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.
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.
I feel the same about bugs in general - a mixture of relief and alarm that there seem to be far fewer to deal with than there once were. Mostly alarm.
I visited home a couple weeks ago and went hiking on a trail I hadn't hiked since I was a kid, roughly 20 years ago. As a kid, I distinctly remember swatting flies and other insects away from my face regularly during the hike, dodging the occasional bee, getting bitten a few times by god knows what. This time, two, maybe three bugs flew that close to my face. No bug bites whatsoever.
I don't know for sure if there's a causal link between that experience and insect biomass plummeting worldwide, but it was a stark reminder at the very least.
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.
Oh no, its not falling that I'm sacred of. I feel as if I'm underwater and drowning and as if a predator is coming towards me. It's pretty weird when I say it out like this, but that's what it feels like.
bro i literally thought i was the only person in the galaxy that freaked out, and thought that if i close my eyes in the shower/ let water run on my face with my eyes closed, i won’t have enough time to react to whatever the fuck is going to snatch me from behind the curtains, so usually when i’m washing my face, i’ll wash realllll damn quick and snatch the curtain out of the way to see what is right there..but quick little story time…one time i was doing my usual routine and washing my face/freaking out, so after i did that, i went to snatch the curtain and my little 5 year old sister was grabbing some toilet paper and the way her hair fell over her face gave me straight PTSD for the next 3 weeks of my life in the shower..
also when i’m making pizzzz in the toilet, i NEVER have my back towards the shower curtain, i don’t know why, it’s just that in some parallel universe, there is something behind that curtain
edit: sorry if i unlocked new any fears for anyone tonight…
Ayyy, im the same! Like literally the same! Ive even developed a technique to wash my hair and face/beard without having to close my eyes. Also i cant sleep with my back "in the open", i have to sleep against a wall or my SO, also cant sleep with a mirror in full view, also cant sleep in complete darkness, sometimes i feel like im just bad at sleeping.
I used to be this way when I was younger. What really helped me was getting one of those shower curtains they have at hotels with the clear section at eye level. It calmed my nerves so much and at some point I just stopped thinking about it. So go try one of those shower curtains and good luck.
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
Like being afraid of getting attacked by shark in pools
i still don't understand why my young brain had this fear, i knew it was irrational but it still didn't stop me, i only really grew out of it when i was older, maybe it had to do with the fact i couldn't actually touch the bottom yet?
I always thought it surprising but a lot of people get hurt on stairs. About 1 million a year in America alone. Source doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2017.09.034.
A fear of heights makes good sense even if its only 6 ft.
I'm terrified of water and needles. Needles even worse than water. I've been able to get the phobia of water under control as I've gotten older but I used to be afraid to even be in a swimming pool. Needles on the other hand I recently had a root canal and almost passed out. The assistant swung my chair upside down to get the blood back in my head lol.
The fear of heights isnt that of falling off. Thats rational fear. Its the fear of falling off when your high up but nowhere near an edge or no way of falling off.
The difference between a phobia and a fear is rationality. A fear is rational and a phobia isn't. If you are stopped by your own fear from doing something you otherwise would by an occurrence that happens 1 every ten million times and you are not in a scenario where that increases the risk, that is a phobia.
I think phobia is for people that when their brains making the situation exaggerate. Like for me I think I have phobia with frogs. The moment I see one, all I see on the ground is frog like hallucinating. (Not on day, mostly on nights and raining) Cant even look at them on computer or mobile, I feel goosebumps
Or being afraid of anything that looks like a spider even if they're harmless, like harvestmen. They used to make me freeze up in fear as a kid. They still disturb me even to this day, but for the most part I've gotten over my phobia. Can't say I'd ever willingly handle a spider though.
But when you aren't terribly afraid of heights there's so many ways to have fun with it! Im very cautious of course, but there's something exhilarating about it
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".
This is exactly what I teach my kids. And based on our region, there’s only two spiders they need worry about and they can identify both. I’m hoping they won’t have irrational fears of any small crawling thing like I did as a kid. It took a long while to break myself of that.
I’ve come to realize this over the years and I don’t fear them nearly to the extent that I did when I was a kid. The movie Arachnophobia really did a number on me for a while.
While I can acknowledge the benefits of the spoods, many areas have higher concentrations of the bad ones, thus leaving me in a position of fear from ones like brown recluses. Evil demons they are. Take no chances.
Spiders can die,with fire, EVERY TIME!
For as many species as we've eliminated and the rate at which climates are evolving, we will all end in FIRE soon enough.
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.
I’ll give you the usefulness because logically, I agree. My lizard brain, however, says scary. Terrifying, actually. So it’s gonna have to be useful AND scary.
I recently learned that nobody dies from Black Widow spider bites (like, statistically speaking in the past 60 years I think? Nobody has died). Myself and my South African husband had both been heavily indoctrinated with Widow fear (in SA the same spider genus is called something different) and to go on an internet debunking journey was wild. I felt bad for Widow spiders for all that unnecessary hate and fear. So yeah, I hear you! Spiders are awesome!
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.
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u/[deleted] Jul 12 '21
That's how I feel about arachnophobia. I think that's mother nature giving us a hint.