Phobias

[Red Memories]

Alright to me, Phobias are one of the most irritating yet fascinating things of the human mind.

What do you think causes a phobia?
Do you have any phobias?
What is your experience with phobias?
Do you believe they can be cured?
How do you manage a phobia?
What are some unique phobias in your eyes?

 

[Red Memories]

my input

What do you think causes a phobia?: I think it can be a subconscious anxious reaction, or caused by relation to a negative events. If you see a spider in a horrible storm you are afraid of you may become phobic of spiders.
Do you have any phobias?: Bees (or any insect that looks like one XD) and needles.
What is your experience with phobias?: If I see a bee/wasp/yellow jacket/hornet etc. forget it you can deal with it I'M OUT. scream every time. going to get vaccines is hell. XD
Do you believe they can be cured?: I am not sure. I think you just have to manage them. Now days when I see a bee I try to sit and realize it will not hurt me, rather than fleeing like normal. For vaccines I try to look away so I am less aware of the needle.
How do you manage a phobia?: I would honestly get more in contact with the thing that causes the fear. The more you are exposed to it, the more you are aware how to restructure your thought to manage it.
What are some unique phobias in your eyes?: I always hear about the peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth one and find it kind of silly, but most phobias seem that way. There is also a phobia of having phobias... and I knew someone phobic of moths. Interesting things.

 

[Amberiat]

I think phobias are caused most often because of "traumatic" experiences during childhood, like watching a horror movie that has a demon squirrel in it for example, that might bring about an exaggerated fear of squirrels which are usually not dangerous.

Not really, unless it can put me in any kind of real danger I'm not bothered by anything.

Only seen friends who are scared of darkness/height to an unreasonable level, not much to say here.

Yeah, I think you can get over phobias if you have enough willpower but it has to be done carefully, phobias can cause nasty panic attacks. Very nasty panic attacks.

Moderate exposure to whatever you're scared of definitely helps.

Being scared of butterflies is pretty interesting, sure there are some big creepy looking butterflies but being scared of the small colored ones is definitely strange.

 

[prplchknz]

Alright to me, Phobias are one of the most irritating yet fascinating things of the human mind.

What do you think causes a phobia? all different things often a traumatic experience but sometimes they're just there
Do you have any phobias? nope though not fond of snakes and heights but i wouldn't call them phobia
What is your experience with phobias?very limited
Do you believe they can be cured?yes. with exposure therapy which is baby steps not throwing the person into the deep in of the pool so to speak
How do you manage a phobia?I don't have any phobias so i don't
What are some unique phobias in your eyes? probably afraid of light bulbs (idk things that most people aren't afraid of)

 

[Yuurei]

What do you think causes a phobia? A phobia is an irrational fear. Something that under normal circumstances would not terrify us. So it must be caused by some sort of...rewiring in the bran. Namely, an experience that stands out so much it informs us that anything associated will cause harm.
Do you have any phobias? Only claustrophobia.
What is your experience with phobias? Uum...I stopped seeing my pulmonary Dr because they made me sit in a plastic box....it had a door so my brain convinced me they would close it on me at some point. Nope'd the hell out of that.
Do you believe they can be cured? Probably.
How do you manage a phobia? By simply refusing to be put in relevant situation.
What are some unique phobias in your eyes? As they are all illogical they are all pretty much the same to me.




(Sorry if some things here don't make sense. I accidentally quoted then edited.)

I agree with what has been said about phobias being associated with some sort of trauma.

I a not at all afraid of needles.Haven't been since I was about 2.
However I will not let anyone stab me with one while I'm lying down.

I am well aware of why; as I spent a lot of time in hospitals as a kid I got used to it very quickly. I was not at all afraid of anything they did to me BUT staff who didn't know me just assumed I'd freak out. They insist that my grandmother hold me down for blood draws. My grandmother told them that she didn't need to but they said they would kick us out if she didn't. I understood what needles were, I didn't understand why I was being held down so I'd kick and scream (of course only encouraging the if idiot staff.)

I also remember that even back then it was about control. ( No idea how that developed os young) If I were lying down or unable to move I couldn't run or fight back. I am pretty sure this is why today my only phobia is claustrophobia; no where to go, no room to move. I feel cornered.

The funny thing about my being so claustrophobic is that I have no other phobias. I am fearless to a probably unhealthy degree. I just...don't react to things that I probably should. Something dangerous and unexpected happens, people running and screaming in all directions and I just....sort of stand there, sipping my iced coffee thinking " Lol, people."

Probably sounds like I'm bragging but I know it isn't a good thing. We are pack animals for a reason. Maybe this itself is a result of sort of phobia. Expression? Or even and extent of the control issue " You can't MAKE me react like everyone else." Anyway, it's probably unhealthy and will be the death of me.

