes things worse, because when I think something or have a fear it spins round and round in my head, clouding my thoughts, and I can't let it go.

Wow, suddenly I feel lucky. I'm not, unlike many others, afraid of needles. Doctors have jabbed me and sucked my blood so often I'm used to it. I am afraid of burning food though, so it takes me forever to make stuff because the setting is really low and I keep checking it over and over making sure it's not showing stages of being burnt, so it never cooks. Good thing I like my steaks rare then huh? I wonder what it's called...

I just looked it up on Google... can't find it - only time it's ever failed me.

Rawr. I just want a cookie.

But I do have a deathly fear of spiders!! Put me in a room with one and it'll bug me out so much. (Heheh "bug") It also depends on how large the thing is...if it's huge, I can't even stand being in an enclosed spot with it. I start to panic and if it gets near me, I jump and scream. I'm not sure how it got this bad, it seems to steadily go worse and worse as the years go by.

My greatest fear is the losing 1 of my children. In the last 4 months I have had 3 cousins, 2 friends and a sister-in-law loose a baby.
I am also deathly afraid of heights.

Wow sarj269, I'm so sorry for what your friends and family are going through. If I had a child I would feel the same way.

For me I'm mainly scared of bugs and clowns. I think I've posted that before. I was also scared to death when my husband went to Iraq...Twice. But all is well, so that fear is gone.

I'm not scared of needles either. Ever since I was little they never bothered me. Now that I think about it, needles should bother me since my veins are NOT easy to find. When I have to get blood drown they usually stick me at least ten times. Once...in my recent past they gave up and had to draw blood between my knuckles on my left hand. I can say it hurt like CRAZY! But it was for a good cause...trying to have a baby.

My dreams always scare me. I usually have bad nightmares. But that's about it I think.

Dawn

When I was little, I had a really bad clown for my third or fourth birthday party. My aunt would pick me up in her arms and run away with me saying "the clown's here! He's coming!" And he scared me so bad! And he was a really cheap clown, he said he didn't watch his clown mask off for days because there was no point to. He didn't know how to juggle, and basically sucked.

I have some kind of things that freak me out a lot, would you call them phobias?

But I'm sure of one phobia, and you'll all roll you eyes of being tired of hearing it. spiders. They make me freak out like crazy. I get pale, dizzy and start to hyperventilate. It's particularly embarrassing because I'm male, and it makes me feel stupid. Once in German I saw one and jumped back yelling. I sent the class in uproar and the teacher made me get water...

The things that freak me our are really the night. I hate it, the thought of being watched or followed or mugged at night. Sometimes I walk home at night and I feel like crying! It's horrible. On scout weekends its not as bad, but I still get paranoid.

And the ocean. The sheer size and depth of it makes me shudder. In planes I hate flying over water, and I love the water! If I'm at a beach or pool I'm grand, but If I was on a boat I'd die and stay under... *Shudders*

honestly speaking, i am a clostophobic person. once i get on a place that i think is too uncomfortable and small, i can't breathe and i start to panic. gosh and it is so creepy...
i even have fear of heights.

May I just say that I know exactly how you feel? My veins are nigh impossible to find, even in the best of circumstances (and normally, if I need to have my blood drawn, it is NOT in the best of circumstances!). The last time I went to the ER, I had to get my blood drawn. Only I was dehydrated, so they had to put an IV in first. Have I mentioned I'm terrified of needles? The nurse said she wouldn't have been able to get it in except that I stayed absolutely still. And then the actual drawing blood process was a joke. The first guy who did it tried 3 times--one in the opposite arm of the one with the IV (which was in my hand), one in that arm, and then he moved up to the inside of my wrist. So I can imagine how much between your knuckles would hurt! He finally had to go get an expert lab tech, who did it in one try that didn't even bruise. She also warmed me up because I was freezing, and that wasn't helping either lol. (And this was also unusual that it took so few tries...and why did everybody make the joke that at least I'm lying down/in a bed when I said I faint at the sight of needles? )

So I know your pain!

Now that I think of it, I have a lot of fears...
I hate being in small spaces and needles. I hate the feeling of being out of control the most. Now it's not like control of other people or something, it's fear of out of control of my body. It sounds pretty strange, but I'm a diver and gymnast and it scares me so much not to know which way is up or down or the way I'm going to land. I've gotten bruises from being out of control, and it's the absolute scariest thing. I'm terrified to try it again, but I always do. I've actually gotten heart palpitations from the feeling.

I'm afraid of many things. Pain, dark, dogs, insects, snakes, needles. Americans. People. And I'm somehow claustrophobic.

About the Americans bit... It was a reference to David Bowie's song, "I'm Afraid of Americans". I'm not really afraid of you, Americans .

Haha I was about to ask about the Americans thing. I don't think I'm that scary!

I'm with you on pain and needles, but I do have to ask...why are you afraid of dogs? Did you have a bad experience or are they just weird to you? I'm curious.

Well yes, I've had a bad experience. When I was about 10-11 years old a friend of mine's dog (which was rather mongrel) bit my face and I had some pretty nasty scars for a long time, but I don't have them anymore. The thing is I was lucky, because its teeth just scratched my face a little deeply, so the word "bit" isn't really accurate. Oddly enough, dogs didn't begin to scare me at that point, but rather when some dog on the street began to run after me, barking and growling. I was terrified, but I managed to reach a nearby park and a few workers scared him and he ran away.

Oh wow. You have had no luck with the dogs! I'm a dog lover, but I know that there are some mean ones out there, from little ones to big ones. I'm sorry you got bit though. I've been bitten a pretty good amount of times, only a few were intentional. All hurt. My brother was chased by a little dog when he was younger, and even though it was little, it was trying to bite his ankles and would not let up! He managed to get away though, so that was good. Glad the workers were there to help you with your dog chase.

Have you ever considered being around dogs again? Like...is it a legitimate fear like even nice dogs are scary? Just curious here again. I know a lot of nice dogs that would love you no matter what. (I work at a dog resort)

Sorry to hear you were bitten, but it's a good thing you still "trust" dogs. And your little brother was lucky too, if he got away he must be very fast .
Well, I still like some dogs. Even if it might seem odd, I would like to have one. Actually, the dogs on the street scare me and I try to avoid them as often as I can, mostly when I'm the only one around. When there are other people around, I'm pretty calm, I just feel safer.
I know a few dogs around my highschool and they are really affectionate, I can play with them without being afraid that they might bite me, so I suppose it's not a legitimate fear.

*Off-topic: I really love the pictures from your signature! *

After working with dogs for a while, I can usually tell when a dog is being sketchy, and I know how I can or even if I can approach it. There's tactics and stuff. Course...some dogs just suck and that's when you have to lasso them or go at them with the aggression gloves. Fun stuff!

No, don't discredit yourself, it's a legitimate fear. But I think it's more of a specific fear. No one wants to be around weird dogs, and from your experiences, you're afraid of similar situations. I just wanted to understand.

Haha, and thanks for the compliment!!

Yeah, I think that's it. Just today me and my friends played with four dogs in a park nearby. We even named them and we like to think of them as a band (lead singer, drummer, guitarist and bassist) . I know it sounds weird, but they usually "hang out" together and they reminded us of a band (we named them after Alice in Chains members ).

I think I could never be around dogs as much as you though because I believe it's quite risky if you are wrong about a dog. Hopefully you'll never get hurt, at least not badly .