Your worst fears...

[mijan]

So I've been stuck on an odd train of thought lately... phobias.  Why am I mentally stuck on phobias right now?  Well, I've been wrestling with my own lately.  Severely.  Because I'm probably going to have to face up to it again very soon, and I don't know if I can handle it.

What is it that causes a perfectly rational, normally brave, confident person, who doesn't have any normal fears (heights, guns, bombs, snakes, rats, serial killers, clowns under the bed), to turn into a shaking, crying, screaming, frantic panic over some minor thing?  Or is it just me?  I think I surprised a couple of people the other day when I expressed my own phobia.  I guess they thought nothing scared me.  So, I got to wondering, what are other people scared of?

I don't mean normal fears, or things that make you a bit uncomfortable.  You might be a bit scared of heights, and you might not want to jump off the high-dive at the local swimming pool, but you don't collapse into hysterics because you need to climb a three-step ladder, so it's not a debilitating phobia.  See what I mean? Picture Bart Simpson: "Can't sleep. Clowns will eat me. Can't sleep, clowns will kill me." Or something like that.

I've turned off ISP logging.  Feel free to post anonymously if you don't want people to know what personally scares the shit out of you, or if you want the liberating experience of "coming out of the closet" with your phobia, you can post while logged in.  I'd really like to know what scares people, and how they cope with it.  So, let the group-therapy session begin...

~P

Comments

[miss-charmed.livejournal.com]

Blood. I get dizzy everytime i see blood on other people... But my own blood's fine, i'm actually fascinated by it. Weird. :\

[knotty-stuff.livejournal.com]

Earwigs. Hate 'em.

*shudders*

Can cope with spiders 'n' scorpions 'n' snakes, but those li'l bugs with pincers on their rear ends... ick.

[nymphadora17.livejournal.com]

The thing that I fear most? Loosing one of my best friends (Them being hurt or something happening between us that would destroy our friendship). They're my family and we (there's 8 of us) do everything together. I know it sounds sappy, and like anyone would fear that anyway, but it is truely what terrifies me the most. I guess my boggart would be similar to Mrs. Weasleys, lol. I can handel other things; insects, heights, darkness, horror movies etc. just fine.

Oh and Severus Snape dying scares me too, lol.

Lauren xxx

PS. Have yet to review latest chapter, sorry, I will, things have just been kind of hectic lately. 'twas fantastic though!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Ick... I'll agree... earwigs are some of the most disgusting insects I've ever encountered. They used to be a problem where my grandparents lived in Nova Scotia, and everyone in the area had to use all sorts of stuff to keep them out of the houses. Gross.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess we can't let Snape die then. *grins* And losing loved ones is a very valid fear.

Don't worry about reviews. I'm just glad you enjoyed it.

[(Anonymous)]

Out of curiosity, what's your biggest fear?

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Had to ask that, huh? See, I'm still not completely comfortable with it, and I'm rather embarrassed... which is one of the reasons I set up for anonymous posting... so people who aren't comfortable completely can still talk about it.

[sparklychibi.livejournal.com]

Windows. Dark windows at night when I'm in a lighted house. I can't go past them. I stand there for minutes on end and then ruun past as fast as possible. My room has a huge window seat, so I have to start pulling down the shades at sunset.

It used to be that I was afraid that... well, this sounds super paranoid, but that someone would shoot me through the window. But now I'm just scared that someone will be standing there watching me. And I won't be able to see them.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I used to have a somewhat milder fear that was similar. That someone would start shooting into my house at night, through the window. I'd play the thought through my head, but it would't cause me to freeze up or anything. But I can definitely understand.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

Deep water and drowning. Curiously enough, I'm not afraid that I could drown, but I've always been rather hysterical that someone else could in front of me. I've forbidden my family and friends to lean over the sea whenever we're in a boat or ship, because I can't stand it. I remember pulling my sister back countless times when we were children, because I've always been afraid that she would fall in the water and drown.

[zanai.livejournal.com]

Hm... my main phobia is needles. The thing with needle and blood phobias *which i just found out the other day* is that people with them dont have panic attacks when they see them, they faint. Well, at the vet's the other day, they brought in two needles to give to my cat, and just the site of them made me almost collapse. I got really lightheaded and had to face the corner.

Another big fear of mine is the thought of Nothingness. Voids, Not Being after you die, etc, scare the SHIT out of me *shudder* and i freeze up and cant breath and my heart starts beating real erratically. i just cant think about it and remain sane.

Thirdly is oceans and other large things of water. I won't go in above my waist in the ocean, and wont go in where can't touch in pools. I hate water, i have had SO many bad experiences with it that i freak out. I guess though, its really a phobia of drowning, which goes hand in hand with my last fear, of being buried alive. Suffocating in general has to be the worst way to die ever *eep*

and Mijan, i REALLY want to know what your phobia is! it cant be THAT embarrassing.

--Zan

P.S. i read all of eclipse and it ruled supremely!!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Wow... that's different. Sounds a bit like my grandmother... very tough lady, but when my mother would go fishing with her dad, grandmere would get nervous: "What if you fall in?!?" And my mother, who could swim very well, would say, "I'll get wet!" But my grandmere couldn't stop being very nervous about it.

[zanai.livejournal.com]

forgot heights too. but not HUGE heights, just the little ones. if its more than about 4 stories up, its not scary anymore, but little things, like ladders and small ledges scare me too.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

See, this is why I can understand your Draco being afraid of the water. ;))

[mijan.livejournal.com]

*grins* Poor Draco. I torment him so badly.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. You'd better make Harry compensate him for your torture! ;))

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Damn... that last chapter of Eclipse was probably a fair bit of torment for you then. Draco's fear of the water, Harry's milder fear of needles... and then there are Draco's visions from Voldemort where I have him essentially stuck in a void where he can't see, can't breathe, and can't even tell if he has a body.

Oh, and don't rush to judgement about saying that needle-phobias don't cause true panic-attacks. That's my big phobia, and trust me, I've had panic attacks... but I've only passed out once, and that was a few minutes after the fact.

[(Anonymous)]

Me dying. It doesn't bother me usually unless something happens to me or someone close to me.

Last night, I had told my mother about a lump in my breast and her insistance that I see a doctor ASAP scared me into thinking the worst. I think about those I would leave behind and how gutted they would be, it pains me to uncontrollable tears.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

So you could look into the grand canyon, but if you had to climb onto a tabletop, or up a ladder, it would scare you?

[zanai.livejournal.com]

exactly. luckily, i was to into the story to really think about it *shudder*

[zanai.livejournal.com]

uh huh. i know better than to get too close to the edge of tall things, and i feel much more detached from really high things, but i hate short heights.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Well, most people are at least a bit scared of dying, especially when faced with a chance that they could. I think I'm one of the few freakish people who isn't actually scared of death. If you've got a lump in your breast, the best thing to do is to see a doctor and get it removed sooner rather than later. 90% chance or better that it's harmless anyway (just a benign cyst), and even if it's not, if they remove it while it's small, and if you're young and healthy, the chances are very good that it'll never come back. I wish I could do more to assure you, but I wish you luck, and will keep you in my thoughts (and I don't need to know who you are to say a prayer for you).

[mijan.livejournal.com]

LOL. *gives chocolate* Didn't mean to torment you then. But I'm glad you were into the story.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Of course! But I torment both of my boys.

[jazzyjello.livejournal.com]

Blood. Terrified of blood. Just the sight of just a little blood - even if I know it's not really blood and it's ketchup or something - makes me get all shaky and sick.

I'm scared of getting old. Of ending up all alone.

Bridges. Snakes.