Irrational fears

[webny99]

On a somewhat road-related note, I think I have an irrational fear of being pulled over/ticketed. That scares me way more than the possibility of an accident, which is a bit imbalanced on reflection.

I don't know why, but dogs scare me a little. Insects and such I can usually handle, except for bees. I'm paranoid of bees 

This should be fun, as long as we keep it appropriate.

[7/8]

Spiders! One of the great things about winter is that I almost never see them, whereas in the summer, there's always a chance of encountering them

[Otto Yamamoto]

Heights and gaps between trains and platforms.

P00I

[kurumi]

Dropping my car keys, phone, etc. into a storm drain.

Going into a room with the lights off and the face I see in the mirror is not mine.

[Max Rockatansky]

Used to have an issue with heights into my adulthood.   But traveling on hiking trails in over 100 National Park units on top driving almost every scenic mountain highway in the country helped that.  The last time I had an vertigo associated with heights was on the Royal Gorge Bridge in 2015 when I was on the center span as a Jeep passed.  That wooden road deck shakes like you are in a earthquake when a vehicle is on it. 

When I was a kid I had big fear of fire after watching the Towering Inferno.  I used to ask my Dad every week if our wiring at home was up to code, at least he had the decency to lie to me and tell me the Code Inspector said it was all good.  I was worried about running out of gas for some reason after watching The Hitcher for awhile too.

[Beltway]

Light bulbs burning out at night, and then walking around the house flipping switches and none of the lights working.

[SignGeek101]

I don't know why, but dogs scare me a little.

You're not the only one... have had since I was little, and I doubt it will go away. Even "friendly" looking dogs creep me out and I do my best to avoid them.

Heights

Seeing things at night (hallucinating)

Returning to my bedroom during the middle of the night and fearing someone else is in there.

[Hurricane Rex]

Not getting a certain time in a race (17:45 5k,  38:00 10k)

[adventurernumber1]

Spiders! One of the great things about winter is that I almost never see them, whereas in the summer, there's always a chance of encountering them

You are definitely not alone in that!!! 

I have arachnophobia (fear of spiders), and that became particularly severe (as did all of my mental illnesses) last year during the stress of Junior Year of High School - at its worst, to the point where I would have a panic attack whenever I saw a spider, and I could not enter the same room for weeks or even months at a time (absolutely no joke - for example, I saw a really creepy "crab-looking spider" in my house in the formal dining room/living room (not casual, so it wasn't used as often anyway) area of the house, and I could not enter that space approximately from March to July 2017). This phobia has improved tremendously since then, although it is still there, and spiders do definitely creep the hell out of me still!   

[hotdogPi]

Dogs, especially those that try to "attack" me (i.e. run towards me, even if on a leash)

[jeffandnicole]

Sumac.  Those things are ugly, they grow everywhere, and they grow fast.  They take over enter roadsides and vacant lots.  I think I got my fear of them when I was very young, being told they were poisonous.  Some are and some aren't.  I see people brush by them every day without a problem.  I will steer clear of them, even switching positions to walk on the other side of people if I see them up ahead, which causes those people to give me odd looks because to them, sumac is just like any other weed.

The thing is - I'm not afraid of other weeds, and I'm not afraid of poison ivy.  I know if I touch it I'll get a rash, and I'll just deal with it.  But sumac, no matter what, just skeeves me to no end.

[LM117]

Snakes. Whenever I see one in person, no matter what kind it is, I nope the fuck out.

Another one is heights. I used to be able to deal with heights no problem, but for whatever reason during the past 3-4 years, I can't handle it well like I used to. My blood pressure would go up and I'd feel like the ground fell out from under me. I have no idea what caused the change. Now, whenever I have to go somewhere that has multiple stories, I put on my poker face so anybody looking at me has no clue that I can't handle heights, but on the inside I'm losing my shit. It apparently runs in the family, so I guess so shouldn't be too surprised. My mother is even more scared of heights than I am. Unlike me, she panics and everybody sees it.

The last thing is bees and wasps. I'm allergic to them (again, thanks mom ).

[1995hoo]

Big dogs. I got bitten by a dog once when I was a kid (nothing major, though) and I think it stuck with me. I'm fine with small dogs like Pomeranians, but big dogs, the ones that try to sniff your nuts and won't back off, make me very uncomfortable. (Edited to add: I suppose you could say this is rational given the reason for it, but I know very well it was that particular dog when I was a kid and not all dogs bite. That's why I said it's "irrational." I think what I hate the most is dog owners' attitude of "oh, he's friendly," like it's funny or you're somehow required to let their dogs climb all over you....control your damn dog!)

