Phobias

[Kungfuzed]

We're doing a little assignment for Psychology class where I need to ask people ten questions on the topic our team chose. Then I realized this would make a good thread too. The class was divided into teams and our team chose phobias as our topic. Each of us has to ask at least 3 people these questions and bring the answers in to class.

1. What are you most afraid of?
2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
4. When did this fear first begin?
5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
7. How often do you experience your fear?
8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
9. What comforts you?
10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?

The semester has just begun and we haven't actually studied phobias yet but I think it's an interesting topic.

 

[Scuba Pete]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Heights, but it's no longer an irrational fear.
2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
30 feet??? I would rate it a 4.
3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
With anger and a determination to overcome it!
4. When did this fear first begin?
After a parachute experiment failed as a kid. I jumped off the roof with a sheet.
5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
After a parachute experiment failed as a kid. I jumped off the roof with a sheet.
6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
Water parks with ridiculously HIGH slides. Precipices and the like. I feel as if I have almost conquered it.
7. How often do you experience your fear?
Rarely now... maybe once a year, if that.
8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
I don't allow ANY fears to affect my daily life. I systematically conquer them.
9. What comforts you?
Conquering my fears and NOT letting them hold me hostage.
10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Keep pushing through it. I take every chance to expose myself to heights and such. I think it's working.

 

[Hema]

You might actually laugh! Tell me if you want me to retake it with a different phobia.

Now you and your classmates will think I'm a loony....which I am so it's best to get it out in the open.


1. What are you most afraid of?
Cockraoches!

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
10!!!!!

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
I become terrified, run away and call my husband to kill it! I once woke him at 2:00am because there was a cockroach in the bathroom and I needed to use the bathroom!

4. When did this fear first begin?
Ever since I knew myself.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
Just the way cockroaches look!

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
If I'm alone and I see one! Or if it's dark I fear that one will come out and walk on me.

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Only when I see one, plus I might feel jumpy for a couple days afterwards. I saw a cockroach in our bedroom over the weekend and when I'm walking around the room, I still get chills and think - the cockroach walked here as well. I think about the germs it could have left behind.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
It doesn't.

9. What comforts you?
Knowing that my husband will be there to kill it.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
I don't want to face cockroaches at all.

 

[Halcyon]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Whales and other big sea creatures.

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
Hmmm, about an 8.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
Feel nauseous and scared.

4. When did this fear first begin?
Sometime around the age of 5-8.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
The fact that they're big scary sea-monsters that can flip your boat and eat you. Isn't that enough?

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
The smaller the boat, the more the fear. Being on land helps a lot.

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Not often, i rarely travel by boat.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
Surprisingly, not a great deal.

9. What comforts you?
Being on land.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Ain't gonna happen buddy.

 

[Willamena]

1. What are you most afraid of?
I used to have a fear of depths, and specifically the depths hidden beneath the ocean, but I think it's gone now for good.

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
I guess about 10, though I don't actually know how to measure that.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
When I had it, the fear was a very real physical sensation that swept through my whole body and threatened to paralyze me.

4. When did this fear first begin?
When I was very young, too young to remember.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
I don't know. It would come when I imagined the vast ocean, like whales swimming in the depths or a ship suspended above it, and was often interpreted as a fear of heights. I missed seeing Jules Verne's 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' at the drive-in movies as a kid because I was hiding behind the seat.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
The fear dispelled as I got older, perhaps as I became more skilled at rationalization, though I still felt it some into adulthood. I believe it was dispelled for good last November, when I experienced a paradigm shift.

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Not any more.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
Doesn't any more.

9. What comforts you?
Food! Oh, you mean about the phobia. I always took comfort in the presence of my mother.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
See above paradigm shift. I think it'd be good medicine for a lot of people.

 

[MaddLlama]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Crowds

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
Probably around a 7. There are some circumstances where I can deal with it, and others where I can't.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
I get dizzy, anxious, and sometimes I stop breathing, or breathe very shallow.

