Fear of ...?

[kellinator]

(thanks to wolvy for this idea)

I have a theory that we're all allowed one totally irrational fear, and mine is snakes.
Damn I hate me some snakes. I'm so phobic I can't even look at photos of them. That's what took me so long to start watching Survivor. Rick can tell you how hysterical I got while he was removing an eight-inch baby snake from my porch.

So, what's your irrational fear?

Comments

"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

At least you're in august company (if Indy hates them, then they must really suck).

I can't stand bugs. Anything with more than four legs gives me the twitches.

cheers,
Phil

Re: "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Heh. Remember when that "Which action movie star are you?" quiz was going around? I got Indy, by virtue of my education and my animosity towards snakes. Rock!! yendi was appropriately jealous.

[girlfromsouth.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Snakes are EVIL EVIL EVIL!! Evolution says that they need to have legs. Yuck!!

[cnfsdyoie.livejournal.com]

heights and roaches.. i guess the fear of heights is really a fear of hitting the ground, so maybe that one's not so irrational ;) as for roaches.. they're just so damned disgusting and they move fast.

[deza.livejournal.com]

Sounds weird, but my irrational fear is a fear of being alone. A fear of going through eternity untouched, unloved, unworthy of love. That fear has controlled a lot of my life, and I'm working on getting past it now.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Actually, that one hits really close to home for me.

[deza.livejournal.com]

For me, it's bad enough that I've stipulated in my will that an oak sapling is to be planted over my grave. At least then I know that something will be cradling my body for eternity.

I have a lot of understanding of why old kings would take servants to the afterlife with them. Even knowing what's there, I don't want to be alone.

[cnfsdyoie.livejournal.com]

i've always had that fear... the reason i didn't add it to my list is b/c i'm afraid it's not irrational.

Re:

[deza.livejournal.com]

I have a nice long list of "rational" fears (fear of my kids being hurt, fear of my mother having to live with me, fear of the oil transfer station down the road becoming a terrorist target, etc). The fear of being alone, though, has often controlled my actions. IMHO, that elevates it out of the "rational" range.

[wolvy]

As cnfsdyoie said, Alone is a big fear..but I don't see it as irrational..

My irrational fear (which is really quite silly) is being forced to survive on foods that I hate [at the moment, this is the most horrible thing I can think of].

[musicwolf.livejournal.com]

While mine's not the same as the being alone...it's more of being outside of everyone else. Grant it, there's time I wish I could get away from humanity, but overall, I just want to be liked and accepted. More afraid of not being good enough...

[thatbelle.livejournal.com]

Right there with ya dude....HATE snakes...all b/c of one scene in one movie (Lonsome Dove) where a snake came up out of the river and bit into a guy's face. SHUDDER!

Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em!

But spiders are a close second....

[atomicnumber51.livejournal.com]

Snakes don't bother me... less than or equal to 4 legs is no big deal...

More than 4, and I freak out, and the more legs, the more freaked out I get... most insects are bad, spiders freak me out, and centipedes make me run screaming and hyperventilating from the room.

Call me crazy, but...

[argentumlupine]

I like snakes. ::shrugs::

My irrational fears? Blood pressure thingies, injections, and being in a large crowd in a tiny space -- that last one's the worst. I start panicking and can't breathe.

Oh, and public speaking. Can't forget that one, either.

[yendi]

Most of my fears are totally rational -- I mean, needles hurt!

However, I've certainly got my share of fears on the social anxiety level -- put me in a large crowd, or on a telephone, and I'll get the instant jitters. But I don't think I have any irrational fears of objects/animals.

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

I actually gave my mom a lecture this weekend about making me hate snakes so much. She freaked over every little garden snake growing up.

My biggest irrational fear is of rats. I used to not be able to sleep at night because I was afraid one would fall through the ceiling on me. And just ask Fox about the morning I woke up and found one on the bed next to me.....

[polychromatic22.livejournal.com]

People in costumes. Like, you know, not just your random guy in a pirate costume, but those people in character costumes with the weird shaped bodies and heads. I will walk around an entire area to avoid having to pass close to one of those. Of course, clowns also.