I used to have a fear of heights, although it didn't stop me from going to the top of the World Trade Center, but that doesn't seem to bother me as much anymore–I had no problems standing near the unfenced rims of the Grand Canyon and Muley Point in Utah for photos.

[roadman]

I don't know why, but dogs scare me a little.

You're not the only one... have had since I was little, and I doubt it will go away. Even "friendly" looking dogs creep me out and I do my best to avoid them.

I've had a fear of dogs since I was a toddler, which was exacerbated about the age of eight when a dog chasing me on my paper route caused me to lose control of my bike.  Even docile dogs like my brother's Bernese Mountain Dog make me uncomfortable when they get too close.

[Max Rockatansky]

Here's another movie based fear I had when I was a kid that I thought of this morning.  Back when I was 5 my parents took me to see the The Blob which was a remake the 1958 movie of the same name.  The original movie is very tame by the standards of the 1980s and my Dad told my Mom it was no big deal.  Suffice to say the remake was infinitely more graphic and probably wasn't what a 5 year should have been watching.  There was a scene where the blob tried to come up a sink and where it dropped on someone from the ceiling.  My parents couldn't figure out why I'd always check the ceiling of every dark room I went into and I kept duct taping the bathroom sink for a couple months after. 

[J N Winkler]

On a somewhat road-related note, I think I have an irrational fear of being pulled over/ticketed. That scares me way more than the possibility of an accident, which is a bit imbalanced on reflection.

I don't know that I would characterize this as irrational, given the low recruiting standards many police departments have been forced to adopt to get boots on the ground.  My local department, for example, no longer disqualifies applicants for a declared history of marijuana use.

The last time I had a close-up encounter with police patrol officers was when I came around a curve to find a signalized intersection ahead closed because of an accident that was being worked by officers out of multiple cruisers.  I was in the right-hand lane and needed to get to a left-turn lane to clear the scene, but was trapped.  I could not go forward because the way was blocked by a cruiser.  I could not go to the left without help because that would have meant swooping across multiple lanes (a maneuver of dubious legality) in full view of police officers as well as cutting in front of vehicles barrelling obliviously around the curve.

A police officer pulled up behind me in her cruiser and promptly lost her temper because I wouldn't move out of the way--in my rearview mirror I could see her having a tantrum behind the wheel.  Eventually another officer came on foot to see what was up and got my attention by extending his telescoping baton and striking my car door with almost enough force to chip paint.  "Why are you not moving?" he asked.  I put up my hands and shrugged, pointing out I had nowhere to go.  "Go there," he said, pointing to the left-turn lane, and since I now had legal cover (the instructions of a police officer controlling traffic override all else), I went.  But this whole incident left me with a bad feeling about the anger management skills of recently inducted officers working patrol.

Dropping my car keys, phone, etc. into a storm drain.

I saw this happen to somebody as I was walking by--he had his keys on a cord and was playing with it by swinging it around.  He lost his grip on the cord and the keys promptly flew through a drain grating.  An hour later he was still trying to have the grating lifted so he could retrieve his keys.  I would say this is a very rational worry.



As for dogs, ants, spiders, snakes, etc.:  I don't mind snakes or spiders, but don't especially want to share my personal space with them.  I used to be blasé about ants but am now dealing with psychological overhang from a major ant infestation in the spring of 2017--my reading chair was virtually on top of the ants' primary ingress route, so for weeks on end I was unable to read for any length of time without feeling ants crawling somewhere on my body.  I have never been bitten by a dog, but have had strange dogs run up to me or bark at me so many times that I am far more distrustful of dogs than I am of cats.

As a deaf person, I worry about malfunctions I can become aware of only through sound, such as a timing chain inside a car engine that is about to fail and has developed excessive slack (audible as "chain slap"), or a toilet that occasionally stays running when flushed because the flapper valve fails to close completely 100% of the time.

[Rothman]

It frustrates me that I have no problem walking on a two-foot wide sidewalk, but if it's a two-foot wide ridge with cliffs on either side (e.g., Step of Faith on the Angels Landing trail in Zion, which I have done), my mind freaks out and I have to fight it convincing itself that I will fall.

[jeffandnicole]

On a somewhat road-related note, I think I have an irrational fear of being pulled over/ticketed. That scares me way more than the possibility of an accident, which is a bit imbalanced on reflection.

