# Phobias



## ww (Sep 21, 2008)

I really don't have any but the wife freaks out ....and I mean freaks out over Mice, Rodents, Hampsters,etc get the picture?  Not just in person, but in TV, Movies, etc. She literally jumps over the couch almost to avoid seeing one after she has caught a glimpse. 

Do any of you or your spouses have any such Phobias? Or is my wife unique in this category?


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## Galatians220 (Sep 21, 2008)

Ants. Spiders. *Public speaking.* Phone ringing in the middle of the night.

_Sounds in the house that might mean someone is breaking in. _Gunfire where not expected. White coats under somber, stricken faces.

All (my) phobias have to do with "past bad experiences." (Horrible ones.) A person subject to phobias can undergo desensitization therapy if they interfere with one's ADLs (activities of daily living). I just take Xanax _prn_. _What, me worry?_ 

  

The Lord can also heal these phobias, as He often chooses to do with our more objectively manifested, physical ailments.

I became terribly afraid of raccoons in 2001 after one got into our house and pretty much trashed it. I happened to meet it in our front hall at 3 a.m. one day... Now the fear is gone and I can look away at raccoons, especially when I see one of them lying in the middle of the road, having met its match in, and been bested by, the tire of a car or truck.

Margaret


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## TimV (Sep 21, 2008)

Margaret, one of my daughters is like you with spiders, so I keep them outside. If you see a new thread "Tim's strange pets" be sure not to open it, unless you like tarantulas and 6 inch scorpions.


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## Galatians220 (Sep 21, 2008)

Thanks so much for the warning, Tim! *I will heed it scrupulously!*!! 

Margaret


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Sep 21, 2008)

I am scared to death of insects with wings, bigger the scarier. I mean I scream like a little girl. I have scared away a Brown Bear before but if you get me in a closed room with a moth I'll jump out the window.


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## Mindaboo (Sep 21, 2008)

I am scared of snakes. I can't see them on TV, or in pictures. I lived in a house a few years ago where there were snakes everywhere. I was petrified. Eventually I learned to cope, but still to this day can't stand the sight or thought of them. I can't even deal with seeing snake skins, it really grosses me out. It makes me break out into a sweat and my body goes numb when I see them. Never mind the screaming and running, I can't move from fear. I won't go into the reptile house at the zoo, it would cause nightmares for weeks. 

Spiders never bothered me until I was bit by a black widow, then I realized how much pain they cause and so now I am a little freaked out by spiders. Although it is nothing like the snake phobia.


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## Pergamum (Sep 21, 2008)

I'm afraid of Theonomy with a big T. 

But the PB has provided desensitivation therapy. 

The Theonomophobia Support Group meets every Tuesday night at my house.


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## Devin (Sep 21, 2008)

Public speaking!

"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy." - Jerry Seinfeld


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## jambo (Sep 21, 2008)

My wife is the same as Whitways, scared stiff of mice. Even in the church car park in the dark I have to drive over to the door to pick her up in case there is a mouse. In all the years going to the church I have never once seen a mouse. The only mouse thatdoes not freak her out is Micky Mouse. She does not like hamsters but they do not have any effect on her, but mice are a different story.


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## FrielWatcher (Sep 21, 2008)

mother in law deathly afraid of snakes - can't see them on TV etc...

Phobia of when I have to reach into the garbage disposal to fish out whatever is in there. Hate it. 

Phobia of nystatin powder.


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## Kim G (Sep 21, 2008)

I am terribly afraid of spiders! I wish I could get over it. I get this buzzing sound in my right ear when I look at them, even on TV or in a book. If I see one in real life, I'm scared to death and panic, but I can't stop looking at it for fear that it may get away before my husband can kill it! I've been in hysterics from seeing them. It's so stupid. I don't mind any other bugs or snakes or mice or any other thing. Of course, I grew up in Florida, where I had banana spiders the size of my hand hanging all over my house. Maybe that has something to do with it?


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## Mindaboo (Sep 21, 2008)

> I get this buzzing sound in my right ear when I look at them, even on TV or in a book



Me too! I always thought that was so weird. The buzzing starts, the goose bumps raise up all over and I go numb. I can't think or do anything. I literally had to be walked out of a pet store where a kid was letting a snake crawl on him. I couldn't move and I was soaking wet with sweat when it was all over. I don't go into hysterics, but I can't move either.


