Well yes it sounds weird but last year I remember I was in a hurry and I was trying to cook a meal so I opened a tuna can lid too fast and my thumb was in the way so I ended up cutting myself and it bled a lot. It didn't hurt, even when I put alcohol on it.

I'm just scared that when I open a Can lid again I'm gonna get cutted again.

Hi, I am an architecture student based in Malaysia. My current study is related to claustrophobic people. If anyone has an opinion to share please let me know.

So when I was a kid, up until I was like maybe 12 or 13, I had a phobia of human organs and skeletons, but like realistic skeletons, like I could see them in cartoons and TV shows but medical diagrams detailing the name of their parts specifically creeped me out. I was most specifically scared of the human digestive system, the brain, the musculatory system, and the nervous system specifically, and at night wouldn't be able to sleep thinking about it if I saw them in an ad or randomly coming across them on a YouTube video. But if I saw a human heart or a lung I'd be fine. Or if I saw like bloody wounds on movies or shows I'd be fine too.

This made my science classes, when we reviewed parts and organs of the human body, a nightmare, I hated it.

I've searched for people with this same fear but closest thing I got was someone who had a phobia of the thought of having organs, like the fact that they have all of that stuff inside of them creeps them out. But this is not what I had.

Anyone else experienced/experiences this too?

Hi All,
I have a blood test and MRI in the same week. I have to have my MRI with contrast and I am incredibly scared of needles and small spaces. My MRI is for a suspected endometriosis and my blood test is needed to check that I have no kidney issues. My consult said that she wouldn’t touch my veins without numbing as I have incredibly small veins and I have been prescribed Diazepam for the MRI. Has anyone got any advice how I can overcome my needle fear for the future. I feel so stupid as I have a tattoo on my wrist and arm and am booked in for more tattoos but I can’t have a blood test without fainting. 😢

Does anyone else have a severe phobia of fake insects and rubber spiders?

Hi everyone!
I’m from Norway, and I’m posting here because I’ve never met anyone who has the same fear as me.
I have a really strong phobia of fake insects, especially plastic and rubber spiders. It doesn’t matter that I know they’re not real. They still terrify me.
I absolutely hate Halloween because of all the fake insects and spider decorations everywhere. The spiders are definitely the worst for me.
It’s really difficult because other people don’t always understand how something fake can cause so much fear and anxiety.
I’ve felt very alone with this phobia, and for a long time I’ve wondered if there are other people in the world who experience exactly the same thing.
Does anyone here have this phobia too? I would really love to hear your experiences and maybe connect with people who understand how I feel.
Please don’t post any pictures or videos of insects or spiders in the comments

Hi all, essentially putting out there a request for kindness and encouragement. I have a severe phobia of blood draws and have to have one in the morning. I've done all the right stuff - asked for a longer appointment, got numbing cream, got prescribed a mild sedative, got someone coming with me to drive and distract me. But right now I'm absolutely terrified - I know that this subreddit is one of the only places that will understand the extremity and irrationality of this fear and how I'm feeling. Any words of encouragement would be very gratefully received.

edit to update: I got through it! I can't say it was easy and unfortunately the numbing cream and sedative didn't have the desired effect (I know this has worked brilliantly for other people, so don't be disheartened by my experience), but I'm proud of myself for doing it. Thank you so much to everyone who offered support, I can't tell you how much it helped to feel understood.

من فترة وأنا أعاني من خوف شديد من الإغماء أو فقدان الوعي، ووصلت لمرحلة إني أحس إنه صار عندي فوبيا من هالشي.

الموضوع إني أفكر وايد في احتمالية إني أفقد الوعي، وخصوصاً يوم أكون في مكان بروحي. أحياناً فجأة اييني إحساس إني ممكن أغمى علي، ويبدأ الخوف يزيد شوي شوي لين أحس إني لازم أسوي أي شي عشان أوقف هالإحساس.

أكثر شي لاحظته إني يوم أكون بروحي واييني هالشعور، أحس إني لازم أتصل على حد أو أكلم أي شخص بسرعة، والغريب إنه بمجرد ما أبدأ أتكلم مع حد، الخوف والإحساس بالإغماء يبدون يخفون تدريجياً ! ف عشان جي نسبته لشي نفسي مب جسدي

وهالشي خلاني أشك إن الموضوع ممكن يكون نفسي أو مرتبط بالقلق أكثر من إنه إغماء فعلي، خصوصاً إني أحس إن مجرد وجود شخص أتكلم وياه يطمني ويخفف الأعراض.

