Phobia / Fear / Recurring nightmares/ What are you afraid of?

The stranger, the better.

I can't stand wasps/anything that might sting me.

I have suddenly become less comfortable with flying, and have started having more bad dreams about this.

I also have dreams about my bike going wrong whilst I'm riding it. For example, I suddenly can't stop the thing (I wonder what's brought that on...). Last night I had a dream that my BB started unscrewing itself whilst I was riding down a steep hill.

Please share yours!

I have suddenly become less comfortable with flying

This. And it's something other people I know have expresssed, too.

I think that Alps pilot-gone-rogue was particularly disturbing.

I used to have spider-fear, but now I've come to accept them as the rad little dudes they are.

Yeah, it is odd because I used to like flying and used to find it strange when other people got nervous. I have heard that it's not uncommon for people to suddenly get it when they move into a certain age bracket. Supposedly it's also common in people with vivid imaginations, and there have been times when I get so lost in hypothetical thoughts that I have let out a little yelp/pulled a really strange face in real life. As you mention, the Alps pilot, things like 9-11, and the amount of coverage that plane accidents get also doesn't really help.

I am at peace with spiders*.

*UK spiders (xenophobe), and only ones that I can trap in a cup and throw out of the window.

Putting my head underwater/large bodies of water

Drowned as a child in the sea (resuscitated en route to hospital) haven't been the same since. Used to be really bad, used to have issues just putting my face under a shower. I still can't fill a sink up and submerge my face in it.

Water. Anything deeper than waist height and bigger than a paddling pool will shit me up if I get in it.

I'll think I'm okay in a pool and then get terrified of what's behind me.

Hahaha, water, omg me too. I can't put my face under a shower either.

Oddly enough I can swim, but I can't deal with other people swimming near me, or jumping in next to me D: If I'm swimming in water that's deeper than waist height then I'm intently focused on getting to the other side of the pool as fast as possible so that I can cling to the edge like a frightened koala.

That is scary! I reckon that I'd be the same after that.

@Chadders81 I don't like swimming in the sea. Currents, suddenly finding yourself too far out, thoughts of what else might be in the water- all of it keeps me fairly close to the shore!

Also, a really silly one, which I am starting to get over: I hate closing mirrored cabinets. I think that this one might come from overexposure to that clichéd technique in horror films, but I still struggle to look at them whenever I close them. A few years back, I couldn't even sit through a YouTube compilation of people doing it in films because it was making me uncomfortable.

If I'm swimming in water that's deeper than waist height then I'm intently focused on getting to the other side of the pool as fast as possible so that I can cling to the edge like a frightened koala.

Hahah, so true!

Haha, I know what you mean but it doesn't really bother me.

A few years ago, we were on holiday, swimming in one of these things and my gf kind of freaked out when I told her it was 300 ft deep.

Recurring nightmare; back at Uni, not been to any lectures, no idea what we are studying, and now exams and dissertation are due.

Always much relief upon waking and realizing that Uni is a long distant memory and it's time for work.

I get these too, but haven't been out of university for very long. I have had loads of exam/deadline/education related nightmares. They must be one of the most common. Whenever my Mum is really stressed about something, she has a recurring nightmare about her Greek O-Level exam! I imagine that this kind of nightmare haunts you forever.

Bikes going wrong: I used to often dream I go to DAS and just keep moving, legs not moving either, like the cog has turned to freewheel!

Saved for the wank bank.

Genuine whole body shudder at that thought.

Then a frantic hand party.

When I get properly stressed about stuff, I tend to dream I'm trapped somewhere dark (often a horse stables, for reasons unknown). At which point (apparently) I get out of bed and start patting the walls, pulling down anything I find. Like bookshelves. Or radiators.

I had 5 near drowning episodes as a kid. All pretty serious. It's never really affected me though. Still like playing in the water. Can't dive from the highest boards anymore. But nothing major.

Starting getting into triathlon training this year. Hadnt realised that I'd never swam more than a few laps before. Got to 200m or so, in our tiny local pool, then as a smidge of fatigue set in I freaked. Never saw i coming. Had to get out and sit down. Managed to work through it untill, building to 1km, before my first tri. In which I had a massive panic attack. Literally meters from from the beach.

Been swimming loads both in the pool and the sea since. But the anxiety is still simmering. Hopefully things will continue to improve.

Have a lot of Sympathy for those with phobias now. Never realised how little say in the matter I'd have. Its like the emotional center of my brain throws a fit, and the logical side bails.

Mine are like that. I can't get any traction and don't slow down at all.

I know a few people who say they are really scared of heights, but that they don't have any problem with flying. I thought that there would be a stronger correlation here.

Been swimming loads both in the pool and the sea since. But the anxiety is still simmering. Hopefully things will continue to improve.

Have a lot of Sympathy for those with phobias now. Never realised how little say in the matter I'd have. Its like the emotional center of my brain throws a fit, and the logical side bails.

I am sure that exposure will help, and good luck! If only I had a private jet...

That second part is true. I always thought that I was too rational to get worried about planes, but then I sat on one with my palms sweating, unable to convince myself that I was going to make it back to terra firma in one piece.

I came across aliefs during the course of my studies, and I think that it's a pretty funny concept (in some instances)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alief_(mental_state)

trypophobia

I am now off to be sick

trypophobia

D:

Did you Google it?

Unfortunately. Then I decided to have a good old scroll on the images. Too much for a Monday morning.

Heights. Not a fan. Luckily can deal with mountain passes though, but get a bit shit scared on balcony roads.
Recurring dream - that I'm back at school, stuck in a boarding house with no bikes and no internet. Was not a fan of school.

Happily, 17 years down the line, those dreams are starting to fade.