Irrational Fears

[Back]

Ok, inspired by the “Silly Things We Do”*thread, I thought I’d start this.

What kind of irrational fears do you have?

When I am backing out of a parking space I have this fear that someone is not looking after their kid/baby who might be crawling around behind my car!

Another one I have sometimes is when a plane or some kind of arial craft is overhead. I cringe sometimes thinking that someone on the craft, or the craft itself, may drop a bolt or something metallic that could be headed directly to my cranium.

Stupid stuff, I know.

[ELO]

I am TERRIFIED of insects, fish, and I have nightmares about being late to work.

[Alfster]

Snakes make me run very very fast

[HarmNone]

Spiders. Spiders want to kill me. I'm sure of it. They're plotting as we speak.

[Artha]

Spiders. Spiders want to kill me. I'm sure of it. They're plotting as we speak.
The other night I was coming home from my girlfriend's house at about 11 o'clock. Out of the corner of my eye, I see what I think is a moth flying around my window. As I get out of her neighborhood, I see it again and think that it's pretty weird. As I'm driving, I pass a streetlight and it turns out this gigantic flipping spider's been about 4 inches away from my head (without me really noticing) for a good 5 minutes.

It died shortly thereafter :D

[HarmNone]

Gah! Car in ditch! Me out of car running for my life! Spiders are the devil!

[mgoddess]

Gah! Car in ditch! Me out of car running for my life! Spiders are the devil!

:yeahthat:

*shudder*

(I procured arachnaphobia about three years ago when I was doing a clean out of my bedroom....a very big, brown, long, thick-legged, hairy spider decided to sit in the corner, between the carpet and the base-board. It had me sitting up on the bed, feet curled under me, wimpering. My husband and I had to get one of our roommates to come in and smoosh the thing to pieces (I was terrified it was going to come running and jumping on my face if I came to try and kill it...it ended up trying to run toward our roommate right before it got smooshed). Ever since then, any spider I see get's screamed at, and almost promptly squished. I've lately started being able to leave them be...as long as I'm leaving their proximity in a short amount of time.)

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Heh, funny we talk about spiders..

I hate them.

I in my room yesterday, on the computer, when I look up because my cat is litterally jumping up the wall. What is it? A SPIDER crawling VERY fast all over the walls. So then it goes behind a picture WAY up on the wall so I decide to just wait until Mike gets home to take care of it.

Mike gets home and I ask him to PLEASE find and kill this spider. What does he do? He smacks the painting and the spider pops up, I scream and run into the next room. He kills it and throws it away.. so I'm ok now. So then I get my embroidery stuff and am sitting on the bed embroidering napkins, while Mike is on the computer.. the cat is laying next to me, when suddenly he's very interested in something. I look around, trying to figure out what it is, WHEN ON MY KNEE IS ANOTHER FREAKING SPIDER. I started screaming again and flung it off my knee, and ran out of the room after stripping all of my clothing completely off, and shaking out my hair.

I must have looked like a mad woman. I don't know what it is about spiders, but they are so freaking scary.

Also-- I have this weird fear of walking down stairs with an open area in between the steps.. I always think someone is going to reach between them and grab my ankle and make me fall and break my nose.

[Artha]

So then it goes behind a picture WAY up on the wall

Spiders are excellent hiders.
Clockspider, Eater of Worlds (http://dogz.wuffpaws.com/gallery/scarry_spider/clock_legs)
#2 (http://dogz.wuffpaws.com/gallery/scarry_spider/IMG_1773)
#3 (http://dogz.wuffpaws.com/gallery/scarry_spider/IMG_1776)

[Gan]

Irrational Fear:

Someone like Backlash or WarriorBird actually holding a position of authority or public administration in our Federal Government. (ie. Senator or Representative)

I mean come on, we all know it wont happen. But even considering the thought that anything's possible. ::shudder::

[Olanan]

I am an absolute pansy in the area of anything that looks or sounds like a bee or wasp.

I ran into a huge nest of wasps when I was little. (6, 7?)

Later that week there was a hornet nest inside of my mailbox while I was getting the mail for my father. I was stung upwards of 15 times on my hand and arm.

I can't stand them, I freak out if I even THINK I saw one.

[Sean of the Thread]

Snakes make me run very very fast

Snakes make me haul ass as well. Yesterday I went to a dog beach at low tide and climbed up into the mangroves rounding up fiddler crabs for bait when this HUGE ASS SNAKE came bolting at me out of the roots at which point I hauled ass thru the the mangroves like a fucking chainsaw.

