Irrational Fears and You

[chibi-master]

I'd like to think that I'm not the only person with odd fears or dislikes. Now, I'm not talking about full-on phobias or anything, I just mean things that bother you more than the average person.

For example, I hate large bodies of water. Oceans, lakes, etc., I detest them all with every bone in my body. Actually, I love swimming pools, and I can swim very well, but if I can't actually see solid ground somewhere nearby, I freak the heck out. I don't like being on boats either. To me, water just feels like a recipe for disaster.

Also, large, open rooms. If a room is spacious and doesn't have much furniture or stuff on the walls to counter that, I get creeped out. This gets to be bothersome inside office buildings and sometimes peoples' living rooms. I usually get goosebumps and have an urge to leave the room. If stay long enough, I have to close my eyes and eventually I get antsy.

What about you? Is there any situation/thing/animal/whatever that bothers you more than it should?

[CaNz]

I am creeped out when strangers walk behind me. I don't care if they are moving fast enough to past me, or if I am moving farther away because I am walking faster, but if our pace is close to the same I just get nervous. I will usually just increase my pace to an uncomfortably quick pace or cross the street if this ever happens.

I also have a totally irrational fear of kelp in the ocean. I have no idea how this started, but whenever I feel it I squirm and bat it away. I don't know if for some reason my mind instinctivly thinks it is alive and dangerous... but I still don't like touching it even after I see it.

[Sangome]

[color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]Oh, man. I could make a laundry list of my irrational fears.

Like Canz, I absolutely [i]hate[/i] it when people are walking right behind me. I couldn't tell you why, either. I think I posted about it in the Pet Peeves thread, but it bears repeating.

I'm 21-years-old and I'm still slightly afraid of the dark. Although I think my love of reading creepypasta on occasion is to blame for that one.

And lastly for now, the phone. I hate making phonecalls. I hate talking on the phone unless it's with my parents. I guess I have some deep-seeded fear that I'll make myself sound like an ignorant idiot if I call the wrong number or say something wrong? I dunno. And it's not the advent of the internet/instant messaging, either -- I've been this way since I was, like, five. I have memories of answering the phone, and rushing the phone to my mom so I didn't have to speak. Always irritated her.[/font][/color]

[chibi-master]

Oh, heck. I agree with the people walking behind me thing. Actually, I just don't like anyone going near my back. I flipped out yesterday while shopping because one of the employees snuck up behind me and grabbed my shoulder, then gave me a sales pitch. Who does that?! This is why I have a compulsion to be at the end of every line unless someone I know well is behind me.

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Cockroaches. Saw the episode of the X-Files where cockroaches were able to burrow into people's bodies and have been irrationally terrified of them since, don't like bugs in general but cockroaches are just O_O "Get my flamethrower!" level response.[/size][/font]

[PiroMunkie]

[quote name='Gavin' timestamp='1313793263' post='708998']
[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Cockroaches. Saw the episode of the X-Files where cockroaches were able to burrow into people's bodies and have been irrationally terrified of them since, don't like bugs in general but cockroaches are just O_O "Get my flamethrower!" level response.[/size][/font]
[/quote]
[color="#006400"]I would sort of second this, though I'm not necessarily [i]afraid[/i] of them as much as I am just disgusted by them and think they all need to be purged from the Earth.

But uh, I'd say I have a fear of falling. If I know I'm secure I wouldn't mind it (like bungee jumping, though I've never done that), but I don't know ...

I don't think I have any fears that just completely reduce me to a cowering bag of tears.[/color]

[Pleiades Rising]

While this isn't really an irrational fear, I really hate having my hands be dirtied by pretty much anything. It's a germ thing, I guess, but it's not quite Howard Hughes worthy. If I even think I touched something slightly dirty, I have to wash my hands - no questions. I don't like touching doors on public washrooms, and I don't like touching phones (do people ever clean those things? Probably another reason why I also dislike using the phone so much, haha). Dirty hands is my problem, so maybe that's why I'd never become a politician.