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What's a completely irrational fear you have?
- Thread starter Lant_War
- Start date
I'm not sure if these are totally "irrational" since i'm sure we can all reference some news stories where these became realities but here ya go...
I have a fear that someone is watching me through my devices. Because of this I make sure i'm out of any device range when I do something private and I put tape over my phone and laptop cameras.
I have a fear that my airbag will go off for no reason. I don't really adjust my behavior to "avoid" this but if I end up thinking about it while driving I start to tense up a bit.
I also think about this when i'm in public. I haven't started planning out escape routes and stuff like that but I unfortunately do get suspicious seeing people with backpacks/bags in areas where that isn't really that common.
I have a fear that someone is watching me through my devices. Because of this I make sure i'm out of any device range when I do something private and I put tape over my phone and laptop cameras.
I have a fear that my airbag will go off for no reason. I don't really adjust my behavior to "avoid" this but if I end up thinking about it while driving I start to tense up a bit.
I also think about this when i'm in public. I haven't started planning out escape routes and stuff like that but I unfortunately do get suspicious seeing people with backpacks/bags in areas where that isn't really that common.
I've raced motorcycles, ride technical trails on my mountain bike, enjoy sailing even on rough seas, have flown a Cessna and gone bungee jumping.
But I went on a Jet Ski once and had blinding terror, boarding on a panic attack the whole time. It makes no sense and was completely irrational. So I'm pretty fearless except for jet-skis.
Fuck Jet-skis.
But I went on a Jet Ski once and had blinding terror, boarding on a panic attack the whole time. It makes no sense and was completely irrational. So I'm pretty fearless except for jet-skis.
Fuck Jet-skis.
I am terrified of bugs. Especially flying cockroaches. I have zero fear about snakes, spiders, wild animals etc. But holy fuck I will scream and run away from bugs.
Yup. If somebody shows up in a hat with a backpack that isn't a school or a gym I can feel my blood pressure go up.
Not mine, but my ex was wildly afraid of birds and found everything about them to be deeply disturbing. Didn't even like to look at pictures.
She was also fundamentally terrified of big things in water, like large boats. Not of being on them, but just the fact that they exist.
She was also fundamentally terrified of big things in water, like large boats. Not of being on them, but just the fact that they exist.
Public speaking. I think its one of the worst fears to have, because while it is irrational to start with, it perpetuates a legitimate fear, which is that if you show your fear then it will embarrass others which in turn makes the fear even worse. It's almost like having a big group of people watching you die or something. Fun stuff.
Weirdly enough I think that's the only real fear I have, rational or irrational. What's strange is that it came out of nowhere, when I was a kid I loved getting in front of the classroom. Once I hit puberty, though, something shifted in my head and I got into cycles of thoughts to where I couldn't focus on what I was saying, a dastardly internal dialogue, so to speak.
When I realized I had to complete a public speaking course to finish college, I could already feel the fear building up. Somehow I got through that shit, it still sucked ass. I also fairly recently gave a best man speech at my brother's wedding. All my family was there to witness my fear. Luckily I did a slideshow so a lot of the focus was off me and I did ok. Fuck me I'm lame.
Weirdly enough I think that's the only real fear I have, rational or irrational. What's strange is that it came out of nowhere, when I was a kid I loved getting in front of the classroom. Once I hit puberty, though, something shifted in my head and I got into cycles of thoughts to where I couldn't focus on what I was saying, a dastardly internal dialogue, so to speak.
When I realized I had to complete a public speaking course to finish college, I could already feel the fear building up. Somehow I got through that shit, it still sucked ass. I also fairly recently gave a best man speech at my brother's wedding. All my family was there to witness my fear. Luckily I did a slideshow so a lot of the focus was off me and I did ok. Fuck me I'm lame.
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I don't fear birds, but I do kinda fucking hate them.
They don't have arms. Who the fuck (besides insects) have legs but no arms? Creepy as fuck. And don't tell me most animals have 4 legs and no arms. I know that. But fuck birds.
I have a phobia of buffets where a server puts food on your plate as oppose to you grabbing it yourself.
Nothing else food related bothers me, il eat something that I've dropped on the floor for example. It's compltely unexplainable and I don't understand it at all. When my girlfriend gets a "choose your own salad" at the super market I have to wait a couple of aisles over.
Nothing else food related bothers me, il eat something that I've dropped on the floor for example. It's compltely unexplainable and I don't understand it at all. When my girlfriend gets a "choose your own salad" at the super market I have to wait a couple of aisles over.
Claustrophobia in general. Buried alive. Sewage line getting crossed with the water in line.
And MRIs are a bitch.
And MRIs are a bitch.
Being trapped in a really tight area, especially if it's what ends up killing me. I've been a bigger guy for almost 2 decades and I've had a thing with claustrophobia(more feeling extremely uncomfortable than outright afraid) but something like being stuffed in a really tight space or say, being trapped in a wrecked car and slowly suffocating or struggling to move or breathe is terrifying to me.