4. When did this fear first begin?
Not sure, but probably around 13-16

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
I had a lot of social issues when I was younger, so I generally don't like to be around large numbers of people I don't know. I suspect it's also a personal space issue: I get very uncomfortable in small areas with lots of people. I am very possessive of my personal space.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
The smaller the space, the more people there are, and the less of them I know, the worse it is. If there are at least some people around me, then it's not as difficult

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Often enough, though I've been known to avoid social activities to escape the fear.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
See #7

9. What comforts you?
Being by myself, or with people I know well. Consequently this is how I spend most of my time.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Sometimes I can talk myself down, and other times I can't. I'm not sure that there's a foolproof way to get over it.

 

[Circle_One]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Sea monsters. Yes, you read that right.
2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
10. Absolutely
3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
Well, I don't really encounter them, obviously, but just thinking about them, or talking about them, sends me into a panic attack. Shaking, sweating, heart beating fast, the whole nine yards.
4. When did this fear first begin?
I honestly have no idea.
5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
Again, absolutely no idea.
6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
Nothing really lessens it, but seeing pictures, or movies intensifies it. I won't even go into a swimming pool if a tree nearby is casting a shadow on the surface.
7. How often do you experience your fear?
I'm kind of experiencing it right now because I'm talking about them.
8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
Well, it doesn't really, thankfully.
9. What comforts you?
Nothing.
10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Umm... I don't really think there's a way to face my fear of Sea Monsters...

 

[jacquie4000]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Big hairy spiders
2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
10
3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
Scream, If one is on me dance around saying get it off get it off. If it is in my car well it is probably not safe to be on the road with me
4. When did this fear first begin?
As a little kid
5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
My brother was afraid of them to, so I think I took up after seeing him afraid.
6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
The bigger the more afraid I am, The little ones don't bother me much.
7. How often do you experience your fear?
I guess that would be late summer early fall when they are out the most.
8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
Not much.
9. What comforts you?
Killing it.
10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Well I don't think I am about to say let a big spider crawl on me, maybe I will get over it.

 

[michel]

It is "interesting", I guess. I hate to admit it, but I suffer from quite a few phobias - but not as phobias per se, but associated with my depression and anxiety; I am sure that there are others here who will identify with that.

1. What are you most afraid of?

People seing through the facade of being "normal" which I have tried hard to put on for most of my life. Behind the facade is a frightened child.

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?

It varies; when I go to see my doctor, on a monthly basis, it is at about 12........It sounds absurd, but I feel guilty when I go to see him and I am not doing well.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?

I have learned various ways of dealing with panic, but I need to catch it before it gets out of control, and takes over whatever "rationale" there is still in my behavious at the time.

4. When did this fear first begin?

I have had it all of my life; I can't remember feeling "normal"

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?

I have obviously been talken down this route in sessions with psychologists/psychiatrists. I have come to the conclusion that I am a weal individual (I am unable to cope with stress), I was in the wrong place at the wrong time...........there is an entire string of events in my youth that havs caused me to be the way I am.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?

Anything social; meeting people. Going out of the house

7. How often do you experience your fear?

Daily, I guess; until I know that my wife doesn't want me to go out, I can't relax

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?

Drastically; the fear leads me to behaviour to "deal with " the way I feel. I have an addictive personality, so anything from binging on food or alcohol. I am no longer working (I managed a twenty five year working life) - I still don't know how I lasted that long

9. What comforts you?

Food, alcohol, loud music,keeping myself very busy on the computer.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?

I don't think I will ever overcome it; I am 58, have just recently had an assessment by a board of doctors who have comfirmed that I am neither mentally, nor physically able to work - nor will I be, unless there is a miracle.

 

[Jaymes]

1. What are you most afraid of?
I have a very bad phobia of needles.
2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
15.
3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
I have panic attacks. If I know I'm going to get a shot days beforehand, I work myself into a nervous frenzy. I don't eat or sleep well, my stomach gets very upset... I'm just generally a mess.
4. When did this fear first begin?
In about 10th grade, I think.
5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
The only really "traumatic" experience I've had with needles involved a dentist telling me to stop crying and that it didn't hurt when I was about 6 or 7. I don't know why it would have waited almost a decade to trigger panic attacks.
6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
Nothing really lessens it. Seeing it on TV is pretty intense for me, and IRL is just worse.
7. How often do you experience your fear?
Not very often.
8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
I will go out of my way to avoid shots, which can be pretty bad for me.
9. What comforts you?
Pretty much nothing, really. I have to be drugged up so much that I don't care if I need to get shots.
10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Desensitization therapy is the best for phobias, as far as I know. Doesn't mean I want to do it, though.

