Phobias
I have an extreme fear of being skewered in the armpits by ancient tribal communities or the occult. At night i cannot sleep unless my arms are folded or unless i tuck blankets in such a way that my arms are at my sides in cocoon-like fashion.
It all started with incessant tickling that, to me, is not fun, and is extremely painful. I would laugh when tickled, but coupled with the maniacal laughter i expressed would be this sort of deathly fear and pain that lingered under the surface and i couldn't express. I am guilty of tickling my brother and he has also mentioned pain, perhaps a genetic predisposition to tickling sensitivity?
Anyways it started to become a fear when, at my grandparents house, me my brother and my cousin were all wrestling, fighting, tickling, what young kids do, in front of the TV, it was national geographic or the dc and it showed these tribes that took schiskabob-like things and punctured their bodies, even their tongues! That image is in my mind to this day as vivid as the present images i experience... This was experienced while i was being tickled, perhaps classical conditioning? That night was the first night i remember feeling afraid of my armpits being violated while i slept by sharp skewers, held by savages or things of this nature.
I don't know, but I, to this day fear armpit puncturing or swarms of ticks and other critters assaulting them and burrowing into my lungs or heart or something...Ugh, irrational i know but, feelings trump thought in this one, that is why phobias are so fascinating i guess.