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Phobias anyone?

I have Acrophobia. I've learned to not panic but, only because in some shows I've got to sing and dance while riding on an open platform that is on chains and floats out over the audience. Yes there is a low railing around the platform but, still, dancing around like a maniac while on a vibrating, shaking platform twenty feet off the ground is either going to teach you to deal with acrophobia, or send you into a full on panic attack. (did that numerous times a day before the first time I had to perform up there, took a week of practice to get over freaking out on that thing.) Now it still makes me nervous but, I've learned how to direct that energy into the show so, not so bad.

I still do not do ladders, roofs or the like and, I still get the sensation of falling, and the associated fear if I make a character in a video game jump from a great height.
 
I've had arachnophobia for a number of years. It started when I was a kid b/c I read stories/saw movies that portrayed spiders as being evil, ugly, dangerous, and always on the attack - kind of how people felt about sharks after "Jaws" came out. I would also need to check the walls and ceilings of a room for any spiders/spiderwebs, and would get upset if I was not able to.

I've been trying to slowly cure my phobia, however, by becoming more educated about spiders - for instance, why they kill, what kinds of insects they kill (they only bite humans if they're provoked or scared), how they care for their young (there are some species of jumping spiders that actually carry their babies around with two forelegs like humans do!), and how to identify them.

I've also been researching fictitious spiders, as well, such as Miss Spider and Charlotte...one of my favorite spider characters is Nails from the movie Cool World. He's very cute and his personality is like Roger Rabbit or Bing Bong from Inside Out. :) I also have a little purple spider plush with big green eyes that I named after him.

Something else that's helped me is having a tarantula plushie....not a cartoonish one like Nails, but a realistic-looking one. I found one at a candy shop and named her "Hammer" (get it - Hammer, Nails? XD). Hammer is unique b/c she was actually manufactured with only seven legs, rather than eight. I now have a small collection of spider toys/plushies, most of them of the cute, non-threatening variety....There's Nails, Hammer, a Beanie Baby tarantula named Fuzzbutt, two Littlest Pet Shop spiders named Myrma and Marpissa, another tarantula named Goliath, and a grey tarantula named Portia. I also have a Miss Spider keychain. :)

Having toy/plush spiders around is actually a big step for me, especially the realistic ones....at first, it was difficult for me to even warm up to my plushie Nails, as cute as he was, b/c I couldn't get past the fact that he was a spider. Now, he's one of my favorite plushies. :)

Despite all this progress, however, I still check the walls and ceilings of my room before I enter, and I'm not even close to being able to actually handle a real spider yet. I still feel somewhat panicky when I watch videos of tarantula owners handling their pets. If you're trying to handle a phobia in this way (and this way won't work for everyone), it is vital to only do as much you feel 100% comfortable doing...don't rush yourself, and don't let others rush you, either.

...As far as other phobias go, I also have social anxiety/social phobia...when I'm told I'll have to go to some social event at some point, I dread it all the way up until it actually happens, and I only feel okay with going to such events when I have a stuffed animal in my bag or a bunch of stim toys with me. I think my spider phobia will prove far easier to overcome than my phobia of other people will be. :/

.....Although, I suppose I could just start carrying Hammer, Fuzzbutt, Goliath or Portia with me to social gatherings....people would probably be less inclined to approach me with their usual irritating questions of, "So are you still in school or did you graduate?" or "What are your plans now that you've finished school?" if I was holding a very lifelike stuffed arachnid. ;)
 
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Let's see. Anthropophobia (fear of people [unless it's family or really close friends, in my case]) and Agroaphobia (fear of public places) are two of my biggest fears. I hate being crowded, I'm not comfortable with even one other stranger around me (especially in a store like Walmart, for example.) I also fear doctors, dentists, hospitals, and syringes give me the creeps. I'm thinking the social phobias that I have could be linked to Aspergers, but I'm not sure yet. Waiting to get an evaluation done, hopefully in the next couple months.
 
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These are my 'Big Four'.

