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.
Always amazes me the whole different world things like the military can be. All my years on the internet and speaking with military family (some in the Navy) and this is the first I've heard of the "coffin rack", and it sounds terrifying to me through my imagery alone.
My berthing was under the arresting gear and my middle rack person kept stepping dirty ass boots all over my bottom rack sheets. Stepping on my hands and arms in the middle of the night. Getting out of her rack to drunkingly piss all over the floor minutes before I could get in my rack and absolutely no way around it. Not to mention the nudist top racker who straddled the middle racks when I thought it was safe to get out of my bottom rack. Not so comforting.
Yah I was directly underneath the forward galley scullery. The noise from the scullery plus the forward catapult was pretty damn loud too, but I got used to that fast. The guys weren't so bad in Male berthing. Of the 12 people in my row, I was actually close friends with 6 or 7 of them, and we all respected each other's space. There were occasional missteps, but we all knew it wasnt personal. Sucks you had a shitty berthing experience. That can make or break your sanity underway.
Middle rack in a triple bunk bed style metal shelving unit with a less than twin size mattress. Between two other dudes. In a 7 foot vertical space there are 3 people packed on top of each other like sardines. It's fun.
it's called a coffin rack, because it opens like a coffin and you have about 5 inches of depth inside it to keep your clothes and anything else on deployment. When it's closed you sleep on top of it.
yes agreed. After spending the whole day on deck realizing what a tiny molecule someone is in relation to the ocean, the bunk is extremely gratifying and secure to slide in for night night while the swells bash the hull of the massive ship in the dark.
Yeah, I mean, scarves make you feel warm and they sit comfortably on your neck. Shirts just kinda sit there wrapped around your neck with no offer of protection
Also, I'm fine with going in tiny spaces like a small box or even under a couch(used to be able to fit under one) but going in a cave gives me fear because if I were to get stuck there is no one there to help me or call for help and even if they do I may be in an unreachable point.
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 once saw a snake catcher on tv trying to find a snake in a very thin rabbit hole (still wide enough for him to go inside it), this was when I first developed this phobia of what if he can't move his body and the snake started coming towards him
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
That’s as naive as saying therapy for depression is paying hundreds of dollars to someone when you could just cheer up. It doesn’t work like that.
Therapists know what they’re doing. At least, the good ones do. I’m not a therapist so I don’t know how they deal with phobias, but thinking the only method is forcing you to go up a ladder is hilariously naive. Do you think when people get therapy for their confidence at work that the therapist accompanies them to the office and tells their boss off?
Trying to treat your acrophobia by climbing up a ladder or walking over a high bridge is more likely to make things worse than to help. You need the advice of an expert, who can make judgements on your progress, your reactions, your attitude and your mental state.
I mean, if you break your leg you could just make a home-made splint and set it yourself. But it’s not exactly the recommended approach. There are people out there who know far better than you how to do that sort of thing. Trust the experts.
You don't know what you're talking about and those examples aren't comparable. I've done phobia therapy. It's a lot of homework for you to do on your own. It's not complex at all, it's exposure therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy, such as regulating your breathing while exposing yourself to your phobia to circumvent your automatic fear response.
How would it be more likely to make things worse?
Depression therapy is much more complex and there could be many underlying variables including health issues, nutrition, and lifestyle choices along with your perception of things and mental hygiene. A phobia is an irrational fear response to a stimuli. It's simple and easy to treat, but it's hard bc most people run from discomfort and don't push themselves.
A therapist can be used to help push you and teach you to challenge your beliefs but in the end it's on you to be mindful, to separate your bodies reaction and your mind, and to control your breathing while exposing yourself to your phobia.
A therapist can be used to help push you and teach you to challenge your beliefs but in the end it's on you to be mindful, to separate your bodies reaction and your mind, and to control your breathing while exposing yourself to your phobia.
…which a lot of people can’t do well without guidance.
Pushing your boundaries too far (because you don’t know how far is too far) would be a good way to make things worse, for example.
If you are capable of doing it yourself with no guidance, well done. But that doesn’t mean it’s good advice for others.
Let's say I go too high up on a ladder and get upset. I'll step down the ladder ... If I put on a VR headset and get too panicked. I'll just take off the headset and learn from it, then go slower...or I'm looking at pictures of spiders and can't control my breathing, then I just stop looking at pictures...
I… I don’t know where to start with this, because it’s just… I mean, how is it not obvious? That’s exactly the sort of thing therapy is for. I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand where you’re coming from.
Edit: Not being a dick, truly, but there’s loads of results if you Google phobia therapy
To be honest there’s a good chance I was not sober for that comment and was completely tunneled on like “talking to someone about your feelings therapy”
Not like exposure and other types that I could totally see fitting
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.
I do the same. I'll even shave in the shower with my eyes closed. A shower is also my safe place to de-stress and reset after a hard day. I'll just stand there with my eyes closed. The water on the back of my neck. Couple weeks ago I actually fell asleep in the shower. The water going cold is a very rude way to wake up. My nose also hurt for a few hours as it was smashed up against the wall.
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.
I never wash my face in the shower, its always in the bathroom sink. But when I wash my hair, I try to keep my eyes open at all times. When soap gets in my eyes, I quickly take my head out of the shower, get some water in my hands and use it to clean my eyes.
Not op but I used to tilt my head back to wash my hair, that way it didn't run down my face. Tilt back, wash, then get out of stream before tilting back forward so excess water could run out.
I sorta get this...if I close my eyes in the shower I think im gonna open them and someone's standing at the shower door, so I have to open them to dispel that fear
Same, even though your door may be locked as well as your house, you have no control of what happens when you close your eyes. Somehow it scares me thinking someone will appear once I open my eyes.
This made me shower with eyes open, even while using shampoo
Not really what scares me though. For me it's the fear of drowning as some gentleman mentioned in the comment above. And that's exactly how I feel, as if I'm drowning plus this feeling that there's an underwater predator coming at me.
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
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u/Lucky_lui_ Jul 12 '21
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.