When I was little, I made the mistake of watching a YouTube video with giant, car-sized spiders, and it completely ruined me. I spent nights terrified they were coming for me, and all these years later, the fear hasn't faded at all. Even seeing a random photo of a spider makes me scream, bolt out of the room, and inspect every corner before I can relax. What kind of phobias have you guys developed over the years?

I have arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), though small spiders don't scare me that much like big ones. I also have claustrophobia. I usually avoid lift even if I have to climb up or down almost 30 floors.

I have acrohphobia. Though I don't know wheather it's properly acrohphobia or not, I am not specifically afraid of heights that much, rather I am afraid of edges. Standing at the edges of tall buildings or cliffs of mountain usually scare me. Even watching people casually standing or sitting at the edges makes my feet and palm cold. I don't get it how do some people do it so casually. Is it actually possible to overcome any of these?

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(This post has been approved by the mods.)

Hi everyone, I am dealing with severe health anxiety right now. 7 days ago, I got a scratch on my leg. The biggest issue for me is the uncertainty—I don't even know for sure if it was purely superficial or deeper, because my anxiety keeps second-guessing everything.

​Now, 7 days have passed, and I've been spiraling, feeling random muscle aches in my thighs and knees (probably from stress/tension), and panicking about tetanus. For context, I received a Tetanus-Diphtheria vaccine last year at school.

​Has anyone else dealt with this exact uncertainty-driven health anxiety loop where you don't even trust your own assessment of a wound? How do you break out of it? Any advice would really help.

I have been a phlebotomist a very long time. I love my job. I love drawing blood. I love my precision with sticks and the site of blood doesn't bother me.

Fast forward to recently. I had a baby 6 months ago and the site of my own period blood makes me so sick and queasy as if I'm going to pass out.

It's unusually heavy and it's accompanied by total brain fog. I did absolutely nothing all day. This is my second period after the baby (comes later if you're breastfeeding) and I feel trapped. The brain fog is terrible, the anxiety, the hormones and the blood! Don't even get me started of a bit of blood gets on my hands.

I'm screaming bloody murder. No pun intended.

I feel crazy for even typing this as I understand it's basically an oxymoron.

I have a phobia of a specific insect. I realize that my phobia is irrational. I would like to be strong and overcome it. I went to psychologist many years ago and didn’t realize the treatment was exposure therapy and that I would need to come in contact with it. I went to 2 sessions and quit. It’s usually not an issue bc I don’t really see this insect, so my life is fine. I saw one yesterday and I’m doing a lot of things to remedy the situation, so it doesn’t become a nightmare for me. If anyone was successfully treated please share your story. I can move, but the reality is that any apartment building can have it. I’m not ready to buy a single family home-where I think it would be safer. I honestly hate all large bugs and in a single family home I may not have one variety but I can have others.

TW: Talk about knee injuries, brief mentions of emetophobia triggers (nothing that graphic/detailed)

I've had pretty severe genuphobia (fear of knees/knee movements/knee injuries) for the majority of my life (since around age 11 or 12). I only just realized that there is a name for it and that it counts as a phobia. For me, this entails nausea, panic, and sometimes even dry heaving at anything related to knee injuries. I can only handle brief mentions like "ACL injury" or "knee dislocation" - Anything more in depth or graphic (even just describing injuries as "slipping out of place" or "tear" or "subluxation") triggers it. Knee dislocations are the most triggering, other injuries aren't as bad.

I know a lot of people with phobias don't know the cause of their phobias or might not even have a reason for it, but I know exactly where my phobia comes from. I have genetic knee issues that have caused countless and frequent knee dislocations over my life, until I had intensive double knee surgery at age 17. I would describe these constant knee injuries as very traumatic, hence the severe phobia. My first dislocation was when I was around 4 or 5 years old while I was on a walk in the park with my family. My father, whom I inherited my knee issues from, sat me down to explain what happened and told me that I would likely experience many more knee dislocations and sprains over the course of my life. Luckily, I have not had a single dislocation since a few days after my first knee surgery! That's years ago now!

Funnily enough, talking about my knee surgeries doesn't bother me at all. I really enjoy talking about them because of how drastically they improved my life. Getting double knee surgery is tied with moving in with my partner for the place of best decision I've ever made.

