Has this been a thread before? I don't remember....

Who has phobias and dark fears??

Snakes for me, absolutely terrified of them. My wife and daughter petrified of spiders and my mother rats.

I kind of like snakes. We get them frequently in our yard with some about three feet long. They take up annual residence by the pool filter and like to relax under the pump. They keep a lot of pests away.

I do get weak in the knees over heights often.

Like you Kly, I fear heights. At one college where I teach, my office is on the 8th floor. The windows are almost floor to ceiling. Sometimes I stand as close as I can to the windows and look down: Ughhhhhh! I back away and I can actualy feel the relief. Silly, isn't it?

Spiders.

And mayonnaise.

The woods! Want to see a grown man cry, put me one foot in the woods!

Definitely spiders i'd also say i'm slightly claustrophobic it's not anywhere near as bad as my fear of spiders though.

Heights, definitely. I'm not sure I would classify it as a "phobia", but rather an extremely strong aversion. There has to be a lot of strong window glass present (or a nice, high railing), and then I can deal with it. But, no ferris wheels, or any sort of amusement park rides like that. And, skydiving is definitely out.

Also do not care for large, fast-moving insects, arachnids or other vermin (like rats) that are where Nature did not intend for them to be (i.e., in my home).

Those are the ones that immediately come to mind, but I'm sure I can think of others if I search my brain.

Oh, there was one I remember from my very early childhood: TV test patterns. Yeah, strange, isn't it? I think it was really the audio tones that went with them, but when I was really tiny, they scared the hell out of me. By the time I was around seven or eight, I had pretty much outgrown the fear.

I recall that when I was younger (pre-teen) I had a friend who was absolutely petrified of springs. Big ones, small ones, it didn't matter. If you disassembled a ball-point pen, he'd run and hide at the sight of the spring. I heard a story of how, when we were both around nine years old and in fourth grade, someone brought a Slinky into his classroom and he promptly had a panic attack and soiled himself. Poor kid - now that's really a "phobia."


Signor V.

Pretty much spiders. Especially daddy long legs...always had a hard time killing them. Good thing I don't live in the south because then I would have to worry more about Black Widows and Brown Reclusive's.

Spiders freak me out, though I don't have a phobia. If I lived in this country I would probably move though.
http://youtu.be/7skCdp5oTIE

If it makes you guys feel any better, the spiders are far more afraid of us than our fear of spiders is warranted. And they are extremely important in our ecosystem. I don´t like them either, but I would rather have a spider (a small one) in my bedroom than a bunch of mosquitos.

Religion.

Law enforcement

How? When just passing by them or when they show up at your front door?

The most common phobia in the USA is of public speaking

Clowns.

Caterpillars large as a sausage. I once saw one in Siberia, still have no idea what it was doing there, it seemed more like something from a tropical forest.

Years ago when one of the older kids was still a baby, we had a baby monitor plugged in. One night we were watching Stephen Kings IT when the kid stirred and i went upstairs....and croaked into the monitor "Up here we all float"

My wife nearly shit her knickers and tried to black my eye when i rolled downstairs chuckling.

Happy memories

Why that's SBs very favorite clown.

Speaking of which SB, do you have that Direct TV Genie commercial in your area, where they have scary clowns? I think of you every time I see it.


TIS

Spiders and Heights seem to be the popular choice. Spiders don't bother me. They eat other pesty bugs, so they are good. Don't like bees. As a kid I got stung by a yellow jacket on the wrist. My forearm blew up like Popeye's.

Love snakes. Beautiful creatures...at a distance.

Now heights are peculiar. If I'm surrounded by strong structure or things to hold onto -OK. I used to climb poles for a living in the telephone company where we were typically 20 ft off the ground and I was belted in and had sturdy cables to hold on to. But don't put me on a wobbly ferris wheel (Signor V.) I've climbed a few lighthouses along the Jersey Shore and when I stepped out on the top landing..whoa, my back is flat against the wall even though there are thick bars around the edge.

I have a touch of claustrophia, which got worse after 9/11.

It scares me to death and back. Yogi, btw, I wouldn't have stopped at blacking your eyes, I would have whacked off another body part of yours, and one that you hold quite dear.

It's heights for me although I will climb unenclosed stairs or scale any height. However, my office at the University is on the 13th floor (yes,the 13th). It has floor to ceiling windows. I sometimes will stand as close as I can to the window and look down - my heart stops. Completely scary.

By the way, when I was first married I worked construction. It's that building that I helped construct.

Considering that phobias are an irrational fear, I can't think of any myself -- except maybe public speaking as bigboy mentioned. I don't have a problem with heights, it's the falling that I'm afraid of! Spiders? I just don't like them much, but I'm not irrationally afraid of them. Daddy Long Legs I like to pick up and let them walk on me. But I can't stand those fast, little hairy spiders! Ekk!

Some "phobias" are just ridiculous if you ask me (check this list)...

Fear of... gravity?! trees?? knowledge?? string?? virgins???

I like this one:

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - Fear of long words

Just don't confuse (rational) fears with phobias. Fear keeps us safer by avoiding threats. Phobias are debilitating when faced with things that aren't really threatening.

That said, SB's Coulrophobia is quite pronounced, by the way!

For me, fear of heights for sure. However, I will go on carnival rides in some cases (if enclosed and/or if it's a dark inside ride where I can't see how high I am). Airplanes aren't so bad, tho I do usually choose the aisle seat). I'd never climb any kind of mountain or stand on a high roof with nothing around me. My stomach gets oozy just thinking about it.

I also have a fear of birds (any kind) if they are flying low right around me. The thought of them pecking on my head freaks me out.

TIS

My beer can holding hand???

Heights and BIG bugs.