I was running so fast that this BIG ASS 80 lb FLUFFY HEADED POODLE decided to give chase and bite me on my fucking ass and all the time my fucking flops were getting stuck in the soft low tide mud which caused me to face plant and cut my finger on a fucking oyster.

All because of a big ass snake.

P.s. I don't really consider fear of snakes irrational by any means.

[Sean of the Thread]

Now for a couple of my irrational fears. I fear that when sitting next to an eighteen wheeler that one of the tires is going to POP/EXPLODE in my face.

I'm paranoid that my kids are sleeping too deep or died in their sleep and frequently check on them and even have checked their pulse.

I'm chicken shit to pull chains on lights or ceiling fans thinking I'm going to get schocked.

[StrayRogue]

I hate spiders. I fear nothing else. Except getting the GF pregnant.

[Jolena]

I've got a phobia of snakes. It doesn't matter how small or large, how poisonous or non-poisonous, I start to hyperventilate. It is due largely to being bit by a copperhead as a child, right on my bum. I normally have to be removed from the area of the snake and breath in a bag for a while to get rid of the hyperventilation as well.

I have a really bad fear of driving near a semi, especially right next to it. Once, when I was living in Oklahoma, I was driving down the highway and saw a corvette get sucked under a semi-truck and it decapitated the man driving. It was horrendous and to this day, I fear that my car or someone else's will get sucked underneath one of the trucks.

I also can't walk down a long, dark hallway or sidewalk for any length of time without seriously worrying that someone will sneak up behind me to grab me. I find myself panicking, sweating, heart-pounding, and my feet picking up pace after just a few minutes, until I am in what I consider a safe, closed in area.

[Olanan]

I can proudly say I don't have not a fear of snakes.

Mention a wasp however...:spaz:

[Back]

Goddamn snakes on a plane.

[TheEschaton]

Someone like Backlash or WarriorBird actually holding a position of authority or public administration in our Federal Government. (ie. Senator or Representative)


Yay, that means I can still become Senator and not have Ganalon freak out. Not like I'd be running for Senator of Texas any time soon though.

Anyways, my thing is this: I hate things with more than four legs. Whether it's just an insect, or a spider, or a flippin' millipede, I hate 'em.

Conversely, I don't mind, and actually like, some things the less legs they have. I don't mind snakes, for example.

My Namibian friend Jona despises chameleons, he says they're from the devil. I think that might be cultural, though.

I'll post some pictures of a spider that freaked me out tomorrow, WHICH WAS LIVING IN MY HOUSE (albeit in Africa, so no one here has to worry about it), and some snakes I saw (black mamba, puff adder). They're on the laptop now.

-TheE-

[DCSL]

I'm not afraid of any animals because I always have the option of fighting them with my hands one way or another.

I do, however, fear disease. The long, slow, helpless death with no enemy within sight is on top of my list of ways not to die. I also fear non-deadly diseases that seriously inconvenience one. I get teased about it, but I've made every last one of my sexual partners get tested for everything I can think of.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

I have an unbearable fear of lightning.. I usually hide it pretty well but if I'm not inside or in a car during a lightning storm, I really, really freak out. I'm not running around screaming, I just get a lot of anxiety and have a hard time breathing, and my mind begins to race. It's weird to explain. I do like Thunder though, go figure.

As for reasoning why I don't like lightning, while I was little I was watching a flag football game my brother was playing in.. it was raining but it was hardly bad enough to stop a game. Then seemingly out of nowhere there was this monstrously loud noise and a flash, and one of the kids got hit by the lightning.. he survived, thankfully, but it was still pretty traumatic to be less than 100 yards away from someone who just got struck.

[Snapp]

Spiders or any other insect with tons of legs. It takes me a good half an hour to work up enough nerve to smash one if I find it on my wall.

[Kainen]

I hate large crowds of people.. I get tunnel vision and I have to remind myself to breathe.

[TheEschaton]

Alright, here are some nasty pictures from Africa.

The first is a picture of a spider. I know there's no proper perspective, but the thing was as large as my hand, and its web was 2 meters (about 6 feet) across, and stung slightly if you touched it. Never found out if it was poisonous though.

The second is a picture of a black mamba, from the car, after its been run over by the car we were in. We weren't gonna get out of the car to take closer pics, just in case.
Edited to add: Can't seem to find the mamba pic.

The third is a picture of a puff adder, after it was bludgeoned to death at a local teacher's trainer college.

They're in a zip, pics too big to be individually attachd.

