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Post by Lori on Dec 2, 2004 23:26:32 GMT
Self explanitory Tell us yours...
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Post by Lori on Dec 2, 2004 23:28:39 GMT
OMG I hate spiders. I know loads've people do but I definitely have arachnephobia! I'm always paranoid and see things moving on the carpet out the corner of my eye but when I look, there's nothing there. Also, quite often I see millions of them in my bed in the middle of the night and I jump up and run out the room. Then when I come to my senses and wake up properley, there's nothing there. I guess it's a form of sleepwalking. I'm always dreaming about them and they're so realistic. And if I see them on TV it makes me squirm. When there is one in a room near me it makes me feel sick and my heart starts racing and my chest tightens. But saying that, I am scared of all insect-y type things, but spiders are by far the worst Damn you spiders!!! When are they going to become extinct? The world would be such a better place
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Post by Adey on Dec 3, 2004 0:08:22 GMT
I sympathise with you Lori; clearly your phobia has a particularly severe effect on you. I can't hope for the extinction of spiders however. It's all about checks & balances in the natural world. Remove the spiders and you'll be overrun by all the insects that they pray on. If you remove all the insects then we're in real trouble, no matter how much we may detest them. Everything relies on something else.. I'm not good at heights. Anything over 6 feet and I start to get twitchy, though strangely not in an aircraft. It's probably having a solid mass all around me, you can't fall in an aeroplane. I try to deal with it by going to high places - castle towers, microlighting earlier this year, the 60 mtr ferris wheel in B'ham (a bit like the London Eye but half the size) etc. But nothing seems to help. Get me on a ladder and I'm a wreck - the higher I go, the less able I am to function. Actually I think the real phobia is the fear of falling, which if you think about it is probably a good phobia to have.. I guess all of our phobias are actually self defence mechanisms. Let's face it, you're never going to be bitten by a huge tropical 6 legged hairy spider with slobbering jaws and red eyes (sorry ) because you're never going to go near one are you? Sleep tight..
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Post by Lori on Dec 3, 2004 23:03:21 GMT
Wow, a 60ft ferris wheel is quite a brave steps for someone with a fear of heights I'd say. Did you feel safe on it? Is it just when you're pretty much hanging on to something (eg. ladders) that your phobia kicks in? I'm ok with heights but the London Eye gave me a few flutters I guess all of our phobias are actually self defence mechanisms. Yeah, that's what I thought but there was this woman on Night Owls (a late night radio talk show) and she was talking about her phobia... balloons. Fair enough if it was of choking on one, but it wasn't. She thought they were scary when inflated. Now that's just OTT and definitely not a defence mechanism
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Post by saloldgal on Dec 4, 2004 4:47:55 GMT
Wow, a 60ft ferris wheel is quite a brave steps for someone with a fear of heights I'd say. Did you feel safe on it? Is it just when you're pretty much hanging on to something (eg. ladders) that your phobia kicks in? I'm ok with heights but the London Eye gave me a few flutters Yeah, that's what I thought but there was this woman on Night Owls (a late night radio talk show) and she was talking about her phobia... balloons. Fair enough if it was of choking on one, but it wasn't. She thought they were scary when inflated. Now that's just OTT and definitely not a defence mechanism When I was a kid I didn't like being around inflated baloons because, invariably, some would end up popping and the loud noise would startle me half to death (even if I kew it was coming). In fact, I am still not all that crazy about ballons for the same reason; I hate it when they pop. So perhaps the lady on Night Owls doesn't really have a balloon phobia", but (like me) has a "conditioned" aversion to balloons based on past unpleasant experiences involving them. That will be 5 cents please...
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Post by saloldgal on Dec 4, 2004 4:59:11 GMT
OMG I hate spiders. I know loads've people do but I definitely have arachnephobia! I'm always paranoid and see things moving on the carpet out the corner of my eye but when I look, there's nothing there. Also, quite often I see millions of them in my bed in the middle of the night and I jump up and run out the room. Then when I come to my senses and wake up properley, there's nothing there. I guess it's a form of sleepwalking. I'm always dreaming about them and they're so realistic. And if I see them on TV it makes me squirm. When there is one in a room near me it makes me feel sick and my heart starts racing and my chest tightens. But saying that, I am scared of all insect-y type things, but spiders are by far the worst Damn you spiders!!! When are they going to become extinct? The world would be such a better place I am totally with you on spiders (and roaches too). I have always been terrified of them, sometimes to the point of even being afraid to kill one that I find in my house. Here in Florida, they make 'em BIG too. A few spiders that have been in my house have been so big that you could actually hear them thumping across the floor. Don't let that keep you from visiting "sunny Florida" though. If you did, you might see some spiders, but probably not up close. Actually, that reminds me of a woman we stayed with (she owned a bed-and-breakfast) in Ireland while on our honeymoon. She told us that she would never vacation in Florida because she was terrified of snakes. Apparently Ireland doesn't have any snakes (or not many, anyway) and she thought we have them hanging from every limb here... Back to spiders... the weird thing is that when I do kill one (or have my husband do it) I always feel like a jerk for killing it. I don't like killing things, not even bugs.
