Ridiculous Phobias

I have had, until quite recently, a debilitatingly irrational fear of end-of-the-world scenarios. Remember back in '82 when there was a planetary alignment, and some crackpots said that this would cause a major disturbance on the earth's surface? This left me paralyzed and manic for weeks. Does Harmonic Convergence ring a bell? It completely ruined my summer - on the morning of August 17, 1987 I was lying on the floor of my bedroom in the fetal position. Y2K? I'm on meds and go to therapy now, thanks for wondering.

After I was left home alone during a particular bad one, I had a problem with thunderstorms for almost a year. It was downright pathetic. Even a partly cloudy winter day would send my stomach churning. Likewise with hurricanes.

I've also had some pre-pubescent obsessive-compulsive episodes surrounding my loathing of tattoos and the slovely state of my ma's Cadillac. Don't know if that counts.

I'm also mildly hypochondriacal, though for all my worrying about disease, I never doubt my doctor's diagnosis.

I fear change. Or at least 1p and 2p pieces.

Today, I have a new, very rational fear. I was ACTUALLY ON THIS PLANE when it caught fire yesterday evening. Not particularly looking forward to the trip home to London.

Glad you're okay, Mädchen.

my friend's sister's friend has a fear of ripped-off buttons (?!)

I'm pretty sure I suffer from Ergophobia

(I think people w/Algophobia are insane...what an irrational fear)

-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), September 5th, 2001.

I was just noting the date of this post, and its very strange foreshadowing...

2.anything or anyone touching my nose. ever. this comes from never having had a nosebleed i think. my brother used to have bunches, and they always sorta freaked me out. so i live in fear of something causing a red river to pour from my virgin nostrils.

I've about 15 years of make-up on my face.

I'm relatively afraid of Australians

-- hans (hansgree...) (webmail), September 5th, 2001.

Boo! And Ally, moo!

cool

A guy at work has a phobia of ga5 giants, specifically the concept of falling toward one and passing through. A mention of Jupiter or Saturn gets him anxious.

What about falling through Uranus?

I know TWO people who have a phobia of mayonnaise.

(xposts to darragh - in this instance I am happy to be judged)

have a good friend with the fear of visual fields/planes of dots/polka dots... so weird.

an exgirlfriend of mine was deathly afraid of movie theaters ... panic attacks every time.

I have a fear of corks

or like a fear of uncorking things

corks

mis-read that...

A guy at work has a phobia of ga5 giants, specifically the concept of falling toward one and passing through. A mention of Jupiter or Saturn gets him anxious.

― fit and working again, Monday, 29 March 2010 18:15 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

What about falling through Uranus?

― black jeans stained by (snoball), Monday, 29 March 2010 18:19 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Snoball's been waiting for this exact moment for like 2 years

A search shows that myself and others have been using the Uranus joke fairly regularly.

but like...with that setup...it's like a perfect Giant Red Spot of snoballness

xpost: You mean you didn't just pull it out of, well, you know?

Neptune's Pantry?

I have the Phone Phear as well, and I answer them for a living.

Also, up until the age of, oh, 22: people. Not specific ones, just people generally. Buckets of fun.

not scared of, but i really dislike to the point of anger, gingerbread men/women.

^^^ I hate them to! Also generally any kind of "plate of sausage-mash-peas arranged in a smiley face" nonsense.

The Cookie Puss is not for you

just GIS'ed that and... no no no no no no that's really really wrong - eat food, don't play with it, don't make it into smiley faces or animals or any of that jazz. Really I'll stop now rather than de-rail this thread, but my last word on this is that even people who do the Oreo twist-lick-dunk thing make me angry - STOP messing about and eat. the. damn. biscuit.

you mean cookie.

the girl on one of the Real Worlds (San Diego) who was afraid of large ships. not necessarily being on one even, just seeing them out the window. looming.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Monday, March 29, 2010 11:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

actually this does sound pretty scary - the next 9/11??

Snoball's been waiting for this exact moment for like 2 years

― You are feisty, sexy, impatient, and impossible to bed, like Christ (acoleuthic), Tuesday, March 30, 2010 3:47 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

it is a little known fact that ILX is actually a giant supercomputer set up by the late Douglas Adam's to create the conditions necessary for the world's most perfect uranus joke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qU404v1Og

snoball, you must REALLY hate bento.

It should be pointed out that what makes a phobia a phobia is its irrationality. If it were a rational fear, it couldn't be categorized as a phobia.

This obv would include a few erstwhile 'rational fears' taken to irrational lengths, such as a fear of heights and falling, which only becomes a phobia when it becomes pervasive and debilitating.