Also I have a HUGE fear of having my hands mangled or destroyed in some other way. Before going into IT I was in Medicine, so I've seen the horrible ways the body can be destroyed, and how easily that sort of damage can occur, so it always terrifies me when I have any sort of close call injuring myself in that sort of way.
Also I have a HUGE fear of having my hands mangled or destroyed in some other way. Before going into IT I was in Medicine, so I've seen the horrible ways the body can be destroyed, and how easily that sort of damage can occur, so it always terrifies me when I have any sort of close call injuring myself in that sort of way.
I have an intense phobia of balloons. It's something I've had since I was a child, and it's never really gotten much better over time. It doesn't crop up enough it to be debilitating, but it's just weird enough and bad enough that I will do things like avoid going to birthday parties or have anxiety attacks when the front of the grocery store blows up balloons to sell for parties and whatnot.
Never really have been able to deduce it. I think it stems from a fear of them popping and the loud noise scaring me, but it isn't really that simple because other things that make sudden loud noises don't really bug me as much. So I've never really understood it.
Never really have been able to deduce it. I think it stems from a fear of them popping and the loud noise scaring me, but it isn't really that simple because other things that make sudden loud noises don't really bug me as much. So I've never really understood it.
My whole life, the same fear: Someone is going to break in to my home, tape up my mouth to keep me quiet, not knowing I can't breathe through my nose, I'll choke and die, all the while knowing it was my destiny to die like this.
Bridges specifically over a large body of water. I am terrified to drive over them.
Also the Chucky doll. I cannot look at a picture of it without getting creeped out and constantly looking behind me.
Also the Chucky doll. I cannot look at a picture of it without getting creeped out and constantly looking behind me.
Nothing. Which is probably weird. I've had multiple guns shoved in my face, problems with drug addiction, had surgery that was caused by something potentially life ending, gotten in a really terrible car accident and I'm still here. I don't have any real fears at this point until I either have kids or get married or something.
Consuming tomatos.
I'm not joking, it's been a lifelong thing and as recently as last month I threw away an entire pizza I had delivered that accidentally had sauce on it. The dominos refunded me the cost of course but it's just as humiliating a thing for me to do as an adult as it was when I was 6 at someone's birthday party.
Truly irrational fears can be crippling in that sort of way. It's the difference between true phobia and someone who says they're phobic but is just being hyperbolic.
I'm not joking, it's been a lifelong thing and as recently as last month I threw away an entire pizza I had delivered that accidentally had sauce on it. The dominos refunded me the cost of course but it's just as humiliating a thing for me to do as an adult as it was when I was 6 at someone's birthday party.
Truly irrational fears can be crippling in that sort of way. It's the difference between true phobia and someone who says they're phobic but is just being hyperbolic.
I'm afraid of mice because they're disgusting. They have all sorts of germs, they chew things up in your home and shit everywhere. There's something about their little feet and beady eyes that just grosses me out. Really, just every physical feature of mice/rats makes me feel icky. The idea of one crawling over my body freaks me out and I hate the idea of them being in my home, especially when they make noise in the walls.
I realize you're talking about domesticated mice as pets but honestly they still make me uncomfortable even if they're not the same as pests.
yeah I mean, obviously I wouldn't touch a wild mouse/rat and as I live in a pretty old house I have to battle with mice constantly in the winter when they come in from outside. Likewise I could understand a fear of snakes from someone in a place that actually has venomous snakes and not harmless docile garter and grass snakes.
I don't think of that kind of stuff as irrational fear. I'm definitely thinking more along the lines of the gross-out response you describe. It's funny how an animal that to me just registers on the same level as a hamster, chipmunk, rabbit or other small mammal to me could induce in others the kind of reaction I feel towards centipedes.
Bird behaviour is more disturbing than having wings for arms. They way they move is very un-mammalian, reminds me of quick lizards - which makes sense given their descent from dinos.
Afraid of using a public water fountain and someone behind me pushing my head down and that metal guard smashing in my teeth. Not so much now that I'm older and can just avoid them, but in school it was something I thought about alot.
I have a pretty debilitating fear of electric shocks. Not just the ones that could kill you, but simple static shocks that you might get if you were to rub your feet on some carpet then touch something electric. It's made me do stuff like
1) Wrap my hand in my sleeve so I don't have to touch a metallic door handle
2) Not hold onto the railings of an escalator (despite it clearly not being a good idea) because I had got a shock from it before
3) Ask someone I'm with to open a door for me because it had a metallic handle
4) Simply not buy stuff I wanted because it was on a metal shelving unit that I would touch if I went near it
It's not irrational in the sense that it can't happen (though it rarely does), but I'd say it's irrational in the sense that a shock like that should not be something that affects my behaviour in such a big way.
