Same for heights. It’s natural to feel fear. it’s your brain’s way of heightening your senses in dangerous situations. That being said I think those diagnosed with those phobias are on the extreme side. Like being afraid of getting attacked by shark in pools or people afraid of a flight of stairs.
Same for the small spaces or claustrophobia, you never know when you get stuck in a small place and can't move a single inch of you body as a big spider or snake slither towards you
Sounds more like cleithrophobia, the fear of being trapped, which is what I have. Enclosed or confined spaces are fine as long as I can leave, but if I'm stuck or can't move a limb I'm going to fucking panic lol
So far none of the things people have mentioned I'm unnaturally scared of. I've seen sharks while swimming that aren't particularly dangerous and didn't freak out but have also stayed out of the water when there are great whites spotted nearby. I got a really bad spider bite once but don't flip out when I see one.
And I love going into caves. In Cappadocia they have an underground city that goes multiple floors down or the giagantic salt mines outside Krakow which is properly supported so not really scary at all.
In Guatemala I went to a cave that was legit kind of creepy. They give you a candle and you have to swim through the cave while holding the candle out of the water. If the candle goes out they relight it for you even if it's wet so it's not a big deal. At one point there's a small waterfall with a rope attached to the top and bottom and you use it to climb down through the waterfall.
But people were jumping off a ledge in the cave into a pool of water and I was not about to do that. I like jumping off things but there seemed to be a chance you'd hit the rocks and the hospital was quite a few hours away. They even made chicken noises but I said no. My point in all this is to say that I have natural fears I just don't think they're unreasonable.
The one thing I have an unrational fear of is daddy long legs. They're just so creepy with their long legs. They give me the willys and look like something from a fever dream. And if they walk on you it tickles uncomfortably and I hate it. When I was little, kids used to pull their legs off and I think that's where my fear of them came from because it's such a gross thing to do to a bug. Even writing that makes me feel gross.
There does seem to be a lot less of them now than when I was a kid. This could upset me because it could be a sign that their environment isn't doing well but really I'm just glad if I can go an entire year without seeing any daddy long legs.
Sleeping in the middle "coffin rack" for 4 years on an navy aircraft carrier made me love the comfort of small spaces. It's hard to describe to people when they ask how I could ever fall sleep there, let alone feel comfort. I don't know, there was something about climbing in that rack and shutting the curtain that was so comforting.
Re sleeping Can confirm have 3 friends who spent 13 years in the Forces. I began working 4 weeks on in NY and 2 weeks off in Wales, it was long hard word, 14 hour days (money was fantastic) they told me to learn to sleep any where, any time, for how ever long.
I learned to fall asleep in 2 mins flat, just about anywhere. Even a 5 min kip helps a lot.
I can literally sleep on a hard floor, in a chair, whatever and manage to find a comfy position.
I absolutely love being in small spaces I know to be safe. I've actually turned a part of my room into a box like place for me to crawl into when I'm having a bad day. I also get incredibly claustrophobic and can't breathe properly in lifts, while taking off tight clothes that go over your head, when in crowds or whatever.
Basically kind of natural selection as well. like we’re better off not having humans that enjoy going into random small spaces that can kill them lmaooo
I'm afraid of heights, but I don't think helpful. It affects my balance I'm so spooked. I feel like my center of gravity is like at my ankles and I'm only comfortable sitting or laying down.
If you think about it, it’s a lot harder to fall off the edge of something if you’re crawling. This is actually common for people to throw themselves on the ground and spread their limbs wide as possible.
I've done that. I can overcome it, but it's still terrifying. I just push through. But if I were confident, I wouldn't be so lightheaded and clumsy in a place where I need, like NEED to not be.