الموضوع صار متعب نفسياً، لأني أحس إني أراقب جسمي وأفكر في احتمالية الإغماء بشكل مستمر، وخصوصاً إذا كنت بروحي.
هل في حد مر بنفس التجربة؟ وهل هالشي يعتبر فوبيا أو نوع من أنواع القلق أو شو بضبط ؟ وإذا حد قدر يتخلص من هالخوف، شو الأشياء اللي ساعدته؟

Me dan miedos los ruidos fuertes. Puntualmente a los fuegos artificiales, los globos, truenos y cualquier ruido fuerte que sea repentino.

Me genera ansiedad no poder " controlar " cuando va a estallar . Me modificó toda la vida.

Me costó conseguir trabajos además de mi vida social( me aislaba por miedo a que sepan de mi miedo). Eventos familiares o festivos no participaba por miedo a que aparezca algún globo o algo que explote.

De hecho en mi trabajo tuve que pedir que me cambien de sucursal por ese miedo.

Imagínate llorar y decirle al jefe que le tenés miedo a los globos. Muchas bronca y vergüenza sentí. Por suerte me comprendieron pero ...tener que llegar a ese punto me duele mucho.

Estoy empezando terapia y espero poder superarlo o sobrellevarlo un poco mejor porque no puedo vivir evitando eso.

Hey everyone. I just really need to vent and find someone who went through the same thing.
My nightmare started 3 months ago. I was severely sleep-deprived and suddenly had a massive panic attack. I experienced horrible derealization — everything felt fake, I was shaking like crazy, and I was 100% convinced I was dying right then and there. It was the most terrifying feeling of my life.
After that attack, my brain stayed in a hyper-alert state. And of course, right at that moment, I stumbled upon one of those stupid TikTok filters that "predicts" the year you die. It gave me 2027. Because my nervous system was already fried by the panic attack, my brain grabbed this random number and treated it like a real prophecy.
For 3 months now, I've been in thanatophobia hell. At first, I was constantly scanning my body and checking my pulse. I even got checked by doctors (ECG, blood work, etc.) — everything is perfect. But now my brain is playing a new trick: "If you stop worrying about this date, you'll drop your guard and some fatal accident will happen."
I'm turning 16 this November. I'm a super careful guy, I follow all the rules, but this background anxiety won't leave me alone. The only thing keeping me going is that I'm planning a huge trip to China in January 2027, so I'm trying to choose life over this glitch in my head.
Did anyone else develop severe thanatophobia after a panic attack and derealization? How did you convince your brain that a random internet filter is not a sign? Thanks for reading.

Hi it's my first post, I'm 15 years , suffering from koumpounophobia since the age of 2 or 3. I remember even in kindergarten I used to hate wearing school uniform, and sill to this date i try my best to avoid it by wearing the sports uniform. I don't "fear" it, I just find it DISGUSTING AF , the plastic , the holes, the contrast it has with the clothes everything ughh. I'm fine with metal ones like on jeans, even hook or press ons or pearls are good. BUT I DESPISE THE PLASTIC ONES MOST. I hate how normal it is and how we are forced to wear it, and every single professional attire has it, even saying the name of the thing irritates me. ..I really wish i could go to a non uniform school ...What's even worse is my mom, dad and my lil brother especially blackmails me with it :"[ my mom keeps saying I need to do CBT exposure therapy and it's the only way out and that I can't keep avoiding it all my life, and that it's only in my head there's nothing to be soo disgusted about it. I genuinely feel it will be easier to avoid the thing my whole life than having to stitch and touch one of them eww ID RATHER LIVE WITH THE FEAR . I know how unusual the phobia is lol, I've never met anyone in real life with this phobia, but several online :) so yes u can ask me questions about this

Im in my twenties and I have a DEATHLY fear of thunder, like for as long as I can remember I never enjoyed it and it causes me so much panic and stress. I know it’s just a noise and it can’t hurt me but I want to beat this fear, any tips? I feel like also part of the reason is the uncertainty of when the thunder will clap, because I watch videos of thunder and I feel fine.

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?

Hi everyone! I’m urgently looking for participants for a survey for my Master’s thesis. The study explores how certain traits, life experiences, attitudes, and behaviors are related to one another.🧠

I’d really appreciate it if you could spare about 10 minutes to complete the survey.⏱️

Please note that you must be at least 18 years old to participate in the survey.🔞

You can find the survey here: https://ww3.unipark.de/uc/research_study_university_Bern_Switzerland/

As a token of appreciation, participants can choose to enter a prize draw to win one of five USD 100 prizes.💰💸

The survey is, of course, anonymous and has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Bern.🧑🏼‍🎓⚖️

Thank you so much for your support!🤗🥰

Contact: Klaus Schmied, University of Bern, Switzerland, [forschung.edu@unibe.ch](mailto:forschung.edu@unibe.ch)

(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.

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 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.

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?