Turophobia - Fear of cheese
Papaphobia - Fear of the pope
Omphalophobia - Fear of navels
Anatidaephobia - Fear of being watched by a duck

:D


 
I have too many phobias to list, the ones that affect my life most are those to do with the medical profession. Other than psych doctors I haven't seen a doctor since 2003 and my last visit to the dentist was so horrific that I haven't been back - result is teeth are crumbling to pieces. I'm physically unwell (suspected Fibromyalgia) but I can't get the necessary tests done because I meltdown if the idea of seeing a doctor is even suggested. I can't even get my hair cut as I can't have a stranger in my personal space.

I don't want to sound melodramatic but I do feel that my life is on hold, I'm on disability, I can barely leave the house, I'm medicated to the point of not knowing how I feel and I don't feel there's a way forward. The diagnosis of Asperger's has given my mental health workers an insight into why I'm so fearful but they've been advised against any cognitive therapies and graded exposure is the only suggestion made by the psychiatrist. It won't work, they've tried it, I can sit in a waiting room, I will never be able to go beyond that though. My husband needs an op soon, I'm even panicking about trusting him in the care of doctors, to the point that he's considering not having it done. I was ill for the entire day when he had to have an MRI!

Sorry if this turned into a self pitying ramble, I'm just having a really bad time at the moment. Diagnosis was only a few weeks ago and I'm still trying to come to terms with going from the belief that I had an anxiety problem that medication and CBT etc would help eventually to realising they don't know what to do with me and this is lifelong. I've not seen anyone yet to formulate a plan of action but if graded exposure is all they have to offer I'm screwed.
 
Well I have ostraconophobia (fear of shellfish) which seems completely useless and I have no idea where the phobia came from. I also have entomophobia (fear of insects) which I can kind of find a source for, as I do have an allergy, but it's more the way they look that scares me.
Also there's my issue with wide open spaces which I've learned since figuring out I'm autistic is actually a common trait.
Oh and lastly I'm deathly afraid of heights. Like unreasonably so. I can't even handle being on a balcony. Although I think this is more PTSD related, as I was pushed down stairs and over railings as a child....

I might be able to conquer the heights one, but the shellfish and insects I doubt it, as what frightens me about them are their number of legs and how the legs and antenna look..... Completely irrational I know.
 
These are really common in people on the autism spectrum, it's often because of how easily we are overstimulated, so we often prefer small, darker, quiet places. There's less to take in and we feel less exposed.
 
I had (I have beaten it this year) a phobia of dentists.

I have philophobia, fear of falling in love as the fear of hurt is so bad.
 
I am afraid of snakes, semi trucks, other cars, some people, deep water, getting killed, and dying.
 
Mywaysigning said:
I am afraid of snakes, semi trucks, other cars, some people, deep water, getting killed, and dying.
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they are all things that can kill you so they are understandable fears in my books. unlike my fear of tomatoes i know its irrational but im still terrified of ever touching them. im a bit curious what you mean when you say some people is there a particular type of person you are afraid of?
 
Jonathan Lees said:
they are all things that can kill you so they are understandable fears in my books. unlike my fear of tomatoes i know its irrational but im still terrified of ever touching them.
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Technically tomatoes are in the nightshade family, they have some very deadly cousins :)
 
My ex was afraid of whole peaches. Peeled ones and canned ones were fine for him but, not whole ones. Once, a shelf of them fell over in the grocery story and he ran to the back of the store in terror, convinced those peaches were chasing him. I laughed so hard at that. I know that kind of fear isn't funny but, he was the NT, I am supposed to be the one prone to public freak outs, not him.
 
Naturalist said:
Technically tomatoes are in the nightshade family, they have some very deadly cousins :)
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i did not know that interesting, tomatoes are still fairly harmless though, i do hear they can be insectivores which is pretty weird though. its nice to meet, i presume you are a biologist or botanist or at least are interested in the worlds flora and fauna, im studying to be a geologist so have had to learn quite a bit of biology and palaeontology so if you ever want to discuss the natural world message me.
 
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