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## AThornquist (Sep 21, 2008)

I suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia--the fear of long words.  Not really, but I love how long the phobia name is considering what it means. 
Phobias... Instead of being afraid of things, I tend to take action, for better or for worse. For example, if there is a spider other than a daddy long-leg, I just kill it, plain and simple. If there is a snake or a rodent, I catch it and show it to my mom and little sisters to freak _them_ out. Of course, I don't go too far and harass them with it but I at least let them get a glimpse. Sometimes they even warm up to the creatures, which is neat. In other things, like hearing sounds of someone breaking in, my immediate instinct is to find out what it is and to act accordingly (but I'm fortunate to have only had to fend off an intruder once and even then it was at a neighbor's house.) Stuff like that gives me a rush more than anything. 

Lol what messes with my mind is really pathetic though... It's not a phobia but I sometimes get really nervous when meeting attractive Reformed girls. Isn't that lame?! MAN I sometimes totally lose ability to have a conversation because of being so nervous... my mind just goes blank. Yeah, so I don't fear a bite or a fight...but I'm a sissy when it comes to those Reformed girls


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## py3ak (Sep 21, 2008)

You just need to find a Reformed girl with a phobia and remove the object of her fear. Instant hero!


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## AThornquist (Sep 21, 2008)

Genius! Hmmm well I suppose I could let some spiders loose during the evening service or something. "By the way miss, there is a spider on your head..."


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## Ex Nihilo (Sep 21, 2008)

AThornquist said:


> Genius! Hmmm well I suppose I could let some spiders loose during the evening service or something. "By the way miss, there is a spider on your head..."



Or a hamster.


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## Simply_Nikki (Sep 21, 2008)

My phobia includes anything that naturally has more than four legs or less than two. I just have to get out of there! I will literally cry and border hyperventilate if I was put in a situation where I was forced to deal with one of them. 

There are some exceptions though. I'm not afraid of lady bugs or dragon flies or butter flies.


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## Ex Nihilo (Sep 21, 2008)

I don't like interviews.

Also, I am afraid of doctors, speaking in class, rats, clowns, and guns.


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## turmeric (Sep 21, 2008)

I hate anything slimy. I would make a rotten mother or nurse I'm afraid. I hate cockroaches and other bugs but I'm afraid to squish them. I think my real phobia is heights. When I imagine crawling on a narrow space high up I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach...


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## jogri17 (Sep 21, 2008)

snakes, beaches, even number of clappings, dogs, cats, flavoured water, the Ipod shuffel, pretty young girls, people, and going to church because there are people (makes the 4th commandment a chore to carry out)


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## Kim G (Sep 21, 2008)

Ex Nihilo said:


> I am afraid of doctors, speaking in class, rats, *clowns*, and guns.



Okay, yeah, clowns. Me too. And those ventriloquist dolls. I went to Disney MGM Studios and rode the Tower of Terror. At the end of the ride, while you're still strapped in, the cart stops in a dim hall with a ventriloquist doll sitting right next to the ride. I was terrified and couldn't get out of the cart fast enough! And that's only because of previews I've seen for movies I would never watch.

I'm also afraid of the dark. It's a fear that I have to pray about often, but the Lord hasn't taken it away.


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## a mere housewife (Sep 21, 2008)

A lot of things make my heart pound and make me feel unable to stand: meeting new people, making conversation with friends I haven't seen for some time, dr. appts., timed activities, talking on the phone, having to disagree, family gatherings, ideas, books I don't feel intelligent enough to fully comprehend, sometimes even opening my email; the news. Bugs are frightening but honestly, less so than many of these things. I am terrified of intruders and get no rush but yes, the instinctive reaction is to go to wherever the noise is, with whatever you have on hand (the toilet plunger?). Mice are sweet: it is their effects in your silverware drawer which are so frustrating. My little sister tore her room apart with a tennis racket searching for one a few years ago and finally managed to slam the racket down over it. We then carefully maneuvered my hand under the racket to catch it and let it go. It bit me. But we sang 'Born Free' as it crawled away in the gutter. Very moving.


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## 21st Century Calvinist (Sep 21, 2008)

Ex Nihilo said:


> Also, I am afraid of doctors.



