What is your irrationable phobia?

Megalohydrothalassophobia, more specifically prehistoric sea monsters – ichthyosauruses, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs... I actually had to put my hand on the screen to block out any images of these vile creatures as I googled their plural forms just now so as not to faint. Even typing out their species names makes my skin crawl.

Also leviathans of any kind. Cosmic horror makes me want to puke.

Sharks, everything in r1 and squirrels (spiders are totally rational).

I also have a phobia of hurting myself. Not normal injuries but, if a forks tongs are too long I am afraid I will stab my throat. The eclipse, I had to look. Fearing I will put my hand in the garbage disposal. Completely rational things like that.

Ever since watching the Six Feet Under episode where a woman chokes on a piece of cut up fruit at home I have that fear.

R3 Choking on anything while home alone.

Lesbians.

Getting killed by a crocodile or alligator

Dead mammals. It's a true phobia, nothing creepier.

Rollercoaster derailment.

I don’t have an irrational phobia other maybe heights a bit, but these ladies were scared of mustard and pickles…

That people will find out I'm not really black and 35.

Sea monsters

children being snatched, sexually assaulted and killed.

I’ll say it’s not to be taken seriously but I’m not really a guy to pursue this sort of activity, but what would happen if you used a glory hole and lost your dick?

Fear of centipedes is not an irrational phobia.

It’s more under control now… but fear of freeway connectors that are like bridges held up by nothing … flying into the sky ..

[quote]children being snatched, sexually assaulted and killed.

I think OP means an honest phobia where you feel like your own survival is threatened. Not a fake lOoK hOw NiCe I aM!!! “phobia”.

r16 - i don't get why you are questioning what my irrational fear I shared is...it's just happened in TX twice in the same day recently.

People snatching kids and molesting/killing them is a real fucking thing.

Fuck off.

As far back as I can remember, my phobia is frogs/toads. Mostly toads. I get this hot rush all through my body when I see one. They just gross me out, and they are really the only thing I have that reaction to. Lizards, snakes, spiders, etc. don’t bother me. I have held snakes before..they are cool. But if you tried to put a frog on me, I’d faint.

I suffered bed bugs once. That was traumatic.

R17 : That’s not an irrational fear that you harbour. You wouldn’t even have thought about it if you hadn’t heard about it recently. And it isn’t something that legitimately terrifies you because your own life isn’t in danger.

It’s completely inauthentic virtue signaling.

Fuck off.

I take it back. It is irrational because that wouldn’t legitimately frighten anyone, especially when strangers are involved.

Seaweed. I don’t know what more needs to be said. Ok, lake weed too. It’s like trying to swim with hands grabbing at you. I’m a lifeguard so I’m a great swimmer but I will only swim in clear water. I don’t even go to lake weekends now at friends’ cottages in case some kid gets stuck and I need to dust off my life guarding and get in that dammed dark water to save them.

Same here, R22. Also, I have to see my feet when I walk into water. That's why I stopped swimming in the lake (Michigan), also the seaweed tickling my legs and wrapping around my arms. I get chills just thinking about it! Ugh.

That my kid and husband will die in a car accident. It's a low grade panic attack every time they leave the house together. I'm going to need a Xanax rx on once my kid starts driving

I think I'm afraid of just about everything. The Final Destination series of films sums it all up. If something can happen, it will. And it will be fatal or extremely painful, or both.

Blue haired old ladies.

[quote] I actually had to put my hand on the screen to block out any images of these vile creatures as I googled their plural forms just now so as not to faint.

Mary!

This developed in the last ten years or so, which I find weird.

I get really spooked on long and/or high bridges now (especially when they're only two lanes). I have no idea where this came from. My chest tightens, and I start breathing heavily. I grip the steering wheel like my life depends on it. I grew up on water and am a good swimmer; this doesn't make sense.

I'm afraid of heights. That's not unusual but it does trigger panic.

Foreskin freaks me out bigtime, which is stupid and I wish it didn't. Can't get over it.

This is a common phobia many adults acquire. Both my brother and sister recently acquired it. It can be overcome, though.

I have many minor phobias, but the one that absolutely derails me is fear of heights.

I was in Auckland a few years ago and my friends and I went up into their space needle. There were some areas on the floor that were glass, and you could walk across and look down to see the city below.

As hard as I tried, I could not bring myself to walk across those areas. I started shaking and just froze in my tracks. I couldn't do it. My friends were laughing at me, but I was genuinely terrified.