[Jennaen]

I am totally, irrationally, irrevocably petrified of snakes. I remember almost flipping over the handlebars of my bike as a kid in order to stop before I ran over a garter snake out in the fields. I was afraid it'd latch onto my bicycle, and then me. I also have an irrational fear of running over snakes with a car. I'm afraid that somehow I won't in fact smoosh them, they'll somehow latch onto the undercarriage of the car, and get me when I get out of the car.

I saw another snake right near my house one day when I was a kid. I fetched a hoe and proceeded to chop it into numerous small bits. Mind you, the snake was maybe 6 inches long and a 1/4 inch in diameter. After I was positive it was dead, I checked out my handiwork, and discovered it had a kind of metallic blue belly. I was fascinated and horrified all at once; but still very glad it was in lots of pieces and most certainly dead. I haven't met many snakes as an adult, but you can bet any I have were not afraid of me, being as I rather rapidly moved in the opposite direction.

Spiders rank a close second, but so long as they're not in my direct space, or booking right at me, they're safe. Not that I don't think they should die ASAP, but I have the irrational fear that the spider is gonna jump on me or something if I try to kill it. When I have had to kill a spider, I pretty much smack it with a shoe, drop said shoe like it's on fire, and run like hell.

[Leetahkin]

Now for a couple of my irrational fears. I fear that when sitting next to an eighteen wheeler that one of the tires is going to POP/EXPLODE in my face.

OMG, I did this yesterday while driving on the highway. I am always looking at all the tires I can see, and hauling ass to pass them. I hate it when they look even a little wobbly. But, my fear is the truck busting the tire and causing my car to get sideswiped by it, making me lose control of the car and crash. :(

[Beguiler]

I'm deathy claustrophobic. Enclosed spaces + dark = panic attack.

Had to have a CAT scan, they had to sedate me heavily. Had an MRI, and that was an open one, and I STILL felt itchy the whole hour I was getting it. So, no, I won't accept any invitations to a crawl space or to go caving...

[Drew2]

I share a couple of these irrational fears. I speed up to pass 18 wheelers if I'm driving next to them because, for whatever reason, I feel like they're going to fall over on me or kill me or something. If it even looks remotely like a truck that carries any sort of anything flamable, I put as much distance between me and it as possible. It's weird.

I also have a fear of touching the railings on garage doors. I don't want to elaborate on that.

Occasionally, I'll get a completely irrational fear that someone is about to shoot me through a window (usually at night) or that I'm seconds away from death. This can occur anytime, whether I'm watching TV, reading, or playing on the computer. It's completely crazy but it happens.

I also have a very strong fear of heights.

[Shalla]

I never open the handle of a public door without something in my hand.

If I'm in the subway, I'd rather stand than to sit right in the middle of 2 people.

I don't like people touching my face. Unless to apply make up but I insist they wash their hands with alcohol.

Once I've taken off a shirt that I've worn. Even for an hour. I won't be wearing it again unless it's washed.

Fear of commitment.

[Shalla]

I'm paranoid that my kids are sleeping too deep or died in their sleep and frequently check on them and even have checked their pulse.


Aww ^_^

[Aaysia]

fear of snakes, spiders and creepy crawlies aren't irrational to me.

When it's after midnight and the lights are out I'm absolutely terrified of looking into mirrors, or looking out of windows. I dunno what I'm afraid I might see, but I don't want to take the chance to look. And the longer I think about it, the more I'm convinced someone is watching me *shudder*. During those times I have to distract myself with something til I'm too tired to care or I wouldn't be able to sleep.

[Ben]

I hate deep water, heights, small spaces, spiders and needles

[Ben]

snakes are awesome!

[HarmNone]

Agreed. I have no fear of snakes. They're beautiful creatures.

[Kainen]

You know, other than the fear of large crowds.. I like all other fears and sometimes I think I psyc myself out to make them worse for the adrenaline rush.. especially those alone at night fears.

[Leetahkin]

I hate... needles

:thinking: But you have so many tattoos...

[Ben]

:thinking: But you have so many tattoos...


I mean like huge hospital needles. watching a tube fill up with my own blood makes me wanna puke. tattoo needles dont hurt

[Skeeter]

I have a fear of light bulbs. It started after watching the scene in the original Longest Yard, where the light bulb explodes on the guy.

I refuse to look at the lightbulb when I first turn it on after changing it. Once it's on, I'm fine.

[Gan]

When I was younger, I had an irrational fear of being/walking in front of a car and watching its engine start and the headlights come on (al la Stepen King's Christine).

I guess the only irrational fear I have now is the thought of losing my wife and child in an auto accident.

I hate spiders, but do not fear them. They usually just die unless they're providing a service in my flower beds.

Snakes dont bother me. Venomous ones die rather quickly, non venomous ones I just let them go on with their merry way.