 

[Ozzie]

1. What are you most afraid of?

Monkeys

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?

That depends if there is a barrier between them and me.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?

Actually that is infrequent. I have had close contact with the little buggers on those occasions I visited countries where they are endemic.

4. When did this fear first begin?

I recognised monkeys interprete eye-to-eye contact as aggression. With a large monkey that can be intimidating.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?

I recognised something like myself in the monkey.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?

I'd like to say talking about it would lessen the fear, but I don't think rationalising with these animals is possible.

7. How often do you experience your fear?

Only in context. I actually admire these animals.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?

Doesn't yet. Hope I do not generalise my fear to people.

9. What comforts you?

The ending to Planet of the Apes.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?

It helps to understand I am the one with the problem.

 

[ChristineES]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Walking up to strangers and talking to them. It is called social phobia, and I have been of victim of this since childhood
2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
A 10. It is a real fear.
3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
Same as always, hyperventilation, stammering, and so on.
4. When did this fear first begin?
When I was very little.
5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
Heaven knows.
6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
An unusually kind person will lessen my fear. A really nasty person I will avoid talking to.

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Daily.
8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
Unfortunately, I can not avoid my fears. I have to self talk myself to talking to people, as it is necessary. I have to do deep breathing just to use the phone.
9. What comforts you?
Self talk and "my peaceful place"
10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Just keep on doing it, talking to people. That appears to be the only way. It has gotten less intense over the years.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Heights, actually. I have learned to control it, but I still don't like them.

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
About a 5 if it's 10-20 feet. Especially if I can, or have, to fall, such as off a ladder in a wrestling match. Ironically, I can be on a roller coaster, skyscraper, or anything else extremely tall and not be effected at all.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
Basically, it's an "oh my gaawwwd" type of thing.

4. When did this fear first begin?
I took alot of falls as a kid, and I think the pain associated with it became the reason I began to fear it.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
The falls. Especially the one when I was about 3 or 4, running out my grandfather's house, and forgetting the porch was being worked on and moved back abit, stepping out, falling through, and knocking a couple teeth out, and whatever else. I remember being rushed to a dentist, and then a doctor.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
Definitely being a ladder intensifies it. Being much higher up somehow lessens it.

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Not that often.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
It doesn't.

9. What comforts you?
Being on the ground. Even if I do come crashing down.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
Just do it.

 

[Hope]

1. What are you most afraid of? Dying a painful, horrific, scary death.

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10? 10.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear? Haven't encountered it yet, and I'm praying I never will!!

4. When did this fear first begin? Can't remember. I've probably had it most of my life. I remember nearly drowning as a kid, and that scared me pretty bad. I also nearly died from eating poisonous mushrooms when I was little.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it? See above.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear? Anytime I'm in a car or plane I get a little anxious, but I find that prayer calms me down immensely. And I actually love to fly, despite my fear.

7. How often do you experience your fear? Often. I think about death way too much. But I'm working on that. Having a close relationship with God helps me.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life? It doesn't affect me too much.

9. What comforts you? My faith and trust in God. I know where I'm going when I die, so that definitely eases the fear.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it? By choosing to trust in God. That's the only way, really. I believe He is always with me, and no matter how I die, He will give me peace when that time comes.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Monkeys

Is this a Wizard of Oz thing??? I mean those winged monkeys, your name and the use of a Lion as your avatar are making me draw some parrallels here. (Softly whistles "If I only had a Brain" and wonders if "The Voice of Reason" will ever come back!)

 

[YmirGF]

1. What are you most afraid of?
Nothing. (No, really. I am quite serious.)

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?
Assuming 1 is lowest, I would set it at Zero. No fear whatsoever.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?
When I used to feel fear, flight (of some kind, relative to the thing causing the fear) was the order of the day.

4. When did this fear first begin?
No applicable. I simply grew out of fear. I have no real use for it now. That was over three decades ago now and I seem to be happy as a clam, lol.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?
Misreading reality was usually the reason, in the long run

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?
Avoidance increased the fear and facing things head on dissolved the fears.

