Phobias?

Does anyone have any advice on how you deal with specific phobias?
What if it involves a real life threat such as death or germs? Hard to avoid necessarily. I'm struggling. Thanks and love to all! <3

I, too, have fears and anxiety. I have some OCD. So I'd like to follow your thread.


The only way I know to conquer fear of death is through spirituality/believing in an afterlife or reincarnation.


It's unfortunate for me that ...I guess... I believe in nothing, not even atheism.... I simply "don't know".


This bothers me because when I think about the death of a loved one or of myself, I become quite deathly afraid of the inevitable demise/death (please pardon the pun). I am, quite frankly, scared to death.


I feel this fear robs me of the present moment and the gifts life has to offer.


My fear is so strong when I happen to think of it and my anxiety rises to the point where I feel I'm going to go crazy. Lose my mind, etc. And I often resort to taking an ativan and trying to distract myself with something else. It is very unsettling.


I wish I could believe in something, but it's not like I can just start believing when I don't.

Found this... it's a bit of a New Age list, but might be helpful:

The Top Ten Spiritual Teachers in the World, Past, and Present

Thank you Gal! I really appreciate you replying to my thread.
I completely understand, it is the same with me as I am an atheist. But I am hoping to find another solution to my crippling fears.
I'm sorry you can relate to this OCD type thinking. I worry my OCD has become more severe with age and time.
I am looking to get on medication for my anxiety, hopefully this will help.
Thank you for the list! I will take a look!
Hopefully more people will reply to this thread and give us some other ideas.
All the love to you Gal!

x - Ruby

Thank you so much to your reply, Ruby... I feel less alone. Thank you!

As you say, perhaps some other people will give us some other ideas/solutions.

But, I will think more about it, as it's just plain fascinating. This is a chance to dissect my OCD and examine my fears, instead of trying to run from them or drown them out with banal distractions.

I also was wondering whether you might be able to relate to this article:

Existential Depression in Gifted Children - Sofo Archon

When I get overly fussy about wanting to avoid "contamination," I remind myself of how impossible it is to do that. We live our lives immersed in a sea of germs. Germs inhabit every square inch of our skin. Internally, we carry around more germ cells than however many cells make up our human body. With every breath we take, we inhale germs and mold spores. Every surface of every object in our environment is crawling with the same. Yet, we manage to survive. We are made to coexist with all this microscopic life.

So I try to be reasonably careful in the kitchen with the way I handle food. But I expect my immune system to do its job. Now and then some pathogen will get past the defenses, but most likely won't kill me.

No point getting all hung up about trying to avoid what can't really be avoided.

My main phobia is social phobia. I worry about saying or doing the "wrong" thing. Sometimes I feel I have made a social "faux pas." When I get feeling guilty that I've been socially incorrect, I remind myself that I didn't kill anyone with my poorly chosen comment or whatever it was. If I was awkward, others will get over it.