Needles, nah. I like watching having my blood drawn when I donate. The feel of the needle cutting through the dermis (burning sensation) while watching it happen is way cool.

[Augie]

I have a huge fear of lightning. Everytime there's a huge lightning storm, I am usually cowering under the covers. If we drive when there's a nasty lightning storm, I flinch every time. Here's why:

1) When I was three, a lightning bolt hit my grandpa's house, straight through three stories and the basement.
2) I was on a plane that got struck by lightning and took out one engine. Yeah, that made for a fun plane ride the rest of the way home.
3) I was in a truck sitting next to a light pole. The pole got struck by lightning and it would have hit us had the pole not been there.
4) I was driving down the highway in Georgia when lightning struck a street light just as we were passing it.
5) Two of the three front trees of my house were struck by lightning.

Yes...I am convinced I am a walking lightning bolt. If I go out and it's raining, I'll jokingly grab someone's arm to make sure I am grounded.

[FinallyDomesticated]

I guess my greatest fear is screwing up parenting. Am I being a good parent? Am I setting a good example? Am I teaching them the lessons they'll need to survive and be good people?

Situations where I have no control frighten me, as well. Its usually fun or good afterwards, but the moment I realize I have no control over the situation just freaks me out. I hate that feeling of being left to the mercy of another person or thing.

[Gan]

I have a huge fear of lightning. Everytime there's a huge lightning storm, I am usually cowering under the covers. If we drive when there's a nasty lightning storm, I flinch every time. Here's why:

1) When I was three, a lightning bolt hit my grandpa's house, straight through three stories and the basement.
2) I was on a plane that got struck by lightning and took out one engine. Yeah, that made for a fun plane ride the rest of the way home.
3) I was in a truck sitting next to a light pole. The pole got struck by lightning and it would have hit us had the pole not been there.
4) I was driving down the highway in Georgia when lightning struck a street light just as we were passing it.
5) Two of the three front trees of my house were struck by lightning.

Yes...I am convinced I am a walking lightning bolt. If I go out and it's raining, I'll jokingly grab someone's arm to make sure I am grounded.

I would consider all of those actions, a sign from above.

[zawicki]

I have a huge fear of lightning. Everytime there's a huge lightning storm, I am usually cowering under the covers. If we drive when there's a nasty lightning storm, I flinch every time. Here's why:

1) When I was three, a lightning bolt hit my grandpa's house, straight through three stories and the basement.
2) I was on a plane that got struck by lightning and took out one engine. Yeah, that made for a fun plane ride the rest of the way home.
3) I was in a truck sitting next to a light pole. The pole got struck by lightning and it would have hit us had the pole not been there.
4) I was driving down the highway in Georgia when lightning struck a street light just as we were passing it.
5) Two of the three front trees of my house were struck by lightning.

Yes...I am convinced I am a walking lightning bolt. If I go out and it's raining, I'll jokingly grab someone's arm to make sure I am grounded.


Try not to piss off Zeus any more, mk?

[Kainen]

I mean like huge hospital needles. watching a tube fill up with my own blood makes me wanna puke. tattoo needles dont hurt
I have 14 tattoos and I feel the EXACT same way. I can't even watch anything about them on TV AT ALL.

[Augie]

I mean like huge hospital needles. watching a tube fill up with my own blood makes me wanna puke. tattoo needles dont hurt


I have 14 tattoos and I feel the EXACT same way. I can't even watch anything about them on TV AT ALL.

That's totally how I am. I have 4 tattoos and getting them was no issue for me. But whenever I have to give blood, I can't look at the needle. I can't watch when someone gets a needle in a movie or on tv. Blech! I get queasy sometimes just sitting in a bloodmobile.

[FinallyDomesticated]

I can't watch when someone gets a needle in a movie or on tv. Blech!

Did you happen to see Saw 2 and that shudder, cringe, ugh ugh scene with the needles? I still think its one of the worstest scenes from a movie in recent memory. It haunted me. Ugh.

[Augie]

Did you happen to see Saw 2 and that shudder, cringe, ugh ugh scene with the needles? I still think its one of the worstest scenes from a movie in recent memory. It haunted me. Ugh.

OMG! YES! HOLY SHIT! That would be my worst fear! I was just...ugh. Ugh is the best way to describe that. I wanted to cower under the seats at the movie theatre and couldn't even watch the whole scene.

[Apotheosis]

I have an irrational fear of having my laptop smashed, my cat killed, and my peers being told I am a "homosexual".