Unfortunately, the topic of knee injuries is unavoidable, especially when some of my loved ones have their own joint issues and I also have mine. Earlier this year, my partner had his first dislocation. Since I have a lot of experience with knee dislocations, he asked me if it was dislocated, so I looked at it for him and it was indeed dislocated. Before I could answer him, I started having a panic attack and ran to the bathroom and started dry heaving into the toilet. I scared the shit out of him from how freaked out I was!

However, I've found some ways to ease my phobia a bit. First of all, I am very upfront with my close friends and family that I absolutely cannot handle discussions about knee injuries unless absolutely necessary. This is a very firm boundary that I fiercely enforce for my well being. I also warn them that I will 100% have a panic attack if they have a knee injury and I am present for it. Most importantly though, I keep myself thoroughly informed on how to prevent knee injuries and what to do if I or someone else experiences one. That way, even if I am freaking the hell out, I can be proactive in minimizing the severity and duration of the injury. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? I'd rather be the best person around to help in the case of a knee injury than the alternative: throw up, run away, and let the injury get worse (which just makes me freak out even more).

Anyway, that's my ramble about my genuphobia. If anyone has any questions about my experience, feel free to ask! I know it's a pretty uncommon phobia, so I'm more than happy to talk about what it's like. However, please do put it in spoiler text if you want to say anything more than a mention about knee injuries, LOL.

I used to have very severe emetophobia when i was little. I'm talking about going to the bathroom EVEY SINGLE NIGHT because i genuinely felt like i was going to throw up. It was definitely from the fear, i knew it back then too, but it still felt exactly as real as actually feeling like you need to throw up. As i grew up, things got better, and i now don't pani as much when something makes me nauseous, or when i kinda feel like throwing up. But i DO still feel very scared when i think about throwing up, my heart still beatz very fast uncontrollably and when it actually gets bad and i trulty see that I'm probably actually going to throw up, i do get just as terrified as i used to get as a kid and can't help but have a panic attack. But it doesn't happened before that because i mostly kinda manage to calm my self down, even if my heart still beats fast. I also still get nauseous from very small things like eating other people's food mostly and seeing someone's chewed food snd stuff, yk... so, Did i just become braver and know how to deal with it now or is it's just a fear now and i grew it out? (๑¯﹏¯๑)💧

TW: insects/critters, financial abuse?, consequences of childhood poverty and emotional abuse.

I grew up in poverty in a house that wasn't actually a house (don't want to go into detail) and was instead pretty much a shack that was one with the environment. My father was emotionally abusive and manipulative and insisted on being the only breadwinner despite refusing to find work. Despite my constant fear and discomfort growing up in that, I did decently well dealing with all of the creatures and insects that were present 24/7.

However, insects/critters getting into the house is now my #1 flashback trigger. For the past few years, I've lived in a regular rent home with my mom. We've accumulated clutter now, but we keep the house pretty clean (not living in filth). We live in a hot region of the US, so lizards and bugs wander in sometimes through pretty standard means (e.g. slipping through when we're entering/exiting the house, cracks under baseboards due to funky levelling).

I become completely inconsolable when I see anything in the house. I panic and freeze. I stop speaking. I curl up on the floor sobbing and heaving. I immediately feel unsafe and get flooded with thoughts that I'm back at square one in my shitty old shack and I'll never in my life be able to truly leave it. I don't rest until it's out or someone kills it to my dismay. My memories flash in my head. It feels like I age regress. I get nightmares somewhat often. I used to get hallucinations for days/weeks after, but those have thankfully slowed down over the years.

Something always goes wrong when I clean. Maybe a lizard comes out of hiding or a roach crawls out of some dark place. I've tried over and over and over to push through it, but I can't anymore. My mom doesn't really understand my problems and isn't the best person for me to confide in. The past few months I have accepted defeat and I don't clean unless a trusted friend is with me, but even then it is so hard to prepare myself for the hyper vigilance and constant jumping as I do it. And I can't keep relying on others when they have their own busy schedules and jobs. I end up just sitting on my ass all week deeply depressed until someone can help me, and only so much can be done in a few hours.

I can't function anymore. My work room is completely filled with stuff I need to go through, but I need to work in it asap. And since I'm 23 living with my mom, my whole life (including tools, supplies, etc.) has to be contained to my 90 sq ft bedroom and the 90 sq ft guest room. I'm trying to move out since I'm definitely outgrowing the space, but it's a long and expensive process. I'm doing what I can. My ideal living situation would be minimal and near empty so I can see every nook and cranny. My fear completely controls me.