Thanks for that link R30. I thought I was the only one.

R31 I had the exact same experience in the CN Tower in Toronto. I was kind of OK looking out of the window because I told myself it was so high it looked like an airplane window view but the clear floor almost knocked me unconsious the second I glanced at it. I had vertigo and my whole body quaked. I took a photo with my phone by reaching out my arm and the photo was blurry because I was shaking.

I have an irrational fear of cockroaches and grasshoppers.

I have a total rational fear of house centipedes

And bridges and highways.

Giant eucalyptus trees. Tall, thick, and imposing. Long, gnarly branches, like a witch’s outstretched arms. Wind blowing through drooping vines of leaves, hissing at me, daring me to come closer. I look up and get dizzy with anxiety. I must have been killed by a eucalyptus falling on me in another life.

R25, I don’t think it’s irrational, but since you mentioned Final Destination, ever since seeing FD2 more than 20 years ago, I’ve been afraid to follow a logging truck on the highway if the bed is loaded with logs. By extension, I get nervous whenever there’s a vehicle in front of me with a large object in an open bed truck or tied to the top of a car. I’ll pass them if I can. If not, I’ll just drop way back – way, way back – or even pull over until they’re well down the road.

I have an inordinate fear of power outages. No one likes them, but I get completely freaked out by them. It's the not knowing when the electricity is coming back on that does it. It doesn't matter if the temperature is moderate (so lack of heating and AC is not a problem). I still have to work hard not to have a panic attack the minute the lights go out.

The crazy part is that I'm now a nervous wreck whenever severe storms are approaching or, sometimes, even when they're forecast, which is a lot in the summer around here.

R38 I have an irrational enjoyment of nighttime power outages. Being irrational, I can't tell you why. Something about being safe in my home at night in the dark without technology makes me feel comfortable.

I have that in common R29. Foreskin is pretty damn icky. 🤢

I live with a constant fear that nuclear war could happen at any time. I feel constantly on alert, "sleeping with one eye open"—all that kind of jazz. Nucleomituphobia is the formal term. I am in my twenties.

I would like to see my life cycle complete naturally. I'm just some guy, in some house, some town, some state in the U.S. that loves his friends and family. I hate knowing that we live in such a constant political pressure cooker environment. I constantly pray for peace.

Running out of Trentonin

Running out of Cialis

Running out of Lube

Running out of poppers

Carol Channing.

Seriously. I was a kid when I saw her performance as The White Queen in the made-for-tv "Alice Through the Looking Glass" in 1985. It terrified me to watch her turn into a goat. I can still hear her bleating. Ugh

This..

I still have to work hard not to have a panic attack the minute the lights go out.

What about when the lights go out in Georgia?

Heights and the related bridges/freeway flyovers. I've had panic attacks a few times driving over them. If I get stuck in a glass elevator, only in smallish buildings, I stand facing forward and cannot look out the glass.

I've been avoiding highways and bridges for so long it isn't an issue, it's just normal.

Don't tell anyone

Dark water just terrifies me. When hubby and I were buying our current home and I saw the pool, I said it was great, the house is perfect and exactly what we were looking for, but he had to promise we'd run the pool lights at night, all night. If I can see the bottom of the pool, I'm fine. If not, I'm a wreck. Hubby is so understanding; he found a solar floating toy that throws light into the water and that suffices. But go to the beach at night? Nuh-uh. And on a road trip up the coast, we couldn't drive over a bridge after dark without warning; if I can close my eyes and lean back, I'm fine but not exactly conducive to being the driver. I wish I understood and could conquer this phobia.

The other thing is not a phobia but just a preference: I hate horror movies, particularly torture scenes. I can't figure out why people like to be scared. I stopped watching all horror about 30 years ago. The worst is when they sneak a torture scene into something you'd never expect it; for instance, I really like the Showtime series "Weeds" until they had the episode in which they (oh lord, I'm having trouble even typing this) peeled the skin off the low-level smuggler who ultimately gave up the Mary-Louise Parker character. That was it; can't stand to watch even one second of that show now. I used to think the parental warnings they flash on screen were silly, but I'm glad they started including "torture" as one of the warnings.

R47 You don't have to tell me about fear of dark water, honey.

Wow, R38! I know I didn't post that, but every word of it applies to me.

Bread stored in a refrigerator

actually I trybophobia bad, totally squicks me out

Biting my tongue off ever since I heard a someone did that.

R40, have you always had this fear, or has it developed recently, with rise of Cold War II?