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

OMG! YES! HOLY SHIT! That would be my worst fear! I was just...ugh. Ugh is the best way to describe that. I wanted to cower under the seats at the movie theatre and couldn't even watch the whole scene.

I'm typically that way for any scary movie.. I can't take them, heh! The only "scary" movie that I watched that didn't scare me was "The Ring" and only because I lived like 20 minutes away from where it was filmed (at least where the well in the movie is). So I guess I have a fear of scary movies, haha!

[Celephais]

"No fear, no distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide."

About the only thing I can think of that I actually "fear" is a hard-drive failure...

and loss of a loved one, but that's hardly "irrational" and I don't find myself ever actually thinking about that.

[StrayRogue]

Oh god yes. I live in daily dread at the thought of losing my hard drive.

[Ilvane]

I know know if this counts as irrational, but I do have a fear of losing any more of my family any time soon.

Angela

[Artha]

I think I would honestly cry if I lost my hard drive.

[StrayRogue]

Ditto.

[TheEschaton]

I would declare a day of mourning, at least, over my hard drive.


-TheE-

[CrystalTears]

Spiders - Wanna see me take a really quick shower? Have one walking along on their web above my head. Gah!

Closed in spaces - I'm so claustrophobic it's not even healthy. I don't like to have my arms AND legs bound (yes I suck as a sub). I can't have my blankets tucked in because I need the freedom to toss my foot out in the middle of the night. Crowds?! Forget about it. Doomed.

Death of a loved one - The closest person to me was my great-grandmother, and I wasn't that close to her so her loss wasn't hard for me. The thought of my husband, my grandparents, my mother, omg my cat dying makes my eyes water instantly.

Getting murdered - Yep, my fear is that I'll die by murder. Not by disease, old age, or accident, I'm actually not really afraid of death, per say. But because some psycho came up to me and shot/stabbed me to death? Ugh. I have weekly nightmares of such a thing happening to me.

[TheEschaton]

I do have an irrational fear that someone's gonna burst in the room Matrix style, looking for me, and I'm gonna have to beat a hasty retreat.

Some would consider this paranoid schizophrenia, I call it the opportunity for a fun game (cf. the thread on weird things we do).

-TheE-

[Drew2]

I lost my hard drive. It wasn't so bad.

[Stunseed]

My fear is of people fucking with my eyes. I don't even do the glacoma tests for my glasses because of it, it's horrible. I could never wear contacts at the though of my fingers that close to my eye.

Even harnessed to a forklift, I have a fear of heights, only while at work. I've stood atop Mt. Okemo in Vermont and never even blinked, but doing sign maintence is difficult for me.

[Chelle]

I have a fear of driving. Period. I like to avoid it when at all possible.

I am deathly afraid of rats, mice, and spiders. I adore snakes.

I HATE large crowds and speaking in front of a large group of people.

[Sean of the Thread]

I lost my hard drive. It wasn't so bad.
All 100 megs of your E-Machine drive?

[Asha]

All the air in the world running out.
Whenever I wake up (morning or not) the first breath I take I gulp incase I need to.
Had that fear since I saw it happen in some cartoon back when I was a baby.

[Jenisi]

When I was younger I had a severe ... crazy phobia of thunderstorms. I was petrified a tornado was going to hit my house. Not sure where it came from but it was terrible. I would hide in the center house closet, with a helmet on, 3 fans in the hallway to help drown out the noise, i'd move the TV into the hallway so I could peak out and look at the radar when I got brave enough and I'd cover myself in pillows/blankets. Yeah, a little crazy. I used to watch the weather channel CONSTANTLY to see if storms were coming. It's not nearly as bad as it used to be, I started notcing I was getting better around 18ish. I still freak out (turn bright red and sweat heat to toe) if there is a tornado warning, but not during a normal thunderstorm. It's a lot better now that I'm out of the midwest.

[Shari]

Strangely, I have zero fear of snakes. My mom and my brother own ball pythons, maybe that's why.

However, I am deathly afraid of needles. And it isn't the pain, I mean hell...my menstral cramps are 10x worse. It has to be psychological. Its the fact that something foreign forcing its way through my flesh that far.

Hate spiders. Small ones I can deal with, but if its diameter is bigger than a half-dollar...I'm busting out the blowtorch.

Any large bodies of water that I can't see in. I'm a city girl. It takes me years to get used to a lake if I can't see into the water, and I wont go in past my waist in the ocean if I can't see in it. <3 Hawaii and Florida. Not from a fear of sharks, but that a dead body is going to rise to the surface right next to me. Nutty, huh?

