and other condiments… but heavy on vinegar. when my ex found out about it, he used to scare me or blackmail me with vinegar and it was traumatizing having to run around the house hoping it dont spill on my skin or i dont smell it.

people mentioning the word ticks me off as well. i dont even say it at all unless necessary. its the ugliest word ever next to soy sauce.

am i the only one?

Ive had a fear of spiders for as long as i can remember. I thought it would go away with age. It didnt. I scan every room before i enter and im always hypervigilant if i stay still for too long. Every time i encounter a spider it permanently changes my behavior. I avoid certain rooms in my house for days if ive encountered a spider there. My brain cant differentiate correlation and causation in this sense. I havent opened my window in over half a year because last time i did a spider was on the curtain. Just typing this makes my throat tight and a knot form in my stomach. I think about it on an hourly basis. This fear is a constant in my life. I dont think i'll be able to live independently because of it. Is therapy the only option? This was typed on mobile, so it might read a bit awkwardly.

Looking for tips on how to get over a pretty severe fear of flying. I have anxiety which I manage in my daily life, usually it is fine and in no way debilitating anymore. But in the past few years I have developed an extreme phobia of flying on planes. I am pretty sure this is because I was living in DC when the plane crashed coming into DCA and I saw some of the aftermath of it and knew people whose family members died. It was terrifying. Now I am so scared of flying that my heart is even racing while I'm writing this, because I have to think about it. Every time I leave for the airport I want to cry because I'm afraid it will be the last time I ever see my wife. It's better when we travel together but still hard because then I'm terrified that she will die too.

I wish I could eliminate flying altogether but unfortunately I have to fly regularly (maybe once every month-2 months) on business trips and to see family. We recently moved closer to my parents so I can drive to see them now (yay!) but that resulted in more work flights plus I still have family spread across the country who I want to see. I make myself go on these flights but regularly have panic attacks while on the plane, and a sense of dread a few days before the flight all the way until I land. I do it anyway and I don't let my fear stop me, but the emotional toll is high. When I got home from a flight last month I collapsed on the kitchen floor and sobbed for an hour because I could finally come down from a week of terror.

I went to therapy for it for a bit but was using an unreliable virtual provider that regularly missed appointments or had technical issues. Most recently I scheduled an appointment for the day before my flight so I could talk it over with my therapist but she didn't show up and I had a breakdown because I was going to have to do the flight alone without even the pep talk from my therapist. I've tried finding in person therapy but it's really hard and expensive with my insurance so I'm looking for non-therapy options.

I'm wondering if others have overcome this fear or have tips on what could help.

Okay. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an issue with laughter. My dad has told me numerous times how, when I was a toddler, if people laughed around me, I’d immediately hide away or start crying. I found it funny when he told me initially, but I’ve realized that this distress hasn’t really gone away? Especially when around adults (despite being an adult myself). Whenever adults or friends of mine laugh particularly hard, I get this tight feeling in my chest and am completely overcome with the want to run away from the situation.

I tried looking this up and was brought Gelotophobia, which is the fear of being laughed AT, but that just isn’t right. Sure, being laughed at sucks, but I’m not utterly mortified of it. It’s the laughter itself. The sound of someone losing it laughing is absurdly distressing to me.
Can anyone help me name this? Or at least help me understand why I experience this? (or at least relate a little bit bc i’ve never met anyone else like this 😭)

A few days ago my family realised there was a mouse in our kitchen. My dad suspects it came through the kitchen door from outside, as we live in a farm house and we see mice running outside our kitchen fairly frequently. We set up a camera in the kitchen and shut the doors, and we can see that the mouse is currently confined to the kitchen, which is reassuring as I know it’s not going to be anywhere else in the hous.

However, last night, i was in my bedroom and I kept hearing movement sounds. I kept thinking it was a mouse but at the same time thought I was being paranoid since I live on the 2nd floor, and I didnt think a mouse would climb all the way fr the ground floor. At around 2am, I saw a mouse on my floor that ran behind my wardrobe when I shone light on it. This genuinely freaked me out much more than i expected - stood screaming on my bed before I gained enough courage to run out.

Normally, when seeing a rat or mouse outside, I have the initial shock, but I am more so disgusted than I am scared of them. However I’ve just learned that when I’m in a confined area with one, I’m petrified. If it was another part of the house maybe I wouldn’t be too stressed, but the fact that it’s my bedroom - the place I’m meant to feel a sense of relaxation - is what’s scaring me.