Anyway, to the person experiencing a phobia it is not and never could be considered "silly", and to someone not similarly afflicted it will always seem, not to put too fine a point on it, batshit crazy.

bees. mostly cuz up until this summer, I'd never been stung. and then it happened...on my head. ow.

I have a fear of toothpaste, and I always have. I can't even watch someone on TV use it, let alone use it myself. I don't think I've used it since I was eight or nine years old. FWIW I never have any cavities (I use fluoride mouthwash), but my teeth are quite yellow.

I also have a fear of shaving cream. Fortunately, as a woman, I never have a need to interact with it.

Basically any white, fluffy, foamy thing makes me uneasy at best.

You don't brush your teeth at all?? What about gel toothpaste?

do you brush your teeth with butter and clay like that family on wife swap from iowa who ate raw chicken and unpasteurized milk?

I brush my teeth w/baking soda.

I have this utterly daft fear of something awful happening to my, uh, balls. Like slamming 'em in the door or having some Hell's Angel stomp on them or something equally ludicrous. I'm constantly compelled to keep imagining such a scenario just to make myself shiver, and dwell on it and shiver again.

Also, I can't stand frogs or toads. No idea where or when this phobia originated, since I used to play with 'em same as any other 8 y/o.

I can't be touched on the side of my stomach. I think it's more than ticklishness, it's somethign else.

It's not a total phobia or something, but I'm kinda disturbed by things that are bigger than they should be. Not just giant insects or stuff like that, but also ordinary everyday objects. Like once I bought a bag of this bun type of bread I like, and when I opened it the buns in it were clearly bigger than they normally are, and it took me a while before I could make myself eat them. But I did manage to do that, so I don't think it's a full phobia or anything.

I know this is totally ridiculous and I have no idea where it comes from, but what can you do...

u are shrinking

xp If I had that phobia I'd be scared every time I took a leak...

do you have an unusually large toilet, snoball?

It's big enough for someone to use as a bath.

i've got a finger-crushed-in-a-gym machine phobia, which is sorta hard 'cuz i'm at the gym quite a bit.

My most irrational phobia is the logo-title-graphics that appear before movies. I haven't figured out exactly why this happens, but many of them cause me to receive an immediate sense of dread, especially if I'm by myself. The worst ones are Universal, Columbia, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, and 20th Century Fox (in approximate order). The 80's Tri-Star one with the horse used to get to me the most when I was little. And the blue Disney one. The phobia is mostly specific to graphics intended for movies, since the more 2D looking images on TV don't bother me as much. More simplistic graphics that appear prior to indie-films rarely bother me. They get worse when they're intended to appear larger and more 3D. If I'm watching Netflix alone, I have to fast-forward to about 0:00:55, or start the DVD at Chapter 2 and rewind to about this point. If I'm prepared for it, I can simply cover my eyes and brace myself. But if they arrive out of nowhere (which happens often in Youtube ads and elsewhere in various online ads) I'll often scream or gasp, slam shut my laptop, or I might even run out of the room I'm in.

Paramount's no picnic either.

I went through a phase where I was really, really afraid of Enya's "Orinoco Flow." I think one night I stayed up too late and saw the video for it very tired, and then it showed up in my dreams. Something about the weird, jerky motion and the staccato repetitiveness of the song itself.

"Sock puppets!"

i had a button phobia as a kid. clear buttons made me dry retch. don't even ask me why

"Sock puppets!"

― Public Brooding Closet (cryptosicko), Monday, April 8, 2013 12:33 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

K (14 months) is terrified of and screams at certain of the sock puppets in baby einstein while loving others. I can't figure out why the scary ones are scary, e.g. rooster is terrifying, but lizard is not.

I think one night I stayed up too late and saw the video for it very tired, and then it showed up in my dreams.

Is this something that can happen? Like if you dream about something, can a phobia form or grow out of it?

billstevejm I am legit curious what you think of Justice's "DVNO" video and whether or not that's ok for you since it's a music video

It slightly gets to me, but not as bad. In one part, it looks like they're copying the intro from 80's HBO which is a little intense but manageable. I watched most of it and didn't really lose my shit at all.

Most of the graphics I really hate are made to look enormous with clouds n stuff...

i have kosmemophobia (fear of jewelry). i just found out that there was a word for it. it's not really fear based for me - it's more a revulsion thing (and not all jewelry is as revolting as others, there's sort of tiers of disgust), though the idea of having a metal ring on one of my fingers is anxiety provoking.

weird thing - my gf's ex has the same thing.

there's a famous person who has it lol

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/03/dale-earnhardt-jr-amy-jewelry-phobia-explains-why-kosmemophobia-nascar