Large crowds of people. I don't mind tight spaces. I'm sure I could crawl into a coffin and be fine with it. But when masses of people are smooshed in around me I panic. I just want to start shoving people out of my way as I feel like I can't breathe. And if its really bad I start crying, its pathetic.

[Latrinsorm]

Agreed. I have no fear of snakes. They're beautiful creatures.They're not so beautiful at 50 thousand muthafuckin' feet!!!

When I saw the Ring I was afraid of static on TVs for about a week, but I wouldn't call that irrational, I would call that prudently clutching a bottle of holy water. "Guess you broke into the wrong gol-durn bedroom, didncha?" That's what I would have done.

An actual irrational fear is from time to time the sneaking suspicion that everyone in the world besides me is aware of something that I'm not, usually other people that I can't perceive. A corollary to this is the suspicion that I've done this purposefully (sort of) as a coping mechanism after some especially unpleasant event (violent death in the family, for instance). That's happening less and less though, it's been more or less replaced by the "something awful has happened very near me and I missed it" fear.

[Satira]

I am so scared of snakes that when I saw the trailer for Snakes on a Plane in the theater I screamed outloud. I mean, I'm really scared of them.

Also, clowns. They're no good.

[DCSL]

In addition to my boyfriend's fear of zombies, he's got this weird pointing thing going. He starts getting twitchy when he perceives something pointing towards his head and he'll flinch away from it automatically. He says he just envisions whatever it is burrowing into his skull between his eyebrows. We're talkin' even straws in drinks. They cannot be pointing at him. Sometimes I'll be sitting up in bed, reading, and he'll wake up with a scream because the corner of my book is pointing towards his forehead.

[TheEschaton]

Clowns. Fucking Penniwise.

Ugh.

-TheE-

[DCSL]

Ha ha! That's the only Stephen King book I really like. I never got the clown thing. I always thought they were kind of stupid and dopey, but not scary.

[HarmNone]

My irrational fear of spiders is starting to look pretty darned rational in comparison with some things I've read here... :gawk:

[Jolena]

When I was younger I had a severe ... crazy phobia of thunderstorms. I was petrified a tornado was going to hit my house. Not sure where it came from but it was terrible. I would hide in the center house closet, with a helmet on, 3 fans in the hallway to help drown out the noise, i'd move the TV into the hallway so I could peak out and look at the radar when I got brave enough and I'd cover myself in pillows/blankets. Yeah, a little crazy. I used to watch the weather channel CONSTANTLY to see if storms were coming. It's not nearly as bad as it used to be, I started notcing I was getting better around 18ish. I still freak out (turn bright red and sweat heat to toe) if there is a tornado warning, but not during a normal thunderstorm. It's a lot better now that I'm out of the midwest.

This is ironic, as I'm more afraid of thunderstorms with thunder (don't mind lightning, just really hate thunder due to the noise) than I am with tornadoes. Living in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma the majority of my life, I dealt with tornadoes on a semi-regular basis. When I was pregnant with my daughter, the really huge F5 tornado in OKC hit and I was at home alone. The wind from that tornado while it ripped through Moore (a suburb of OKC about 30 miles away from where I lived in Norman) bent over my baby tree in my front yard, and I sat in my bedroom watching tv without a quiver of fear. I ran on foot from a tornado when I was 5 while living in Kansas as well. I hid in a ditch on our property near a state lake in Oklahoma when another really large tornado hit Norman, and felt the wind from it tugging at the blankets and mattresses we had covering our bodies while we lay in the mud and waited. I have been in so many other tornados that its just numbed me to it.

That being said, I'd rather deal with a tornado any day than to deal with a volcano, hurricane, or earthquake.

[Back]

Wizard of Oz Syndrome?

[Jolena]

Heh! When the Murray Federal building in OKC got bombed, I was living in Norman, and the aftershocks of that explosion shook the floor of the store that I was in. I happened to be in the electronics department, where there are tons of tv's and every one of them was suddenly staticy (sp?) for a moment before exploding into live telecasts of the bombing site. While the floor was shaking though, and everything else around me for that matter, I was terrified because I thought it might be an earthquake. After I saw it was a bomb, though that is horrible horrible horrible, I felt better knowing it was 'just a bomb' rather than a earthquake. I'll take a tornado anyday, thanks.

[Nilandia]

I have no problem with snakes myself. I used to beg my parents to get a garter snake for me when I was younger.

I used to be terrified of spiders. Even the little, mini ones used to send me tearing out of the room, screaming my head off that one was going to bite me and I'd die or something. These days, I'm not afraid of them, but they're definitely meeting my shoe sole.

Same for the centipedes. They're still seriously "oogy" and I can't really relax when I see one because we get them in our house and I've had one crawl up my arm without knowing what it was. They get smashed, but I'm not afraid.