After it happens a few times, you lose that fear.   Everyone is going to have that first time, and they'll be freaked out.  Remain calm.  Pull well off the road if you can; even if you have to roll a little to a spot without a guardrail to give you and the officer more room.  Don't grab for your documents.  Roll down your windows, turn on your interior light, turn off your radio, and put your hands on top of the steering wheel.  Show the cop that you're not a threat.  When the officer asks for your documents, not you can you get them then, but you can briefly talk; find out why you were actually stopped, offer an excuse if you can think of one quickly, etc.

People will have many different opinions on traffic stops and what to do. Obviously, those that have had rougher experiences will have more negative connotations regarding cops.  And sure, some cops (and some departments) will be more assholic in nature than others.  But overall, the number of people that get stopped and are given just a warning is amazingly high, and those that are given reduced tickets are amazingly high as well.  But you're not going to hear from that percentage of the population - you're going to hear from those that were given a ticket "for no reason" (because amazingly, on highways full of speeders, the only ones given tickets were apparently doing nothing wrong).

The last time I had a close-up encounter with police patrol officers was when I came around a curve to find a signalized intersection ahead closed because of an accident that was being worked by officers out of multiple cruisers.  I was in the right-hand lane and needed to get to a left-turn lane to clear the scene, but was trapped.  I could not go forward because the way was blocked by a cruiser.  I could not go to the left without help because that would have meant swooping across multiple lanes (a maneuver of dubious legality) in full view of police officers as well as cutting in front of vehicles barrelling obliviously around the curve.

A police officer pulled up behind me in her cruiser and promptly lost her temper because I wouldn't move out of the way--in my rearview mirror I could see her having a tantrum behind the wheel.  Eventually another officer came on foot to see what was up and got my attention by extending his telescoping baton and striking my car door with almost enough force to chip paint.  "Why are you not moving?" he asked.  I put up my hands and shrugged, pointing out I had nowhere to go.  "Go there," he said, pointing to the left-turn lane, and since I now had legal cover (the instructions of a police officer controlling traffic override all else), I went.  But this whole incident left me with a bad feeling about the anger management skills of recently inducted officers working patrol.

The simple fact that police had the intersection blocked is enough to allow what would normally be an unsafe or illegal move.  They know you can't go straight. They're not sitting there looking around to give someone a ticket for switching lanes. 

Also, realize you're not the first person to approach the scene.  If everyone else managed to move over, they would expect you to do also, and that you weren't actually placed you as the abnormal one which would raise their suspicions a little.

[Max Rockatansky]

It frustrates me that I have no problem walking on a two-foot wide sidewalk, but if it's a two-foot wide ridge with cliffs on either side (e.g., Step of Faith on the Angels Landing trail in Zion, which I have done), my mind freaks out and I have to fight it convincing itself that I will fall.

Just visited that very trail recently, there was no way I was going up that chain with how wet the rocks were with that drop.  Some kid just fell off from there and was killed a couple weeks back, I'd say fear there is completely rational.

[froggie]

Given conversation elsewhere on the forum, one could argue "milepost-based exits" for NYSDOT planners.

[jwolfer]

Dropping my car keys, phone, etc. into a storm drain.

Going into a room with the lights off and the face I see in the mirror is not mine.

I have the fear of dropping stuff in the drain as well.. and down an elevator shaft in the space between the elevator car and floor

Z981

[CNGL-Leudimin]

When I was a child for some reason I had an irrational fear of fire extinguishers.

Not getting a certain time in a race (17:45 5k,  38:00 10k)

Wow. My personal best over 10K is 55:12. I don't know what my PB over 5K is, the last time I ran a 5K I did it in 27:15, but considering I ran a 6K in 32 minutes in January....

I have the fear of dropping stuff in the drain as well.. and down an elevator shaft in the space between the elevator car and floor

Spam

Then I shouldn't say I once accidentally dropped my keys down an elevator shaft... luckily I retrieved them.

[Beltway]

Anyone have a fear of being vomited on by someone else?

[webny99]

Given conversation elsewhere on the forum, one could argue "milepost-based exits" for NYSDOT planners.

Even without conversation elsewhere on the forum you could make that argument 
I, for one, support that position wholeheartedly.

Anyone have a fear of being vomited on by someone else?

Not really - what are the chances of that occurring? It seems predictable enough (most of the time).

[Beltway]

Anyone have a fear of being vomited on by someone else?

Not really - what are the chances of that occurring? It seems predictable enough (most of the time).

Anything could happen, that is the nature of phobias.

Luposlipaphobia -- http://phobia.wikia.com/wiki/Luposlipaphobia