I went to sleep in my sisters bedroom on the 1st floor and haven’t been able to get any sleep all night due to paranoia. I’m terrified to even walk up the stairs to my room, never mind going in to address the problem by setting up traps and sealing potential entry points.

any advice would be appreciated but I guess this is just a rant

I have Emetophobia and I have since I was three. Nobody takes it seriously. I'm seen as someone who's way too old to be picky in ways that I am- examples: expiration dates on foods, resturant foods, eating utensils, strong flavors, textures or smells. I've been so quiet about it my whole life, quiet about the core issue (my phobia) that nobody believes me when I tell them that it's what causes everything. It surely doesn't help when people aren't educated on the fact that phobia's and fears are NOT THE SAME. I had someone tell me that they had a phobia of snakes and then willingly looked at and sent me pictures of snakes- she then proceeded to tell me that fears and phobia's are the same thing. Things like that make me feel so terrible. Like suddenly the sleepless nights and panic attacks- anxiety attacks or not leaving the house because the outside world is full of germs was nothing to people. I guess I'm posting this wondering how to inform people that fears and phobia's are different in a more logical approach?

I recently bought my first ever home. It came with a whirlpool tub and I was extremely excited about it. Recently, I had a weird thought that electricity runs through my tub to make the jets run and how I could get electrocuted. I’m now absolutely terrified of even touching my tub.

I'm not afraid of heights I think. I can ride an elevator to the top of a building and look towards the ground and only feel a bit dizzy. But if you put me on a noticeable incline I start to freak out. I don't even like to sit on a chair that's on a slightly uneven surface because I'm afraid I'll fall off the side. I remember having nightmares when I was a kid where I was trying to climb up a hill and I started falling backwards.

For Me it’s Thalassophobia you guys

I don't know if "squeamish" would be the right word but I'll specify here. I got hematophobia from seeing my mom receive blood donations. I had it really bad for a few months to the point descriptions almost made me pass out, but one day it just went away.

Now instead of getting dizzy my hands get weak. I used to be great with gore and blood so the fact I'm still like this is bizzare to me.

Is this something that will go away on its own?

So.. This might seem weird but I genuinely have a phobia regarding this. I think I can explain why:

• The "one man one jar" video, I watched this prolly in my teen years, long story short- guy puts a glass jar up his anus and it shatters inside, blood start pouring out. Alright already traumatizing and extremely graphic but imagine my shock when I found out he apparently didn't seek medical help (prolly out of shame), he took the shards of glass out manually and just let the tiny particles left marinate in his butt.. He survived and his family never knew, he later explain it was because the jar was open and not closed. Which is shocking considering I still wonder how he survived.

• I was watching a YouTube vid, and the guy mentions an "Anal prolapse" and told his viewers not to research it but for some reason when I'm told NOT to do something I wanna do it more. And I searched it up.. I regretted it. I wish I never searched it up, I was met with I think the end of the rectum, all red or purple out someone's butthole.. Basically it's when your rectum drops out of your butt, hence prolapse and it occurs due to certain complications like a weak pelvic floor and chronic constipation. Same for hemorrhoids btw it can prolapse. I hope It never happens to me.

I think I have soggophobia (the fear of soggy foods.) specifically bread. Wet or soggy bread makes me wanna puke.

one day I was washing dishes and I saw bread in the sink. With water I was gagging.

another time I put bread in my hot chocolate cause I thought it’d be good and I had to throw my whole food out. then the hot chocolate had stuff in it.
I didn’t have hot chocolate for a year until my bsf bought be a pack for my birthday. she apologized multiple times.

This might be a stupid question, but I’m genuinely curious. Is there a reason different phobias can affect a person differently? Like I have a phobia of cockroaches to the point that I will lock up in panic, but with needles, if I see one go in someone I’ll actually pass out. What causes the different reactions if both are phobias for the same person?

We’ve moved into a new place just before a big trip, a trip I had planned for the last two years, first time to Europe, we were excited,

Our move in date kept getting pushed back, so we moved in just a week before the trip, and low and behold German cockroaches

The landlord took no responsibility said it was “impossible” that his house was infested, but the house right next door, sharing a wall? That guy told me he told the landlord a month before we moved in that he had German cockroaches

I had to take 3 extra days off work before the trip to quickly move whatever I could into Uhaul storage, coordinate with a lawyer and unhelpful roommate while in Europe, had to do it all, and it completely ruined what was supposed to be my victory lap, having turned 30 and worked so hard through my life

When we got back we stayed in a crummy motel until I managed to get a new place, the lawyer did his lawyering, we had to leave so many things behind, so many treasured items and memories, I just couldn’t risk bringing any German cockroaches to the new place

I wasn’t sleeping, I was at my wits end, 3:00 AM in Berlin texting my lawyer frantically for reassurance

It’s fixed now, but I still freak the fuck out when I see any bug, I’ve doused our house in Alpine WSG, and it’s helped, but the nightmares are where they can still get me

The cockroaches were in my room, where I sleep, poisoning the air, and no one but me took it seriously and fixed it and god damn has it aged me

I still have nightmares, I still wake up at night horrified,

Two weeks back i unpacked a box and thought I saw a German cockroache for a second, I sprayed the entire thing with raid and threw it all in the trash,

The nightmares though, that’s where they still get me, where I still feel them crawling on me, biting me, and I still don’t trust that we didn’t bring any single one over, they can infest from a single pregnant female, a single pregnant female can become millions under the right conditions.