I remember way back when of being terrified of vampires, to the point where my family was on vacation in North Carolina and I was running through the house we were staying in, absolutely petrified. I even remember asking my mother to show me her teeth just to make sure she wasn't one! Thankfully, I've gotten over that.

However, I do get scared of:

Driving next to a semi and thinking that it'll swerve and pin me against a wall.

Someone breaking into my house to hurt me or my family.

NEEDLES! I used to need at least 6 hospital people to hold me down just for a little bloodwork.

Calling people on the phone. I'm majorly shy.

Ghosts. I'm not sure if I believe in them or not and I know that the vast majority of the reported ones aren't out to hurt you, but I still get the heeby-jeebies. Strangely enough, I love ghost stories. Just not around me.

I read one of those "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books and it had a story of a girl looking out a window and seeing a guy approach the window. I really don't remember how it ended, other than freaking me out something wrong, because ever since then I've had this problem with leaving the blinds up on the doors in the family room that open onto the deck.

Scary movies. Just, no.

Feeling like there's someone right behind me and I just don't know it.

I seriously get freaked out when something scary just jumps out of nowhere. Like those sites that appear normal, but after a bit, they flash a freaky picture like Linda Blair in the Exorcist and play some sort of creepy sound effect. Mess me up...

Every now and again, feeling like one of my guinea pigs has gotten loose somehow and I'm going to step on them.

Probably have more, but those are the major ones.

Gretchen

[TheEschaton]

I just thought of another one. I HATE having my picture taken. Absolutely HATE it. You know why?

When I was a kid, there was this show called "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" on SNICK (Saturday Night Nickelodeon). Normally, the answer to the question is no, but there was one episode about the Native American (?) belief that eyes are the window to your soul. Then, this person had a camera which stole people's souls through their eyes, this person would take their picture and then all their souls would vanish. She destroyed all her friends and families without even realizing she was doing it (she was kind of in a trance), and I believe, in the end, in agony, she took her own picture....the end.

Freaked out, man.

The song the Crystal Ship by the Doors freaks me out, as well the movie The Wall, but those are both drug induced, bad-trip type of freakouts.

-TheE-

[Olanan]

I felt that in Harrah.

I didn't panic, I just stood there like a crazy, and looked up at the sky with teh, "HOLY SHIT" look.

[Drew2]

When I was a kid, there was this show called "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" on SNICK (Saturday Night Nickelodeon).

ROOOFFLLLLL THAT WAS MY FAVORITE.

Secret World of Alex Mac, Are You Afraid of the Dark, All That.

Thems were the days.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

This is ironic, as I'm more afraid of thunderstorms with thunder (don't mind lightning, just really hate thunder due to the noise) than I am with tornadoes. Living in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma the majority of my life, I dealt with tornadoes on a semi-regular basis. When I was pregnant with my daughter, the really huge F5 tornado in OKC hit and I was at home alone. The wind from that tornado while it ripped through Moore (a suburb of OKC about 30 miles away from where I lived in Norman) bent over my baby tree in my front yard, and I sat in my bedroom watching tv without a quiver of fear. I ran on foot from a tornado when I was 5 while living in Kansas as well. I hid in a ditch on our property near a state lake in Oklahoma when another really large tornado hit Norman, and felt the wind from it tugging at the blankets and mattresses we had covering our bodies while we lay in the mud and waited. I have been in so many other tornados that its just numbed me to it.

That being said, I'd rather deal with a tornado any day than to deal with a volcano, hurricane, or earthquake.

I've been in ONE tornado exactly, and I hope to never, ever go through one again. It happened while I was in Texas visiting my sister, and I've never been so terrified my entire life. Growing up primarily either on an Island and then on the west coast in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains, I was used to hurricanes and earthquakes (and a volcano eruption possiblity didn't scare me at all). I've been awake through over 5 earthquakes (God knows how many I slept through), and it's now to the point that I just sit there and watch the ground and think they look cool (after getting in a safe spot or something). Hurricanes were just plain boring.

Going through a tornado again freaks me out because of the greenish-grey haze that happens right before hand. It makes me think of the land just being sick and ill, and then off in the distance you see this massive, whirling cyclone that could rip you apart. So freakin' scary.

My fear of a tornado the most out of natural disasters has kept me from visiting many midwest states for any period of time.. I'm even uncomfortable getting connection flights in some states during certain times of the year. It is kind of funny though, how you have no problem handling what you've grown up with but you fear what you don't know.

[Sean of the Thread]

I'm afraid of midgets who LARP.