Please don't tell me bugs and lizards aren't a big deal. I know that they are innocent creatures just trying to get through life as we are and I don't want them to be hurt. My mom killed a lizard once while I was having a flashback and I was a mess the rest of the night with intense guilt. I beg for her to not kill them. I already know my phobia is unreasonable, but it stems from trauma and I'm not at a place where I can control it. I recently got insurance and want to speak with my new PCP about getting treatment for CPTSD, but I'm addressing physical health issues first.

I'm looking for some gentle advice or to at least know I'm not alone. I'm trying my best. Thank you for your support.

I’ve played video games for as long as I can remember. But recently I’ve noticed in open world games, or in games where a fall can be fatal, I get this weird urge to look away and it makes me physically uncomfortable. I’ve never had an issue with motion sickness or heights. I’ve flown in helicopters traveled by plane, ziplined, done very high drop ins on a skateboard. It’s only with video games. Can someone make something of this?

I took a remote job outside the city because I know I hate tall buildings and elevators. But now I'm being asked to go on a retreat downtown and the meetings will be on the 30th floor. I literally have not been able to stop thinking about this and I am terrified. I don't think I can do it. Should I quit my job? I need the salary. I even asked as part of the interview process if they ever go downtown or have meetings downtown and they said no.

Alright, I’ve had an irrational fear of thunderstorms ever since I was little. But, it only happens when I’m home alone. Any time I’m home alone and a storm is forecasted I’ll get a panic attack and check radar nonstop.

Are there any tips to help me, because I live in Illinois, and thunderstorms are basically normal here?

Hey y'all, I'm 20(F) And I think I might have chronophobia and I want help managing it and also want to know if I'm the only one who does this or not (and also if this even is a phobia at all)

Basically I am terrified of time passing, especially when I have a job— at the moment I'm working at a Dollar Tree, but if I'm scheduled for that day or even the next day I start getting incredibly anxious about how much time passes between then to the point where I get anxiety attacks or panic attacks (I have both PTSD and anxiety, most of the time it's closer to my panic attacks). I panic about this because in my head I don't have a lot of time to myself or to do homework which leads me to become 'paralyzed' where I'll just lay in bed not doing anything,even if I WANT to be productive I just cannot do anything. I even struggle to take showers or make dinner because I don't have much time until I have to work again("I only have 3 hours before I work, I can't eat because then I'll probably only have an hour left"). Sometimes I can't even use the bathroom because in my head that'll take 5 minutes and that's 5 minutes loss of my personal time.

It's getting to the point where I'm constantly checking the time when I'm hanging out with friends and I just can't stop being anxious about how much time has gone by.

Not only that but I'm incredibly behind on my college work because of it, even though I want to do my schoolwork these paralyzing episodes cause me to not be able to do any work (today because I worked 1-5pm, I couldn't get up to even go to class because I was worried about time passing and not having time to myself)

Does anyone else do this?? How do I fix it?? It's ONLY when I have a job too, when I'm unemployed I'm perfectly fine (the only time I'm anxious about time whenever I'm unemployed is thinking about the future and where I'll be, I still do that it's just mostly the thing this post is about that happens now that I have a job)

I can stand them watching from a distance but approaching/touching is just smth I can’t and its annoying cuz I may have to wake my parents at night for it. Highly appreciated!

As werid as this sounds I cannot look at my veins or even other peoples without freaking out. It affects me so much that I have a break down when I have to get a iv or bloodwork I just can't deal with somthing in my vein I've tried numming cream and asking for the butterfly needle but nothing helps. I can have normal vaccines fine but the thought of something going in my vein makes me feel sick. Does anyone else deal with this and have suggestions that can help?

I'm nearly 21 years old and have an EXTREME phobia of mascots. It's the strangest thing because I know it won't hurt me, and I know it's just a person in a suit, but ever since I was born I've been absolutely petrified by them. Not just "that's creepy", like full blown anxiety attack at the sight of them and will run like my life depends on it, even though I know it doesn't. It makes no sense, especially because I absolutely love Halloween, especially the creepy stuff: Dressing up in scary costumes for haunted houses, making people jump (not actually traumatize anyone of course), etc. But Micky Mouse? HECK no.