Once you're a lawyer they will be afraid of you.


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## Semper Fidelis (Sep 21, 2008)

My son, James, has passed on a fear of dogs and cats and clowns to his sister Anna. James can now be coaxed to play with small dogs now (after an initial fear) but Anna _freaks out_.

We were at a picnic yesterday and Calvin was on the ground. The neighbor had a Jack Russel Terrier that ran up to Calvin a few times and Calvin made a yelp sound we had never heard. Poor little guy had this frightened look on his face.


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## 21st Century Calvinist (Sep 21, 2008)

I am totally phobic about snakes. Be they alive or dead, large or small, fat or thin, in a book/magazine or TV/movie. If I am reading a magazine and there is a picture of one, I can no longer have that magazine in my lap.
I could not live in the country and have a big yard.
Enough of this nasty talk! I think I need a beer to calm my shattered nerves.

Also, Ronald McDonald creeps me out. He's like a character from a Stephen King book/movie


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## Mushroom (Sep 22, 2008)

The only thing I can think of that makes me irrationally afraid is having to hold a conversation with someone I know is smarter than I am. Problem is, that's like 95% of the population, so I've tried to learn to overcome it. It's just pride. Public speaking somewhat too, another pride issue.... don't want to look dumb, which is futile, that's something I am immensely qualified to do... looking dumb just comes naturally to me. 

Bats make me jumpy 'cuz I don't want to get bit, but recently had to shut a couple out of an opening where two soffits met. Videotaped where they were coming out of, then waited one evening until they were out and sealed it off. It was kinda cool.


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## Pergamum (Sep 22, 2008)

I am afraid of Mslm crowds shouting Allahu Akbar: Muhammadanophobia?


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## Galatians220 (Sep 22, 2008)

Pergamum said:


> I am afraid of Mslm crowds shouting Allahu Akbar: Muhammadanophobia?


 


I'm not so much afraid of them as I, well, strongly dislike them. There are lots of places around here, entire malls, neighborhoods, etc. where you can be the only non-Arab in sight. You can stick around for "prayer time," if you want to.  The whole "Arab scene" in this area, especially post-9/11, freaks me out big-time.    

*Clowns,* too; _glad_ to be reminded of that one!  When I was a preschooler, I used to sneak out of bed, hide behind the sofa and watch whatever my parents were watching on TV. One night I saw a scene where a guy with a stocking over his head and a knife in his hand was breaking into a house in which a lady was decorating a Christmas tree. I screamed and my folks found me - but I don't think I slept for weeks after that. Ever since, "false faces" -  - have bothered me.  The movie "It," based on a Stephen King book: everyone else saw it, but I couldn't watch it. I did see just enough of it on TV to know that the "clown phobia" is still in place... 

Margaret


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## BobVigneault (Sep 22, 2008)

I'm not afraid of anything so don't hesitate to call me to get the snake, bat, spider, doctor or lawyer out of your basement, attic or crawl space.


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## Reformed Baptist (Sep 22, 2008)

*Luposlipaphobia* - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor. 

This sounds scary...


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## a mere housewife (Sep 22, 2008)

How about Luposlipaclaustrophobia - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor _in an enclosed space_.

Terrifying.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Sep 22, 2008)

a mere housewife said:


> How about Luposlipaclaustrophobia - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor _in an enclosed space_.
> 
> Terrifying.


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## FrielWatcher (Sep 22, 2008)

a mere housewife said:


> How about Luposlipaclaustrophobia - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor _in an enclosed space_.
> 
> Terrifying.



...on a Tuesday when you have to make a three-tiered cake for a birthday coming up in two days and none of the invites have been sent and the carpet needs to be vacuumed and your daughter wants something to eat while the postman is knocking on the door to deliver your next shipment of Amway that you bought because your brother pressured you to buy the stuff from him and you felt pity because he's been laid off for five months with three kids at home after a recent divorce and his best friend was just in a car crash sending him to the ICU!


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## ManleyBeasley (Sep 22, 2008)

wow


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## Reformed Baptist (Sep 22, 2008)

Circularphobiaobia - Fear of phobias.


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## Galatians220 (Sep 22, 2008)

FrielWatcher said:


> a mere housewife said:
> 
> 
> > How about Luposlipaclaustrophobia - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor _in an enclosed space_.
> ...


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