7. How often do you experience your fear?
Never. (Not to say you cannot startle me, lol. But an adversary would have great difficulty generating genuine fear in me.)

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?
It only crops up when I am dealing with the fears of others. I am usually quite understanding and try to nurture a "can do" type attitude in the person exhibiting fear.

9. What comforts you?
Life, my unlimited consciousness... my ability to find humor in almost any situation.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?
You simply face them head on and deal with them. It was so odd when I faced my greatest fears so long ago. When I confronted them, one at a time, it was as if they were smoke on the wind. I realized I was afraid for no good reason. That is bizarre. Plus it took a bit of effort to dismantle the support structures for the fears, but I did so with great relish and glee.

The semester has just begun and we haven't actually studied phobias yet but I think it's an interesting topic.

Hehe. I don't have any phobias whatsoever, lol, although I do not especially like be on tall ladders. I will go up them, but I do so quickly, do the task and then get back down to terra firma asap.

 

[Aqualung]

We're doing a little assignment for Psychology class where I need to ask people ten questions on the topic our team chose. Then I realized this would make a good thread too. The class was divided into teams and our team chose phobias as our topic. Each of us has to ask at least 3 people these questions and bring the answers in to class.

1. What are you most afraid of?

Small creatures (like bugs, hummingbirds, spiders, butterflies, etc)

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?

If it's something like a yucky daddy longlegs, probably an 8. If it's something like a hummingbird, probably about 5.

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?

Flight. I either run away, jump back, change my course, etc. Unless there are people around, and then I try to cover it up, but I still want to really bad.

4. When did this fear first begin?

I've been scared of spiders for as long as I can remember. The hummingbird thing is fairly recent, though. I'd say within the last couple of years.

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?

With the hummingbird, it was a story a person told me about how a hummingbird accidentally mistook her shirt for a flower and started flying around her. That made me think that hummingbirds are just like huge bees, which started the fear. For spiders, it's probably because people always call them "gross" and things that are gross are to be feared, but I don't remember.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?

Intensify - close proximity

Lessen - having an escape route. So, encountering a spider in a field is less scary than finding one while in a small crawlspace.

7. How often do you experience your fear?

At least weekly.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?

Sometimes I can't concentrate in class if there is a bee buzzing around the classroom or something like that.

9. What comforts you?

Leaving the situation.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?

I don't think it disrupts my life enough that I would want to put myself through the excercises that would allow me to overcome it.

 

[Bishka]

1. What are you most afraid of?

Heights

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10?

8

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear?

My knees literally start shaking and I feel a bit queasy.

4. When did this fear first begin?

About 10 years of age

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it?

We were at a park in Southern Utah (my grandparents, brother and I) and I was looking over one of the edges of canyons and my grandmother literally grabbed me by the shoulders pushed me out onto nothing and grabbed me back.

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear?

Places without handrails or safety barriers. Some movies will do this as well.

7. How often do you experience your fear?

Not that much as I live in a pretty flat area.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life?

Not much

9. What comforts you?

Literally crawling away from it on my hands and knees.

10. How can you face your fear and overcome it?

Have not figured that one out yet.

 

[Kungfuzed]

Thank you all so much for your responses. This was way easier than trying to find people to interview in person, considering how painfully shy and antisocial I am. Frubals for everyone! :clap2:

(Ran out of frubals. I still owe some of you.)

 

[Ever learning]

1. What are you most afraid of? Heights

2. How high would you rate that fear on a scale of 1-10? 10

3. How do you react when you encounter your fear? Get dizzy, feel sick

4. When did this fear first begin? Age 29 during my first pregnancy

5. What do you think first caused you to be afraid of it? I have no Idea

6. What circumstances intensify or lessen your fear? I´m okay if i do not have a window seat in a plane or if I can´t look outside of a window in a hihgrise.


7. How often do you experience your fear? Not anymore, but up until 10 years ago I used to work on the sixth floor in a building that had escalators that were open, I could not use those from the 3rd floor on, had to use the elevator than.

8. How does your fear affect your daily life? Not at all



10. How can you face your fear and overcome it? Guess i could take some parashootinglessons.