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Childhood fears

Athenian200

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Do you remember having any unrealistic fears as a child? I had some...

1. I believed that if I stopped focusing on reality, it would fade away into nothing. So I was especially scared that I would forget about breathable air and/or gravity when I fell asleep. Or even wake up in a random, possibly dangerous area if I didn't remember anything about where I fell asleep.

2. I was afraid to walk on grass or dirt.

3. I would become afraid of and avoid specific empty areas of space for no apparent reason. I would start to believe for some reason that something dangerous was there even though I couldn't see it, and that it would harm me if I got too close, but it wouldn't affect other people.
 

lastrailway

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Most of my fears were pretty realistic, however I was afraid of accidentally killing ants or other insects, cause I thought that they might come back in life and in human-like size to revenge me.
 

Mort Belfry

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I thought that they might come back in life and in human-like size to revenge me.


I had the same fear, it didn't stop me killing them though. Sadism is its own reward.

I remember being scared of gravity stopping and floating away into the atmosphere. I also used to worry that if I went to sleep I might wake up as somebody else and have no memory of being myself.
 

Tigerlily

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I was afraid of being alone. Or rather that I would wake up one morning to find that everyone was gone. Our son seems to have a fear of me dying. He says he doesn't want me to get old because then I'll die. :cry: I just reassure him by telling him that I'm not going to die.
 

Atomic Fiend

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I was afraid of falling asleep, and being trapped in my own dreams forever.

Also I was afraid of toilet snakes.

I still believe there would be nothing worse then if snake bit you in the ass while you were handling your business.
 

lastrailway

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I was afraid of falling asleep, and being trapped in my own dreams forever.

Now you mentioned it, my little sister, when she was very young, she was afraid that if she slept, she'd die. Me being younger too, I didn't know how to make her realise her that, by putting her to bed, I didn't want her dead or something. She'd cry a lot every night. At a point I had promised her to watch her all night while she's sleeping and, if I saw her dying, I'd wake her up.
An absurd promise, but she was young enough to believe me.

Who are they? And why do they come?
(I think) Childhood fears and because some of them are buried in the subconscious.
 

miss fortune

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hmmm... I was afraid of plants with large leaves as a child, but I still am now, so that one could be considered a lifelong fear! :laugh:

I was afraid of the basement at night if the lights weren't turned on (though not afraid of the dark :thinking:)

my mother tried hard to terrify my sister and I about the dangers of getting kidnapped and dismembered by strangers driving down our rural road, but the best she got from us was a new game titled "duck and cover as soon as possible when seeing a strange car- the one with the most creative hiding place wins!" the most creative hiding place could very well be right beside the road :dry:

ummm... I really wasn't afraid of much as a kid! :blush: nothing that didn't carry over to adulthood anyways! (like clowns, facepaint, mimes, alarm clocks and plants! :D )
 

Sandy

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When I was a child, I was very fearful that vampires were real and they hung out underneath my bed. I would make my bed (or get my Mom to help) so that the top sheet would be really taut around my feet, but I hated to do that because I felt also like I was suffocating. I felt the need to do that because I normally like sleeping with my feet hanging off my bed.

*sheepish grin*
 

The Ü™

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Oh, I have Asperger's, so I had loads of weird fears as a child:
  • Exhaust fans.
  • Hand dryers.
  • Going through car washes.
  • Vacuum cleaners.
  • The flashing red light on smoke detectors.
  • Yellow bathtubs.
Don't ask me why I had these fears...I honestly don't know.
 

Sandy

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When I was a child, I was very fearful that vampires were real and they hung out underneath my bed. I would make my bed (or get my Mom to help) so that the top sheet would be really taut around my feet, but I hated to do that because I felt also like I was suffocating. I felt the need to do that because I normally like sleeping with my feet hanging off my bed.

*sheepish grin*

I know, whatever, it's insane! It makes me laugh thinking about it! :smile:
 

FFF

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I've been afraid of flying, stinging insects for a long time. I think it was based on hearing/reading stories about people getting stung a billion times by such insects. I've never been stung by a bee, wasp, hornet, or any such insect.
 

Metamorphosis

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I jumped off a swing when I was little and broke out all of my front teeth. I have sense been afraid of heights in a manner that defies logic.
 

htb

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I feared making phone inquiries -- which is odd, since I now relish calling to negotiate with or confront a business or institution.
 

Mort Belfry

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One lifelong fear that carried over from childhood, is that I was always paranoid about being stabbed in the eye.

I find it very difficult now to be near someone holding a pointed object like a pencil. I can't function until I tell them to put it down. I've even reeled back at just innocuous things as cartoon barbed wire on TV.

But when I was a kid I had the nagging thought that because I had this fear meant that one day I would be stabbed in the eye.
 

ygolo

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For some reason, I have trouble remembering my childhood fears.

But there are a few I still have, that I know I had from childhood:

  • Death
  • Heights
  • Speed
  • Clowns (to a lesser extent)
 
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