[Nilandia]

When I was a kid, there was this show called "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" on SNICK (Saturday Night Nickelodeon). Normally, the answer to the question is no, but there was one episode about the Native American (?) belief that eyes are the window to your soul. Then, this person had a camera which stole people's souls through their eyes, this person would take their picture and then all their souls would vanish. She destroyed all her friends and families without even realizing she was doing it (she was kind of in a trance), and I believe, in the end, in agony, she took her own picture....the end.

Reminds me of this other episode where a guy would suck out people's youth through mirrors when they came to stay in his house and he'd use it for himself. Seriously messed me up at the time.

Gretchen, fellow camera phobe because she's just not photogenic, dangit!

[Jolena]

I felt that in Harrah.

I didn't panic, I just stood there like a crazy, and looked up at the sky with teh, "HOLY SHIT" look.


This was random to me, are you speaking of Harrah, Oklahoma? Or is this totally not about the bombing or tornado rant I've been on?

[Jolena]

I've been in ONE tornado exactly, and I hope to never, ever go through one again. It happened while I was in Texas visiting my sister, and I've never been so terrified my entire life. Growing up primarily either on an Island and then on the west coast in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains, I was used to hurricanes and earthquakes (and a volcano eruption possiblity didn't scare me at all). I've been awake through over 5 earthquakes (God knows how many I slept through), and it's now to the point that I just sit there and watch the ground and think they look cool (after getting in a safe spot or something). Hurricanes were just plain boring.

Going through a tornado again freaks me out because of the greenish-grey haze that happens right before hand. It makes me think of the land just being sick and ill, and then off in the distance you see this massive, whirling cyclone that could rip you apart. So freakin' scary.

My fear of a tornado the most out of natural disasters has kept me from visiting many midwest states for any period of time.. I'm even uncomfortable getting connection flights in some states during certain times of the year. It is kind of funny though, how you have no problem handling what you've grown up with but you fear what you don't know.

The thing that normally freaks people out about tornados is the unpredictable path they can take. Watching one form is pretty neat for me, but as you have said, it probably has a lot to deal with having grown up in 'Tornado Alley' as its commonly called. Everything gets very quiet, and yes the greenish-grey haze of the sky is quite prominent. Then suddenly the wind starts to whip and watching a funnel form from the sky and circle down to the ground is pretty breath-taking. I think what gets to me is that I know how to protect myself against a tornado, and there's warning before it hits. With an earthquake, it just happens and you can't really avoid the earth opening up beneath your feet. My fear of hurricanes is simply that I would hate to drown, suffication is a huge fear of mine.

[Alfster]

The first tornado I encountered was when I was under 3 weeks old, I obviously don't remember it, but my family always talks about it. Two houses down is where my grandma lived and her house was completely leveled and our house had no damage whatsoever.

I've been in at least 5 more big ones since then and they don't scare me. I'm much more likely to hop in the car and drive through the storm than I am to panic in my basement. The last one I was in my friends and I went to the bar after the power went out because there really is nothing else to do.

Ice storms I wont leave the house. Those things suck.

[Jolena]

Yah, tornados will rip every strip of bark from a tree, and the one next to it looks like nothing happened with the exception of a few missing leaves. Its odd how that works.

[Sean of the Thread]

I've been lucky and slept thru a bit of a tornado.. to wake up to total HELL. Also got lucky as it ripped my neighbors roof and sucked out all their shit.. only broke all of our windows and stabbed my step mother non fatally with shards.

Definately one of the most scared bullshit moments of my life.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

The thing that normally freaks people out about tornados is the unpredictable path they can take. Watching one form is pretty neat for me, but as you have said, it probably has a lot to deal with having grown up in 'Tornado Alley' as its commonly called. Everything gets very quiet, and yes the greenish-grey haze of the sky is quite prominent. Then suddenly the wind starts to whip and watching a funnel form from the sky and circle down to the ground is pretty breath-taking. I think what gets to me is that I know how to protect myself against a tornado, and there's warning before it hits. With an earthquake, it just happens and you can't really avoid the earth opening up beneath your feet. My fear of hurricanes is simply that I would hate to drown, suffication is a huge fear of mine.


I've never seen the ground split open (though it HAS happened, just not a wide chasm typically). I lived near a major faultline in the Northwest (Juan de fuca fault line) so if the ground split open, it was always underwater. Mostly, the ground just rolls, like ripples in a pond, and everything buckles (but doesn't break). It's funny though, the reason you hate the earthquakes (not having warning) is why I love them.. there's no ominous feeling or time to dwell on it.. it's there and it's gone!