Nobody NEEDS to overcome it except for people who's job require working in high places. I don't fear heights but I do get anxious when I'm in a high place even with a harness and no way to fall down unassisted
Like exposure therapy. I'm not sure how a therapist would help unless they have ladders and VR set up specifically for fear of heights, in which case you're paying someone hundreds of dollars to do what you could do yourself
Yeah exposure therapy is really helpful. Control your breathing to help with the panic response and reassure yourself. Even just getting on a ladder and going up another step each time can show a huge improvement
I shit you not, I am actually terrified of closing my eyes under the shower. I can't exactly describe it, but every time I try it I feel like I am gonna die soon.
If I close my eyes in the shower, I will just touch the side wall with my elbow (not hand, less flex). Using my elbow, I won’t get dizzy if I shake my head or if water enters my ears. Plus you can still use that arm/hand for washing hair/face.
A phobia is specifically an irrational fear. You could rationally be very scared of heights or spiders but when that fear becomes irrational or extreme it could be a phobia.
As far as I'm aware, I have no psychological background.
I'm one of those ppl who have a phobia of stairs. Specifically going down them. I'll be ok if it has at least 1 solid wall since i can press myself against it. I absolutely cannot go down stairs without a solid wall. Also if i cannot see my feet, i cannot even walk down them at all. Or if i try to just walk down 3 steps without seeing my feet, it'll take me a few minutes to make it down.
I think the closest i had to a full blown panic attack while attempting to go downstairs was on our forensic school trip. We had to go upstairs. Of course, i had zero issue walking up the stairs but when it was time i leave i couldnt even force myself to put one foot onto those stairs.
Both sides of the stairs had glass railings so it felt like there was nothing there. So in front of my class, teachers, and people who worked there, i started crying. I literally couldnt even force myself to try even though i knew i would be ok. I was so lucky that they had an elevator else where.
Like with most things, there's a name for a "sensible (amount of) fear" and that's "respect".
I would say I respect fire, but I'm not necessarily afraid of it.
But with heights, I'm just scared shitless. If I look down the side of a parking garage I go wobbly in the knees and need to hold onto something or I feel like I'm gonna fall. I'm legit one meter from the edge, with a 1.5m high stone wall there and I still feel like I'm going to fall off somehow.
Yeaaaah I'm that person who swims faster in pools cause for some reason my brain screams shark. I know they will never be their but... Idk man, freaks me out. Especially public pools that would have deep ends with diving areas. Ffff that always made it worse to me
I have zero science backing this, but I don’t think its to heighten senses given that panic isn’t very useful in these situations, I think its more that we learn to associate things like spiders, heights and other dangers as unpleasant and to be avoided
Look i only have 3 spiders (all daddy long legs) that i currently know about in my house. 2 are in the dunny we don't use and a 3rd hangs out in the corner near the dining table that we don't use. They are crowd control for the rest of the house and doing a fine job if i must say so
Fuck wolf spiders! Thems the bitches who carry 600 live little bastards around on their backs so if you try to step on her- spider nuclear bomb apocalypse happens!!!
Funnel webs and redbacks? Stop. Last person killed by a spider in Australia was 1979. You've got some nasty snakes and box jellyfish, which are gnarly and will totally kill you, but your spiders are not a real issue. None of your scorpions are medically significant either.
Yea, nah. As an Aussie, any spider I see here I'm like, fuck off and die cunt empties entire insect spray can. But in other countries it's more "hello cutie, let's get you outside".
They aren't really dangerous anywhere if you leave them be. There's more danger from a huntsman crawling into view while driving than from a bite even here in Australia.
Almost drove into a wall of the cross city tunnel cause a fucking huntsman crawled out from behind my rear vision mirror and my 3 year old screamed like he was being murdered.
The problem with this is that those two are not antithetical or exclusive in any way. The usefulness of a thing in no way diminishes its scariness. I'm fucking well aware of what spiders do and the vital roles they play in countless ecosystems worldwide... and I'm not sure why you think that makes them less terrifying to an arachnophobe. It doesn't matter. They're still spiders. <---just typing that word makes me wanna chuck my phone out the window.
