[Troubled.One]

I figure that we should have a thread specifically for all phobias. Everyone can share what phobias or fears that we have and if you have a method that you have to help you cope with it, then please do tell. This way, when people stumble upon this thread and they have a phobia/fear, then they can read the posts and they may see their fear and the coping strategies will serve as good as advice. But, if you don't have a coping strategy, you can still post your fears, its a nice reminder that we are not alone with our fears and that there are others with the same fears.

[Troubled.One]

I'll go first:

• Pediophobia (the fear of dolls (especially old-fashioned china dolls))
• How I cope: I dont, really. I just try to avoid most dolls and try not to look them in the eyes.
• Automatonophobia: the fear of humanoid figures (especially maniquinns and ventriloquist's dummies)
• How I cope: Same as above
• Arachniphobia (the fear of spiders)
• How I cope: It's hard to do, but I just avoid the corners of rooms and the ceilings of closets, and any place that may have cobwebs. And if you see a spider, then try to stay calm and get someone else to kill it.
• Octophobia (the fear of the figure or number 8)
• How I cope: It's virtually unabvoidable, but just try to ignore that number.
• Aerophobia (the fear of flying (especially in airplanes, thats why I have never gone on an airplane before))
• How I cope: I dont fly on planes. I just don't. But if you do have to go on a plane, I would imagine that I would just try to sleep through the flight, so you don't know your on it.
• Scopophobia/Ophthalmophobia (the fear of being stared at)
• How I cope: I just try to convince myself that no one is looking at me. (I have this fear because I dont like being judged and I have an extremely low self esteem.)
• Acrophobia (the fear of heights or being high up)
• How I cope- If I do have to be high up, ( my school has 3 levels, and a main staircase that overlooks from 3rd floor all the way to 1sr floor, so i face this problem nearly daily) then seriously, just don't look down, you will get vertigo and feel dizzy and scared. Just don't look down.

[Troubled.One]

(To make a bulleted list: (press ENTER) [ list ] (press ENTER) [ * ] your phobia here (press ENTER) [ * ] how you cope here (press ENTER) [ * ] your phobia here (press ENTER) [ * ] how you cope here (press ENTER) [ / list ](but just dont have all of the spaces between the symbols)

Thanks for starting this thread.

I have a fear of being alone at home in the dark at night (without my husband). For some reason, being alone in the dark in the early morning doesn't bother me. I never used to be afraid of this. This phobia has only manifested itself within the past few months.

How I cope is to keep the t.v. on for noise, a bunch of lights on, keep the dogs near (I especially am comforted if one of the dogs is on my lap), and lock my bedroom door.

[Teacup381]

I'm terrified of getting abandoned. Even if my partner and I have a small disagreement, I'll jump to the conclusion that he's going to leave me and it overwhelms me. I've been trying really hard not to jump to that conclusion but it's super difficult. I don't really know how to cope with it

[CosmicRose]

I'm terrified of a very structured work schedule, embarrassment at work, messing up at work, and having coworkers or bosses dislike me. The weird part is, all of my anxiety is due to work. I don't have these thoughts when I'm out in the general public like at the grocery store or driving my car. My fear is so great about work that I have avoided college and working in the past. Not good! Really trying to change this about myself.
I have no idea why this is such a big deal to me, it really sucks and even though the fear feels very real, I intellectually know how stupid it is at the same time. Scared of embarrassment, messing up at work so I avoid it completely? Not logical, but many times fears aren't very logical.