 

[The Cat]

What do you think causes a phobia?
Different things, as many have said I think a specific trauma could certainly cause a phobia; but in my own personal experience; phobias are cultivated. Maybe in early childhood, maybe just day after day, either way I recall all of them being creeping things that settled slowly in over time and various... experiences.
Do you have any phobias?
Every now and then.
What is your experience with phobias?
More extensive than I'd like. Fear is a shape shifting shadow that stretches in all directions; I've grown up in its cloying embrace, It has been both tormentor and teacher, like a family legacy passed down from one generation to another...
Do you believe they can be cured?
They can be...faced, battled, and overcome to an extent. But you know what they say about staring into abysses and fighting monsters... (this is personally subjective here, I somehow doubt everyone has this outlook)
How do you manage a phobia?
Different ways. Mostly I try to understand them.
What are some unique phobias in your eyes?
They're all unique imo.

 

[Snow as White]

Alright to me, Phobias are one of the most irritating yet fascinating things of the human mind.

What do you think causes a phobia?
Do you have any phobias?
What is your experience with phobias?
Do you believe they can be cured?
How do you manage a phobia?
What are some unique phobias in your eyes?

I feel like I have borderline phobias. While I adore traveling, I hate the sensation of take off on planes, specifically the sensation of being pulled up and then the plane slows down a bit and it feels, to me, like we are falling out of the sky. I know intellectually what is happening in the plane because I researched it in hopes that if I knew more info I could talk myself down. But nope. Every damn time the first 10 mins of a flight are one long circle of hell.

Then we get to a certain height and the plane levels off more and I am fine. turbulance midflight? no big deal. landing? shrug. it's just that first part of the flight. my only recourse is to turn music up really loud and read a book/play a phone game to try and overload myself with physical sounds so i am distracted. sort of kind of works.

My cause, I think, is just a weird desire to be in control of a situation that I both cannot be in control of and have no business even contemplating being in control of.

---
i think phobias can be managed with help through cognitive behavior therapy.

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[Yuurei]

I feel like I have borderline phobias. While I adore traveling, I hate the sensation of take off on planes, specifically the sensation of being pulled up and then the plane slows down a bit and it feels, to me, like we are falling out of the sky. I know intellectually what is happening in the plane because I researched it in hopes that if I knew more info I could talk myself down. But nope. Every damn time the first 10 mins of a flight are one long circle of hell.

Then we get to a certain height and the plane levels off more and I am fine. turbulance midflight? no big deal. landing? shrug. it's just that first part of the flight. my only recourse is to turn music up really loud and read a book/play a phone game to try and overload myself with physical sounds so i am distracted. sort of kind of works.

My cause, I think, is just a weird desire to be in control of a situation that I both cannot be in control of and have no business even contemplating being in control of.

---
i think phobias can be managed with help through cognitive behavior therapy.

---

I have a similar but somewhat more....specific ( rediculous) phobia. I am fine with planes-except going over the ocean. It feel like...nonexistence to me. You’re just...nowhere. I don’t know why that bothers me so much. It’s pretty dumb. Especially since I love to travel.


In my super-yuppy home we have many near by spas with sensory deprivation tanks. My friends decided to try them and suggested I go with to help with my phobia...of of small places and nothingness my response was something like “ I swear to god if you try to put me in one of those things I will cut your pretty faces!”

I imagine something like that-coupled with therapy-could work wonders for phobias it doesn't immediately trigger.

 

[Galena]

Cant think of just one thing that causes a phobia. Trauma absolutely can. Other times a personality just seems to congeal around one thing - the nature just doesn't happen to mesh with one at all. But then maybe that is unremebered trauma.

I have...a share of them. Needles, death, disease, but not spiders anymore. Spiders actually ended when I was bitten by one for real. It was literally a caricature experience - I turned over to find it on my pillow, as big as my palm. Didn't feel the bite, discovered it immediately after leaping up. The spider was gone before I could identify whether it was a harmless type or a type where you should go to the doctor if the bite starts acting up, so I had to wait, terrified.

Nothing happened.

Since then, they are one of my favorite creatures, even one that I identify with deeply.

 

[Redbone]

Fearful Memories Passed Down to Mouse Descendants - Scientific American

I found this pretty interesting.

I have a phobia of spiders. I'm utterly terrified of them. Even a picture can set me off.

One of the worst things about having this is people make fun of it. It's not fun panicking over something like this. It's not helpful or funny when people show pictures or the object saying "it's no big deal! it's just a little spider...it won't hurt you!" None of that matters.

 

[Population: 1]

Heights. Although it’s situational. I can glance over a mountainside drop and be fine. I look out a 50th floor window in a skyscraper and instant vertigo. I think it’s because a man made structure clearly defines visually the sense of altitude.

And I F-ing hate spiders! Although I go into kill mode unless it’s tarantula sized or bigger. Then I’m thinking handguns and hand grenades to dispatch that SOB.

 

[Frosty]

Snakes are about my only phobia. And I guess public speaking. But that feels more fear-y than phobia like.