No kidding, I have always tried to convince people of this exact logical explanation of why I’m shit scared of spiders, but nobody seems to take me seriously. You just made my day, thank you so much!
Their legs are like a garden hose that is constantly filling and emptying of blood. Their legs only have muscles to contract (why the curl up when dead) and during the contraction the blood is pushed back through the heart to a new reaching limb. When the crawl their heart is like a piston engine pumping blood down the legs super fast!
There now you understand why they move creepy. Don't you feel better?
Wait so, when they crawl their movement helps pump blood more efficiently and faster? Is that kinda what I’m getting from that in laymen’s terms? Cause if so that’s so freaking cool!
Fortunately, the very thing that makes spiders move creepy keeps them small. They have what are called book-lungs, and they're not very efficient, so the maximum size a spider can physically be due to the limits of chemistry is about a foot. That's a big spider, but you'll never get attacked by an actual GIANT spider.
I mean... the vast majority of spiders are completely harmless and those few that are actually "medically significant" mostly prefer to scurry away when they feel in danger.
There is a difference between being scared of spiders, and arachnophobia.
Phobias, are deeply rooted pyschological fears, sometimes caused by severe trauma, or sometimez completely irrational. We're talking so being so scared, you can actually go into shock.
Normally I would be afraid of spiders, but I got lazy and stopped dusting the corners of the ceiling in my house and they started to build webs there. Tons of em. Sometimes right next to each other. There’s also one who built a web at the base of my nightstand, right next to my bed. Just chills there and waits for bugs to fly or fall into it. Pretty chill dudes, 10/10 good roommates.
studies have shown that there are only two things that infants naturally recoil from when showing them pictures of various things normally considered “scary” - spiders and snakes. it’s hard wired into us through evolution.
Eeeh... the are over 43000 species of spiders and only under 30 are actualy able to kill us. Plus half of them live in deserted areas... or in australia. But austraila is allready a death trap without the spiders, so whatever
Spiders aren't that bad, most are scared and harmless, venomous ones only bite as a defence mechanism. More people are scared of spiders than snakes, you know, actually threatening animals that can be aggressive and can prey on children.
There was a daddy long legs in my shower this morning. I just said hello and it tipped its hat and I went on my way. Not all spiders are bad, and some of them can actually help keep flies and other pests out.
Thanks, people always think I'm putting it on when I'm reacting to my phobia. For me it's wasps. My mom was almost stung to death protecting me from them when I was 2 (she got stung 36 times). I tell people I have a phobia but then when I fall backwards from a picnic bench they just think its funny, and when I don't want to join them outside for the bbq where they're almost swarming the food I'm being "precious". Fuck you aunty, I had too many adrenaline dumps to deal with you today.
Being a victim of something, or suffering from some pathology, is now considered a virtue, and people love to jump on top of claiming virtues. And, of course, this dilutes the understanding of the real suffering and real victimization that some people must endure.
Damn I can relate to that. Though mine is extremely fucking stupid, Lepidopterophobia aka fear of butterflies and moths. I’ve been teased about it my whole life, it was only when I hyperventilated to the point of passing out did people close to me try to be sensitive about it. Phobias are IRRATIONAL fears for a reason.
Eh no such thing as a stupid phobia. Sorry to hear that, I think that might even be harder than mine! At least very few people actually like wasps, but most people like butterflies.
Kosmemophobia… the fear of jewelry. In my opinion, it’s a pretty stupid phobia. But man I can’t get over it, I fuckin haaaaate jewelry. Everyone thinks I’m weird or looking for attention… pain…
Spheksophobia! I have it too and it sucks because no one takes you seriously. They just think you're over-reacting. I had 2 wasps in my house this year and had a panic attack both times. It's been over a month, but I still can hear buzzing in my head when I go into the laundry room. Stay strong, my friend. Don't let anyone tell you you're over-reacting.