I recently started collage and one of the top 3 reasons I picked the one I did was because they didn't have a mascot and haven't for longer then I've been alive. I was so excited, but cut to a month into my first semester, and they announce that we now have one. And let me just say, it is one of the creepiest mascots I've ever seen.

To break down the true severity, the school posted sneak peek pictures, and it looked like it could possibly be a mascot. I had 2 anxiety attacks in 6 hours because it looked like it had a chance of being one. The next day, I thought the peek was something else they announced, and was so relived. That night, I find out that the 'big announcement' is coming that night. What happened? Another anxiety attack right around 24 hours after the last one. After I saw the official post of the mascot itself, I fell into one of the worst panic attacks I've ever had. My roommate (who is absolutely amazing) had to calm me down when she got home from the event where they announced it.

I've been really struggling, even to just leave my dorm. I reached out to all my professors and explained the situation, and every single one was extremely supportive and understanding, one even offered to try to get the mascots schedule for me without me even asking (love my professors).

I reached out to the disabilities office as well with one request: A weekly update on the mascots schedule. One email a week just telling me where it'll be and what events it'll be attending or any other campus things it'll be doing. That's it. Nothing insane. Maybe 5-10 minutes a week to write the email. As much as I'd love if they just got rid of it completely, I know it's not gonna happen, so this is the best thing I can do right now.

They got back to me and said I had to get an official diagnosis (which is fair) but then I have to fill out all kinds of stuff, and they have to have a meeting to decide what's 'reasonable.' I have no idea how long this is gonna take, but when I reached out to the counseling office to get the paper I need, they told me to call them, and no one answered even though I called 5 minutes after I got the email.

I get they have protocols, and it's understandable that they have to follow them, but what I'm asking for isn't insane. I'm not demanding some insane ask, I'm asking for one email a week so I can walk campus in peace. I even put in the email exactly what happened with the anxiety and panic attacks, even saying I did not feel safe walking campus, and they can't do anything until I get an official diagnosis, but yet won't answer their phones.

We haven't gotten me help in the past because it was never a day to day problem in my life. Even in high school, I just didn't go to sports games or assemblies and I was totally fine, never even saw it in person.

I'm trying to get into therapy, my school offers it for free so I'd prefer that, but can't even think about any exposure therapy without getting super anxious, no matter how slow the process.

All in all, I just need help. (Sorry this is so long, I'm kinda ranting as well).

Please no hate, I am aware of how incredibly stupid/life threatening this is.

I was diagnosed with Epilepsy at the start of the year. I am meant to take Keppra but I have an extreme phobia of medication. I have been lying to everyone but my sister and saying I’m taking it when I am not. I am completely aware of how idiotic it is.

The thought of putting any medication in my body causes me to shake with anxiety. I am far more terrified of medication than I am of seizures or SUDEP, which is irrational and illogical.

Every day I tell myself today is the day, and then find an excuse to put it off. My sister is really helpful and reminds me every day but I always have a reason to delay it.

I have now dug myself a hole, where my “meds” are being increased because I am still having multiple seizures a day and around 10+ while I sleep, and I don’t know what to do. I know I have to tell them I haven’t been taking it, and then I have to take it but I cannot bring myself to put it in my body. I won’t even take a Panadol, that’s how ridiculous my phobia is. I am allergic to Codiene, penicillin, Roxythromycin and wasps, so I think that’s where this has all stemmed from because I have had multiple allergic reactions before.

Does anyone else here have a medication phobia and what can I do?

as a child my baby teeth always fell out while I’m eating or brushing my teeth and thats shit still haunts me till this day because wdym im in my 20s and still whenever im brushing or eating I become so anxious about them falling out and go straight to the mirror to check on them I don’t even eat anything crispy or is a bit hard to chew honestly most of my food are drinks im basically living on juices and I always feel embarrassed when im in public place opening the camera while im eating just to watch my teeth

I am not irrationally afraid of dolls, but the site of them and their dead little eyes is so unsettling. My sister used to put American Girl dolls or a raggedy Ann in my bed when I was young and asleep. I would wake up in the middle of the night and my orangish 1990s nightlight would be illuminating their creepy little face and eyes.

Fast forward to now. My mother in law lives in a old home from the 1800s and for Halloween makes life sized dolls. I dont have a major panic attack, but I opened a door to our guest room and almost threw hands when there were 8 or 9 realistic but dead looking dolls all taller than me staring at me.