1) Wrap my hand in my sleeve so I don't have to touch a metallic door handle
2) Not hold onto the railings of an escalator (despite it clearly not being a good idea) because I had got a shock from it before
3) Ask someone I'm with to open a door for me because it had a metallic handle
4) Simply not buy stuff I wanted because it was on a metal shelving unit that I would touch if I went near it
It's not irrational in the sense that it can't happen (though it rarely does), but I'd say it's irrational in the sense that a shock like that should not be something that affects my behaviour in such a big way.
Ants. I really do not like ants. I had an ant infestation in my apartment a few years back that took me by surprise. I was standing in the kitchen at night, lights off, having a snack. I had a tickle on my foot and reached down to scratch it without thinking much of it, but it came back pretty quick. I looked a bit closer and noticed a line of ants crawling over my (bare) foot. I freaaaaked out and ran away.
Came back shortly later and my entire kitchen was absolutely crawling with ants. I ended up spraying a bunch of cleaner all over the floor to try and kill them and wiped them up with some paper towels. It sort of worked and I was able to get some sleep at least, but had to come back with actual poison the next day.
Bad times
Came back shortly later and my entire kitchen was absolutely crawling with ants. I ended up spraying a bunch of cleaner all over the floor to try and kill them and wiped them up with some paper towels. It sort of worked and I was able to get some sleep at least, but had to come back with actual poison the next day.
Bad times
A rather violent landing in 2015 generated an irrational fear of flying on me. I avoided planes for as long as I could after that event, which probably deepened my phobia.
I gathered as many information (from incident / accident statistics to talks with professional pilots) as I could, and I try to be as rational as possible on this issue, but as of now I have only been able to somewhat manage it mildly through the use of medication.
I am even on the waiting list for a course aimed for people with fear of returning offered by the flag airline of my country (AerolĂneas Argentinas).
Also, a moderate version of this, mainly through dreams/nightmares:
I gathered as many information (from incident / accident statistics to talks with professional pilots) as I could, and I try to be as rational as possible on this issue, but as of now I have only been able to somewhat manage it mildly through the use of medication.
I am even on the waiting list for a course aimed for people with fear of returning offered by the flag airline of my country (AerolĂneas Argentinas).
Also, a moderate version of this, mainly through dreams/nightmares:
This has roots on a real-life experience I lived through when the brakes of my old muscle car (https://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/news/hma_5_15_14) failed during a controlled-environment drag race.
Dentist?
Thats the only one i can think of, like they are there to help you with your teeth right?
Ueeergghh, ever since i was 11yrs old and had a tooth extracted ( i had a bit of toothache I didn't think it was that bad, but he removed the whole thing anyway).
oddly enough he was not a dentist for much longer after that, I should point out that I think I had 2 injections to numb and when he pulled it out it still bloody hurt even tough promised it wouldn't, I just had tears run down my eye and not cos I was sad but the pure pain of the tooth being yanked out.
Also have you ever seen the tools they have? Almost feels like Victorian age medicine.
Thats the only one i can think of, like they are there to help you with your teeth right?
Ueeergghh, ever since i was 11yrs old and had a tooth extracted ( i had a bit of toothache I didn't think it was that bad, but he removed the whole thing anyway).
oddly enough he was not a dentist for much longer after that, I should point out that I think I had 2 injections to numb and when he pulled it out it still bloody hurt even tough promised it wouldn't, I just had tears run down my eye and not cos I was sad but the pure pain of the tooth being yanked out.
Also have you ever seen the tools they have? Almost feels like Victorian age medicine.
Zombies. I had a nightmare two nights ago about zombies. Not only were they fast af, the duckers could parkour.
Luckily i woke up before they caught me.
Luckily i woke up before they caught me.
Death. I mean, everyone dies, so why waste any mental energy worrying about it? But yet, I have these times where I'm consumed by it and I really feel like it effects my happiness worrying about myself or other people dying. I just wish I was brought up in a culture with a more positive outlook on death.
Also heights. I'm not good in tall buildings, airplanes, anywhere really where the ground is more than say 10 feet below me.
Also heights. I'm not good in tall buildings, airplanes, anywhere really where the ground is more than say 10 feet below me.
I suffer from Trypophobia, which is a fear of, more or less, cluster or design of closely placed holes.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypophobia
It was caused by a photoshop, that i didnt know was a photoshop, of a human infected with parasites that were breaking through tje skin and its bothered me ever since.
Also heights, but that doesnt cause outright disgust/revulsion where as trypophobia does on top of the fear
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypophobia
It was caused by a photoshop, that i didnt know was a photoshop, of a human infected with parasites that were breaking through tje skin and its bothered me ever since.
Also heights, but that doesnt cause outright disgust/revulsion where as trypophobia does on top of the fear
Being chased up stairs. As a little kid when my friends and I would be running round the house, roughhousing, I'd be seized by a genuine terror whenever it came to running up the stairs with someone behind me. It's never gone away.
It's a terror like no other, and the only other instance that has produced a similar level of terror was being in a car accident.
It's a terror like no other, and the only other instance that has produced a similar level of terror was being in a car accident.