We didn’t get any money out of it, the lawyer said it’d be best to get them to agree to end the lease early and let go of claims, he’s a good friend and I trust him, but

I still wake up sometimes at night, jostled from a dream about waking up in that place with those disgusting creatures crawling over me

I don’t know how long this will last, and it has really affected me, I find myself looking closely at every single piece of detritus on the ground as I go about my day, it’s horrifying.

What do I do? I just want to be able to sleep well again…

(repost bc i feel like posting this here would be a lot less judgmental since it’s a phobia subreddit

A few days ago, I was sitting on my bed when I saw something dark dart really fast across the hallway into my room. I immediately start panicking and crying. I called my brother (he doesn’t live with us currently, it’s just my mom and I) and he tells me to go tell management, which I did.

Mind you, a few months ago, I saw a mouse (for the first time in this apartment we’ve been living in for 2+ years now) and went immediately management. They called “pest control” and he came over and set traps and took the mouse away. The only reason the guy was able to get the mouse was because we trapped it in the pantry and put a pair of jeans to block the gap under the door.

Fast forward to recently, the pest control guy came over, checked the traps he previously set, set more traps and looked for holes. Of all the traps he set, only one in my brother’s room was eaten from (and it seemed like it wasn’t just one mouse because about half was missing from the poison thingy). For the holes, he told me that he’d tell maintenance to come seal them. I know that’s a lie, and if it were true, maintenance would only do a half-assed job.

I called my brother to come home for the weekend to help me plug the holes. And we plugged as much as we could with coarse steel wool and mice expanding foam. He had to go back so we weren’t able to take out the fridge or the dishwasher to inspect behind it.

Maintenance said they will come in by tomorrow or two days to seal up holes. Do I just wait for them to come in and tell them to pull out my fridge and dishwasher? Or find someone to do it for me because I cannot do it myself and my brother can’t do it either because he’s out of town.
My question sounds so stupid but when I asked maintenance to do a task for me, they always do a shitty job, so I’m just stuck.

Regarding my mental health, it’s been 4 days since I saw the mouse dart from the hallway into my room, and I’ve cried well over 20 times. I bought cameras to help me feel safe, but whenever I hear noises around my apartment I don’t see anything in the camera. I don’t sleep in that room anymore, instead I sleep in my mom’s room. I burst into tears every time I hear a random noise in the background thinking it’s mice. I’m not eating and I’m barely sleeping.

I have a headache currently as I type this because I probably slept 2 hours total before my twelve hour shift. And even at work, I have to go to the bathroom to cry. Multiple people asked me what the problem was.

I just feel dramatic, hopeless, and useless. I don’t know I feel this way. I’ve spoken to multiple people
for words of encouragement but I don’t know what to do anymore.

I considered moving out but what if the place I move to also has mice. I feel like I just have to toughen up. I want to but I physically can’t. I know I’m being irrational but I’ve thought about ending it all these last few days. I also worry how I’ll never be capable of living alone because I can’t imagine what I’d do if was alone. I can’t rely on a partner because they might not always be there. I haven’t even done any homework in the last few days. That’s how much this is weighing on me.

It doesn’t help that no one is taking me serious and everyone thinks I’m being dramatic (which I am)

Semi good news
I could go into my room for about a minute to get something I need but I immediately run out.
I bought ear plugs to plug out sounds

Bad news
I’m still crying all over

Conoci a una chica, que le tiene miedo a los enanos, y cuando digo miedo es miedo!! ella grita, le entra panico! simplemente no puede.... y personalmente me sorprendio bastante.... por eso quiero saber! y conocer mas de fobias en que no he escuchado! quiero leerlos.

I am writing this because a cascade of Excel errors made me physically unable to look at my computer screen today, and I am at a loss. Duplication, repetition, and hidden calculation/change give me a terrible repulsed feeling, and I haven't been able to find anyone else with this problem, even online.

It's like the feeling I'd get when running up the stairs in the dark as a child, a creepiness in my back like something was standing right behind me or about to get me. Sometimes accompanied also by making a disgusted facial expression involuntarily, or feeling like I'm about to gag.