I ask because, as a mid-Boomer, I grew up with the possibility of nuclear war as a constant in my life until my mid-30s. In the ‘60s (childhood) and again in the ‘80s (young adulthood), nuclear arms and nuclear war were constant topics in fiction, the target of highly publicized protests, and a subject of regular discussion in the media. And yet, most of us who grew up in this theoretically terrifying environment didn’t think about it most of the time. It was like earthquakes in LA – you knew it could happen, but you went about your life because what else could you do? It was just part of the general background noise unless there was a specific news or media event.

By comparison, there is almost no discussion today despite the danger presented by our deteriorating relationship with Russia and China. I wonder if the constant attention defused the urgency of the issue back then by providing information (however incorrect it often was) and a public outlet for worries, while the lack of attention today allows phobias to flourish in some people.

R51: A few months ago I was stopped at a light behind a car with honeycomb-type tail lights. The pattern was so triggering I had to stop myself jumping out of the car to get away from that!

Fear of heights, like many, I don't think it's irrational though. You can fall off of even not-so-high things or places and get really hurt. Fear of hiking, especially trails that are steep or on the side of cliffs and mountains, uh-uh. It better be a very close or local trail and even then people have a hard time getting rescued. In fact, why hike at all, just walk in the city! Like R31 and R33 those high towers with holes in the floor or clear glass render me so afraid, I cannot move. This happened to me in the tower at Six Flags. I sat on the floor and had to be dragged off.

Fear of roaches. They terrify me. I don't really care much about spiders as long as they are not on me. I can pick them up and shoo them out without a problem. I actually don't mind rats or mice and think they're kind of cute.

Fear of having to manually walk across a bridge that I'm driving across. I think, what would I do, if I had to get out? Or my car broke down? I'd probably freeze and be so afraid. It freaks me out. I also grip the wheel very tightly and think of England.

Fear of choking

Fear of falling asleep sometimes because I'm afraid I won't wake up

Driving in a big city.

It’s hard for me to look at crippled people.

Cockroaches. They scare the living shit out of me. Luckily my cat makes swift work of them if one happens to wander in under my door threshold from a neighbouring, presumably filthy suite.

*

That my house will catch fire.

So much so that I installed cameras throughout my home and check them regularly while I'm at work or away on a trip.

Also allows me to check on my cats whom I fear will get out/hurt/killed.

As a young child, I was paranoid that every other person is some kind of robot or avatar that is only activated when I am around and shuts down when they are out of sight. I used to hide for hours in obscure places and wait for my parents to deactivate.

My phobia was that I am completely alone and everything is a hallucination or something.

I left that one in childhood, in case you are wondering if I am schizo haha

Spiders. Once a friend of mine locked me in in his car and waited for me to react. Thank God it wasn't a spider but a snake. A big snake on top of it, which to me, rightly or wrongly, meant probably a boa, which meant probably not venomous. So I managed to keep my cool. But had it been a spider, I would have gone berserk and broken everything in the car just to get out of this situation.

I'm still pissed at what he did 25 years ago, but relieved that he did it with his pet boa instead of any kind of pet spider.

Which reminds me now of something else. I once left my park in an underground parking with all windows open, because it had been hot and it was safe, then got back in the car a couple of days later and while I was driving something fuzzy appeared in my field of view. Something that was descending towards my right hand on the wheel. Of course the second I realized it was a big ass spider (THE SIZE OF A BUICK!) climbing down on me, the car had already left the road. Thank God I was the only car on the road and got away unscathed. That's me. I love spiders SOOOOO much.

I don't think fear of spiders is irrational. Some of them can kill you.

Spiders are rather fascinating unless they are tarantula sized or bigger. I love the little jumping spiders and prefer to leave them alone. The big ass flying cockroaches cause me to scream like a girl and run out of a room.

A scary story about those flyovers...I was sitting in traffic, not moving, and later found out some poor guy's car had broken down at the top. He got out to look at the cause and some dumb bitch, on her phone, plowed into his car, catapulting him over the barrier and down on the street below.

Crows. If they had prehensile thumbs they'd rule the world.

Escalators. I'm afraid my shoes will somehow get caught by it - either in stepping on it or stepping off - and ... what? Stuck? Crippled? It's a ridiculous fear.

R1 I know the thread is irrational but any theory as to why?