[LiLiStar4]

I would say my number one phobia is agoraphobia (fear of wide, open spaces).
It truly disrupts my life.
While I am no longer housebound (because I was at one time), I still struggle to go any further than maybe 20 minutes (driving) away from my house. I LOATHE highways, I detest bigger cities (tall buildings freak me out. Plus, you're up high on the highway, and it freaks me out to no end), and I hate driving in the country (because of all the open space, obviously).
I've gotten better. I can now drive to a few places near me (again, roughly 20 min. either way), whereas I used to only be able to drive right here in town (that was when I could even get myself out of the house).
Medication is largely what has helped me. Still, I struggle.
How do I cope? Mostly, I just grit my teeth and bare it. :-/ Most of my family lives at least 45 min. away, so on holidays, I pretty much just have to suck it up and deal with the anxiety/panic attacks. It's hell.
I'm really not sure how to overcome my agoraphobia. If it's by exposure, then I should have been "cured" years ago.

Anyone else struggle with this to this extent?

[HiCCup]

I haven't researched any of my phobias and am unsure if they are qualified to be considered phobias, but they definitely disrupt my day to day routine. My biggest fear is of this that swing and sometimes things that move constantly in very repetitive motion. Logically, it makes no sense. But something like a pendulum triggers panic, instant and severe. The obvious solution is that I just avoid all of that stuff, hoping to avoid an accidental encounter.. wouldn't consider it coping though. My other very prominent phobia is of dust. I clean my home incessantly to prevent it from being able to begin accumulating. But this almost feels like an ocd tendency? I waste way too much time cleaning and am terrified doing it. Usually suited up to prevent a spec of dust from landing anywhere on me. My last is most embarrassing and I never really learned how to cope. Toilets freak me out. I don't like the look or sound of them and a lot of the time I can't go because sitting on it makes me extremely anxious. Again, logically makes no sense. I'm in no danger, yet my body thinks otherwise.

[LiLiStar4]

Originally Posted by HiCCup

I'm in no danger, yet my body thinks otherwise.

This is a fact I struggle with every day. I do not understand anxiety disorder, even though I have had it for half of my life.

Why do I perceive certain things as a "threat" when I KNOW there's no logical explanation? Why did this disorder just come on me all of a sudden one month before my 16th birthday?

I'm STILL trying to figure out the answer to these questions over a decade later, and it's as annoying to me now as it was then.

My hope is that, one day, I'll be "normal" again, will FEEL normal again. It'd be nice to be able to get out in the world and just live like a regular person, no anxiety. I honestly feel that anxiety is cruel, it robs you of your joy, your peace, your normality, your LIFE. I have to actively plan AROUND my anxiety disorder. Even with medication, I have to do this.

I'm guessing many of us do. Hopefully, one day, we'll all get this anxiety thing figured out. Until then, we will all just meet here and do our best to make sense of it. lol

[CosmicRose]

Originally Posted by LiLiStar4

This is a fact I struggle with every day. I do not understand anxiety disorder, even though I have had it for half of my life.

Why do I perceive certain things as a "threat" when I KNOW there's no logical explanation? Why did this disorder just come on me all of a sudden one month before my 16th birthday?

I'm STILL trying to figure out the answer to these questions over a decade later, and it's as annoying to me now as it was then.

My hope is that, one day, I'll be "normal" again, will FEEL normal again. It'd be nice to be able to get out in the world and just live like a regular person, no anxiety. I honestly feel that anxiety is cruel, it robs you of your joy, your peace, your normality, your LIFE. I have to actively plan AROUND my anxiety disorder. Even with medication, I have to do this.

I'm guessing many of us do. Hopefully, one day, we'll all get this anxiety thing figured out. Until then, we will all just meet here and do our best to make sense of it. lol

My anxiety disorder happened out of the blue too, right when I turned 14. I think it might have something to do with hormones. I also feel like it robbed me of my joy and my life. It kept me locked up in my room unable to face normal day to day activities that other people my age should have enjoyed like going to school or forming friendships.
I still struggle with not feeling "normal" at age 22. It's been a long battle. Every medication I've taken hasn't helped that I've noticed...and I also feel like I have to "plan around my anxiety". Other people who don't have anxiety, don't understand it. Even dating is hard with an anxiety disorder, especially when the guy you're dating is outgoing and uninhibited. I struggle in work environments too, and even college classes provoke anxiety for me...anxiety is cruel.