I dont think it will let me post the photo I took, but I gave it an ohhhhhh f this and my wife was laughing her ass off. I went back in and took pics with my wife and MIL later, but damn near had a heart attack.

I'm tired, tired tired, tired. In general I'm afraid of fireworks, firecrackers, loud sudden noise of that kind, balloon too but it takes another level. I cannot look at them, I cannot smell them, just if they are away but in my field of vision it's too much.

We were at a restaurant with my family, and this restaurant have balloons (so many restaurant and shops have balloon I want to cry. Aahh help.) And of course children play with them, but I know they are not careful. But the idea IT MAY make a loud noise is too much. I have to turn away, but today was especially hard.

I had to go to the outside part to eat alone and my family didn't want to come, and they said that people were watching me and it was awkward for them.

I'm just tired, I just wants to be able to enter a shop without being afraid. It's humiliating.

I believe that its genetic because ive never got any trauma about this, it happens at any part of my body, when im in the shower i fear that my skin will be pulled off when ı'm not looking, i Tried to move the top of my hand a little but it does not work, my brain signs it as a threath, when i wash my hands it gets Uncomfortable too.

25F. I don't know if it's phobia or anxiety but no one around me seems to get it and I'd love to know if anyone else feels like this. There are multiple things that give me this intense fear which causes my stomach to physically turn and leaves me breathless for a second or 2.

So this first one I know of since I was a very young child before the Internet was what it is now. We had Google earth on my dad's laptop and I remember it was fascinating using the street view option but everytime whoever was controlling it had to zoom out to get a satellite view of the area i would have to close my eyes or fully look away because looking at me made me feel intense discomfort and fear. You would think it would go away with age but its still the same. My Google maps are set to standard 2d view and if I accidentally click on the sateline view i straight away have to turn my phone away. It's terrifying to me and i kind of hold it far away from my face while squinting my eyes while trying to fix it, to protect myself. I dont know what it is I think maybe just seeing the dark waters or even the view of forests and especially the ocean... oh my God even thinking about it makes me feel weird. The strange thing is I've been to many countries by plane and I am not scared to look out the window so it is not necessarily fear of heights.

I also noticed I had this feeling once when I was taking a bath in my early teens and I dipped half of my face under water, so my eyes were above water. I was in full control and i was just bored and did it for no more than a second but suddenly I got this intense feeling that made me jump out the bath as if I was being waterboarded. I come from a coastal city so my childhpod summers were spent at the beach, swimming with friends so it couldn't be fear of water. I still swim now and again in a swimming pool and I'm not scared to fully go underwater if I don't think about it, but when I am at a beach I get that same fear creep up if I look at the water while im in it and realise how massive it is and small I am in it.

Today I randomly googled platypus to remind myself what they look like and Google has this option that allows you too see their real size by turning your camera on and it places the animal in the room with you. I know they're not a scary animal whatsoever but I had a feeling it would make me feel uneasy and still I turned my camera on and looked at it in my room for like 5 seconds but then I tried to move it and the screen glitched causing it to go slightly larger which scared the shit out of me. Exact same feeling, made my stomach turn and I had to turn my phone away as I would with the Google maps thing.

Lastly I get that same feeling when I watch diving videos or anything deep water or even videos of that kookaburra bird doing its bird call that people find cute. I find it terrifying to the point I'm scared to even turn it on now to remind myself what it sounded like.

I feel stupid because most of these things are on a screen and I dont know why they cause such an intense reaction. I dont even know if I should call it fear but it's a very strong feeling and i dont think all of the above are even necessarily related to eachother. It doesn't really affect me day to day, I'm just wondering what it could be, is there a way to explain it and does it happen to anyone else?

Im scared of wasps, large mosquitoes, roaches and so on and today i was in my room and i heard buzzing like a mosquito but louder and i turned on the lights and there was a large mosquito flying next to my bed and i panicked and took a pillow to try to kill it but i couldnt find it and i was searching around my room for minutes and when i couldnt find it i was under my covers and i was shaking so much then i started crying and now im too scared to go to sleep because i always think they will crawl out of somewhere or fall from the ceiling and whenever i feel something tingling i get scared and think its a bug, global warming has made insects bigger so now theres a lot of insects, especially wasps getting inside my house and i cant do shit in peace because im so scared and i feel embarrassed who the hell acts like that around bugs, none of my family members do i am the only one who does,i am fucking weak how do i stop being so scared of insects and is it a phobia or just an intense fear?