Now mind you, bugs bunny stepped on my foot when I was very little and broke my toes, but still, they bothered me before that, and it's not just a pain fear thing. It feels all biological, like they're predators I'm prey, or like they're just completely outside of nature and my brain fires it funny and doesn't come up with "that's just a guy in a stupid costume" before it comes up with "holy shit run."

I have other ones, but that is sorta the most bizarre one.

[disaster75.livejournal.com]

can mine be bitchy redheads?

[deza.livejournal.com]

Hey, I resemble that remark! *evil grin* And yes, you should be afraid...

Re:

[disaster75.livejournal.com]

yes... very afraid... but alas, i'll never learn my lesson...

[meemeedarling.livejournal.com]

I am scared of bugs and snakes and anything that is creepy and oogly and gives me shivers, just like a typical 6 year old girl.

(you can ask Jx just how horrible I am if I see a bug)

[lindsaygail.livejournal.com]

I can't say I care for anything iwth more than four legs either, eight is WAAAAAAAAAAY to many legs, and anything that scurries is just plain bad news. I have to kill it. The worst is these centipedes we get in my living room sometimes, when you see one they look like something blowing across the floor, that's how fast they are, and HUGE, but then if you kill one they curl up into a teeny little twitching mass. I hate them.

However, I can DEAL with them, so maybe that's not my most irrational fear. Probably my most irrational fear is of looking stupid. I will do any amount of insane things to avoid looking stupid.

My two irrational fears:

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

1) driving at night by the ocean or over a bridge or down a mountain

2) being paralyzed

1) is just plain weird, I know, but I can't help it. Any of the three can be made nearly intolerable if it is raining too. I have no idea where the fear comes from but I have serious anxiety attacks whenever I'm in any of the three situations. I have even been convinced I'm having a heart attack once or twice. The only remedy I have (besides simply not riding in a car in any of those situations) is to either fall asleep (which rarely works because I tend to wake up just as the car begins to drive down or the rain starts or the ocean can be heard) or simply look away and pretend something else is happenning.

2) is something that makes NO sense to me. I am not afraid of needles - my mother is a med tech and I have been stuck PLENTY of times while looking straight at the needle - but for some reason the sensation (or NON sensation) of novocaine totally freaks me out. I go into weird hysterics every single time. Usually, as soon as the numbness hits me, I start laughing uncontrollably, then at some point my laughter turns into crying - out and out sobbing. Then in about 10-20 minutes I'm magically fine. I've tried to warn doctors and dentists about my reaction but they NEVER believe me and always get a bit alarmed when I start freaking out. Even my mother couldn't believe how I reacted the one time she was with me when I got shot up.

BTW, I like snakes very much and spiders are pretty cool. I used to be very afraid of large outside roaches (to the extent that I could not even get close enough to kill them and would run away dry-heaving instead) but now I have "dealt" with my fear/disgust enough to be able to throw a shoe at them and sometimes (if they are not too big) actually squash them. Scorpians still give me the cold willies though. Please do not ever show me a tarantula either.... *shudder*

[kelliecoo.livejournal.com]

well, fear of snakes seems pretty rational to me, except when you think most cannot harm you (unless you live in India). I have lots of irrational fears, but mostly because they have no basis for scaring me, hence they are irrational.

My biggest one is that my dog will somehow get out of my yard and hurt someone, even though he has never made an attempt to get out of our yard. Well, except that one time he learned to open the gate on his own (damn smart dog). Now we lock the gate when we come and go.

Next fear is driving on a cliff or steep hill. Can't do that, not even if I am the passenger.

[technomom]

Tornados. Major phobia. I won't step foot in a trailer. I cannot visit my sister at work - her classroom is in a trailer.

[karmaryllis.livejournal.com]

Palmetto bugs. Those things that look like 2-inch long roaches that tend to invade my apartment every summer. I'm deathly afraid of one crawling on me while I'm asleep...a heart attack is not exactly a pleasant way to wake up. Even my cat, who loves bugs, won't go near them. They're downright scary.

And clowns. I'm 31 and they still creep me out. It's probably from watching Poltergeist as a kid. I think that scarred me for life. :P