I have issues with narrow bridges and roads too. Tall buildings. Flying. Being stuck in the middle of a row during church or a performance. Most of the time I can deal ok with the driving and I sit on the end seat always saying I have to get up a lot. Airplanes I take a xanax but even a half of a small dose makes me so tired. If I am already feeling anxious or hungover, it is way worse. At best, I will be sweaty, fidgety and flushed. At worst, I go into full panic which is why I have had to carry an emergency Xanax with me for over ten years. I never or very rarely have to take it but knowing it is there is soothing. I'm so used to all this now but it sucks. Done the therapy route and on Lexapro and diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder.

R68 Wow. One would have been enough for this thread but you wear the crown.

Statues. Yes, I know they will absolutely not harm me, but I'm in primal terror around them. My palms are sweating as I write this.

A couple months ago, my sister changed her profile picture to a statue in her neighborhood and I unfriended her across all platforms. I just couldn't risk any more exposure to that picture.

Any form of raw meat, including cold smoked and sushi etc. I grew up in rural Australia and every doctors waiting room, newsagents, school canteen, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers had a horrifying poster screaming that raw and undercooked meats cause hydatids.

Oh yeah, and no way I'm letting a dog lick my face!

Quicksand

I don't get the statue thing.

Leeches. That scene in The African Queen nearly does me in. The thought of having to grab one to try to get it off!!! Too gross for words.

We’re having a meeting tonight if you feel you need some help and support.

I have an irrational phobia of Bette Midler that’s so intense it’s almost intolerable. It’s not about her talent or her achievements, but rather an overwhelming aversion to her larger-than-life persona. Her boundless energy and exuberant performances evoke a visceral discomfort in me that’s hard to rationalize. Whenever I see her, whether it’s on television or in the media, I’m flooded with an inexplicable dread that feels as if her very presence is invading my space and overwhelming my senses. It’s a deep-seated aversion that makes it difficult for me to appreciate her work or even tolerate her presence, no matter how unwarranted or irrational it may seem.

Spending more than a minute around ugly people

Catheters

How did you cope when Rebe Jackson was enjoying her top 40 smash ‘Centipede’, OP?

Driving with other people I don't know well at the wheel. If they are merely poor drivers I quietly freak out. If they are bad to the point of dangerous I will ask to get out of the car unless they clean up their act. There are family members I refuse to drive with and they know this. I'm not willing to die in a crash just to go with the flow or be accepting of dangerous driving. Some think this is an irrational fear. Not me.

R76 Hi Babs

[quote]Leeches. That scene in The African Queen nearly does me in.

R74 And don't forget the scene in Stand By Me.

Many of you probably hated the opening sequence of AHS: Cult.

I haven’t forgotten, R82. Or, actually, I had. But now that you remind me I’ll be busily suppressing my gag reflex for quite some time until I’ve buried the memory again.

Drowning in a sinking leviathan. I’ve been on smaller sail boats, but the bigger stuff makes me think I’m floating on a steel death trap.

Being surrounded by dwarves

Kidnapped by gypsies

Structural collapse and mechanical failure. I get super nervous dealing with bridges, outdoor stairs, elevators, balconies, upper floors with views to lower floors, etc.

I have stories about elevators R87.

sinkholes

Marie Osmond dolls and parking garages. If I were to walk by a car in a parking garage, that had a Marie Osmond doll in the front seat, well there's just no telling.

R88 really? i've seen so many that have expired inspection certificates hung up too.

Forced to share a bus ride with Canadians.

I didn’t realize irrational fears and phobias are a hard concept for people to grasp because most of these here don’t qualify.

Hot air balloons. Never gonna get in one.

For R94.

R85, the irrational part being that small boats, like small planes, are more dangerous than their larger commercial counterparts.

I'm hard pressed to think of something irrational when it comes to my phobias (does falling down a steep flight of stairs count?) but I'll tell you my partner's truly irrational phobia: handling STYROFOAM!! When I first discovered that, a couple of years into our relationship, I teased him all the time.

Pot lucks. Shudder.

I have an irrational fear of airport jetways. I'm always afraid they're gonna collapse from the weight of all the passengers walking down them on the way to the plane.

UK here.

When I lived in London my walk to work meant crossing Tower Bridge. The gap in the middle is about half a centimetre, but I had times when I felt physically sick at the thought of falling into the Thames.

I could understand that, R97.

Having my bellybutton or my sternum touched. A guaranteed flight or fight response from me if I get touched in either area.

Interviews

I have an irrational fear of railroad crossings at night. Don't know why but hearing a freight train whistle during the night freaks me out.

Is it because you came from the wrong side of the tracks?