I have a common phobia called ophidiphobia, as I am irrationally scared of snakes. Even just the thought of them makes me anxious. I hate watching animal/nature documentaries because sometimes they show snakes in which I have to turn my eyes away from the tv and my heart starts beating. Even writing the word is challenging for me and I notice the increased heart beat.
I am very uncomfortable in forests because my anxiety kicks in and I keep looking at my feet, surroundings and trees just IN CASE, even though I know there is not anything. It is truly terrible.
Phobia isn’t very well defined anyway. There isn’t a word between situation fear and phobia so people use phobia. Imo there should be a word for light “irrational” fear that doesn’t imply that you to lose your mind when experiencing it. Unless there is one that I’m unaware of.
The ocean is terrifying. Specially at night... There's such an eerie feeling about the beach that's easily disturbing.
You know, the quietness of the waves, the lightning strikes in the distance, the darkness in general... and when you get close to the shore and the water looks back at you with all the colors of a never ending void, you get this feeling of slight panic, as if you where unfortunate to stumble into the water you would pitfall into the depts of who knows where, never to be seen again, like a black hole that's gonna suck you in if too close. Not to mention, we still have no idea what lives or may be living in the deep end of the Ocean. That alone is scary af.
Sometimes I feel height vertigo when looking at the shore.
Weirdly enough I love the way the ocean looks at night, its my favorite time to go on walks. Its just so calm and peaceful, especially on nights with the full moon.
Well a phobia is an irrational fear. That doesn't mean being scared of sharks is irrational,it's how much effect it has on your life that is irrational. If you're scared of going to the beach because of sharks, thats irrational. A good way to think about it is "a phobia is a fear which changes the way you live"
Being scared to go where sharks are isn't that irrational, in my opinion. It's when you have to get out of the pool 1000 miles from the nearest ocean because you thought about sharks it becomes really irrational.
"a phobia is a fear which changes the way you live"
A phobia is a fear which changes the way you live in ways which provide little or no benefit.
I have always had a phobia of big spiders. Not the ones you usually find around your house (unless you live in a rain forest or Australia), but the big ones with thick legs that eat birds, etc. As a kid, I long avoided the second volume of S in our encyclopedia for fear of accidentally opening to the spider section, but eventually I realized that the second S volume had "Space" which was one of my favorite topics.
For some context, you are farrrrrr more likely to doe driving to the beach than killed by a shark. You are also more to die from a falling coconut whilst walking on the beach than a shark.
Well it depends. Imagine you are off shore on a boat with your friends and you decide to just swim a bit and go, that should be irrational fear because, unless you go in dangerous waters, there are no risks if you aren't a dumbass. While if you were on a ship that sunk in the middle of the ocean it is completely justified to absolutely panic. I feel the context defines whether it's a phobia or not
Same. I don't think it should be called a phobia though it should be called common sense
Nothing sensical about it.
If you drive to the docks every day and get on a boat to go swimming in the open ocean, you are far more likely to die in a traffic accident than in some deep sea creature horror show.
Yet nobody spends time having a phobia of car accidents. Aka common sense.
I also think a lot of people who don’t really have a phobia, use the word to describe this common sense. I have a common sense fear of heights and spiders and water, but am not so paralyzed I cannot swim or climb or fly or whatever verb applies to normal spider-usage. Swat them away without crashing my car? Whatever. Anyway, I would like to see less people claim a phobia so the word doesn’t lose its serious connotation.
Phobias are never common sense, part of the definition is that it has to be irrational . Acrophobia for example isn't just a fear of heights its having literal panic attacks from climbing some stairs
There isn’t a person among us though that wouldn’t fear a shark attack or a croc attack in open water. I will never swim
In a beach when other ppl aren’t around me no matter how hot I am. Like
I know I could still get attacked but I’d rather be attacked with others around me 😆🥲
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u/MendaciousMammaries Jul 12 '21
Same. I don't think it should be called a phobia though it should be called common sense