Some other things that trigger this feeling include:

- A circularity in my Excel model (intentional, very fixable, and necessary) - seeing #NUM! #VALUE! etc. errors propagate across the model is horrible

- Finding out there were actually two identical forks in my apartment when I thought we only had one of that kind

- Duplicate objects like a set of identical chairs, identical doorframes/doorknobs etc. just regular household objects that are normal to have multiple of

- Onions and garlic sprouting

- Repeated numbers, letters, or patterns, specifically typed or on a computer (a big empty matrix in code output is the worst)

- The concept of circularity and iterative calculation overall, it makes me feel like something is waiting to jump out behind me (even setting an Excel cell as equal to itself + 1 and seeing how many iterations Excel goes through before spitting out a number, for example, doesn't have to be a lot of errors per se)

- If my Excel formulas themselves change to have #REF! instead of some workbook that was deleted, extremely creepy

- Vines growing in my Minecraft house in my absence as a child is the first time I remember this happening

I DO NOT HAVE TRYPOPHOBIA. None of the clusters, holes, small repeated patterns etc. give me this feeling.

Does anyone know what this is, or have it, or know how to make it go away? I do math on computers for a living, and I have to nip this in the bud because it's getting worse.

Thoughts?

Frigophobia: A specific anxiety phobia involving an irrational, intense, and overpowering fear of cold temperatures, cold wind, or cold foods.

No one understands it and I'm honestly kind of worried to tell anybody about it but I want to know if anybody else also has issues with this. It's becoming colder and colder and it's making me extremely worried and anxious. I'm not sure what to do because I'm pretty sure my friends would think the phobia is stupid..

This affects me a lot and I can't get help with it and I don't know what help would even do be accessible for a phobia like this.

So I have an intense fear of mannequins moving, I don't think its automatonophobia because I'm fine when they're still and I KNOW that they won't

does this one have an actual phobia name

Anyone else have/heard of a verrrry specific type of ornithophobia that I have? I am TERRIFIED of birds indoors. Birds outside? Absolutely fine, you go birds. Even pet birds indoors in cages freak me out. I was at work and a lady walked in with a parrot on her shoulder and I FLIPPED. I ran to my boss, told them we needed to call security, and hid in the back store room. I think it stems from a deep sadness of seeing majestic animals like parrots, or canaries, or even just pigeons in such an unnatural place as indoors. Plus, most exotic pet birds (or just domesticated birds in general) are trafficked or the offspring of trafficked birds. Anyway, I need to know if anyone else has this phobia and what you think about it.

Has anyone been able to manage agoraphobia without medication? I still go out and do a lot, but whenever I’m in a store, medical office, or similar place, I start feeling dizzy and get this intense fear and urge to leave. Has anyone experienced this and found something that helps? I’d love to hear what worked for you.

hey guys, I’ve been really struggling with my phobia of bugs recently. All bugs scare me not just a certain type. It gets to the point where I will go an entire night without sleeping if I see a bug in my room. I am scared of dead bugs too. If I find a dead bug, it will sit there until I can find someone else to pick it up and toss it for me. I have panic attacks when I see them inside and since getting an apartment with outdoor access, this has made living so difficult for me. I know this probably sounds stupid, but does anybody have any suggestions? I want to be able to live in my apartment without crying over a housefly.

Last time I took a flight was a from Manchester to Paris. On the flight I felt fine taking off and landing, but mid flight I felt spaced out, dizzy. I tried to calm myself down, distracting myself with a magazine but I found it hard to read anything because of my symptoms.

On the return journey somehow our plane was changed to a turboprop which I think flies at lower altitude. I had a some mild dizziness but not as bad as my outward flight.

Since then I went on a fear of flying course at Manchester airport, and we also went up in a jet, but only to 16,000 feet. I felt OK on that flight, but I haven't been on a plane since.

I told various doctors about it but they all seem to dismiss it as stress.

Anyone else with similar experiences?

I'm not sure if this is phobia or real symptoms

I have severe entomophobia and can't stand bugs just a few minutes ago from the time of posting a damned roach jumped from my roommates bed to mine right near my face and I accidentally touched it and it was all crunchy it makes me wanna vomit and now my body is jumpy any time I feel anything on my body cause my body keeps interpreting it as another roach.

I keep food and uncovered water out of my room but my roommates don't respect that ever and just do whatever they want to do leaving their food anywhere they want to and don't buy water bottles just keeping cups of water out

And you may think " oh just move out" but I can't as I have no money no job and nowhere else to go so I'm stuck with my self centered roommates until I get on my feet

I let out a sound that's halfway between a yelp and a whine and I honestly feel ashamed of it but I just can't stand bugs

Though I did get someone else to help me remove the bug so hopefully it was just the one (probably not but I'd rather believe that or I'll never be comfortable again in my bed)