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Post by saloldgal on Dec 4, 2004 5:31:03 GMT
Let's face it, you're never going to be bitten by a huge tropical 6 legged hairy spider with slobbering jaws and red eyes (sorry ) because you're never going to go near one are you? Sleep tight..Wow, Adey, you certainly know how to sooth a person's nerves! Actually, I wonder if some phobias and aversions aren't related to "sensory integration" problems. My son is mildly autistic and because of that I have learned a lot about sensory integration and how problems with it manifest themselves. For example, if the sound of popping balloons is so much more unpleasant for me than for other people, it may be that I am more sensitive to sound than the average person (as some autistic people are). I also have trouble with heights, and I experience it more as a physical discomfort (a feeling of being off-balance or disoriented spatially) than as a concious, specific fear of falling. That kind of feeling reminds me of the feelings that people experience when they have problems with vestibular processing (which is a specific type of sensory integration disfunction that causes spatial disorientation and discomfort). Have you ever been sitting in your car at a traffic signal, and the car sitting next to you started backing up, and it caused you to suddenly feel disoriented and panicky (like you didn't know whether you were moving and/or felt out of control of your car's motion)? According to my son's occupational therapist, that feeling happens because your vestibular processing system gets confused momentarily, and that is the kind of feeling that people with vestibular processing disfunction have quite often. It is also basically the same feeling I have when I am in a high place looking down. This is how I "diagnose" my own problems with popping balloons and heights. However (and unfortunatley) I still don't know what the "cure" is! Maybe some sessions with my son's occupational therapist...
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Post by Lori on Dec 4, 2004 10:41:46 GMT
A few spiders that have been in my house have been so big that you could actually hear them thumping across the floor. That is disgusting... and now I feel sick I've been to Florida a few times but never came across any spiders that I remember (thank god). I'm scared of spiders any size but the bigger they are, the worse it gets. I'm scared to kill them too because the thought of getting that close is just too much to bear I understand your balloon thing SOD (hey I'm not calling you, just abbreviating, LoL), but this woman didn't even mention them bursting which is what got me Also, you say fear of heights is because of "a feeling of being off-balance". Does this mean (as I've asked Adey) your fear just kicks in when the balance thing is all in your hands, eg. on a ladder? Do you feel safe up a height when you're enclosed, such as on the London Eye, or are you from the US I never remember where everyone's from
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Post by saloldgal on Dec 4, 2004 21:03:29 GMT
Also, you say fear of heights is because of "a feeling of being off-balance". Does this mean (as I've asked Adey) your fear just kicks in when the balance thing is all in your hands, eg. on a ladder? Do you feel safe up a height when you're enclosed, such as on the London Eye, or are you from the US I never remember where everyone's from I'm like Adey - when I am inside an enclosed structure (like an airliner or a building) it doesn't bother me. But if I am on a ladder or a high balcony, or on the roof of a building or on a cliff or something (and close enough to the edge to see down) I feel uneasy. Actually, even looking down through the window of a skyscraper bothers me a little. For some reason looking down out the window of an airliner doesn't though. In fact, I enjoy doing that.
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Post by Xanadu on Dec 4, 2004 21:38:39 GMT
Social Claustrophobia.
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Post by Adey on Dec 5, 2004 1:05:48 GMT
Actually, I wonder if some phobias and aversions aren't related to "sensory integration" problems. My son is mildly autistic and because of that I have learned a lot about sensory integration and how problems with it manifest themselves. For example, if the sound of popping balloons is so much more unpleasant for me than for other people, it may be that I am more sensitive to sound than the average person (as some autistic people are). I also have trouble with heights, and I experience it more as a physical discomfort (a feeling of being off-balance or disoriented spatially) than as a concious, specific fear of falling. That kind of feeling reminds me of the feelings that people experience when they have problems with vestibular processing (which is a specific type of sensory integration disfunction that causes spatial disorientation and discomfort). Have you ever been sitting in your car at a traffic signal, and the car sitting next to you started backing up, and it caused you to suddenly feel disoriented and panicky (like you didn't know whether you were moving and/or felt out of control of your car's motion)? According to my son's occupational therapist, that feeling happens because your vestibular processing system gets confused momentarily, and that is the kind of feeling that people with vestibular processing disfunction have quite often. It is also basically the same feeling I have when I am in a high place looking down. This is how I "diagnose" my own problems with popping balloons and heights. However (and unfortunatley) I still don't know what the "cure" is! Maybe some sessions with my son's occupational therapist... This and other posts on the subject are fascinating. Sal, your comments on the physical mechanics are entirely new to me, but make perfect sense once you get your head around the terminology. Your excellent description of the feelings you have in respect of heights are right on for me too. You have described my own sensations almost perfectly, but I couldn't find just the right words.. Clearly your son's difficulties have made you particularly sensitive generally in this area. I have also experienced the adjacent moving car syndrome - it is incredibly disconcerting until you are able to rationalise whats happening. I'm reminded of a tourist attraction at Blackpool Pleasure Beach here in the UK. It's called the Haunted Swing (or some such nonsense) and features a long swing car in the middle of a room. A dozen people sit on it and it slowly starts to turn over, until you're convinced that you're upside down and must surely fall out of the swing. But of course you don't, because the swing hasn't moved.. the room itself is being rotated around the swing car. The effect is incredible, but it only works once. A later attempt to ride the swing again yields nothing like the same results - the understanding or rationale kills the illusion stone dead. Surely this is another illustration of your Sensory Intergration Problems concept. Lori, the 200ft ferris wheel did make me feel a little anxious, but the car you ride in is totally enclosed. If it were open to the elements with just a safety bar across your lap, then I would have really struggled. I might not even have ridden the thing.. I understand the courting couples use the Bham & London Eye Wheels as a cheaper and more achievable alternative to joining the (ahem) 'Mile High Club' ...
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Post by Al Truest on Dec 5, 2004 3:28:06 GMT
I can truthfully say I have no real phobias. But lots of things give me the creeps.
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Post by Al Truest on Dec 5, 2004 3:47:33 GMT
I understand that courting couples use the Bham & London Eye Wheels as a cheaper and more achievable alternative to joining the (ahem) 'Mile High Club' ... [/i] [/quote] So proportionally it would be 25 times quicker as well.
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Post by matanchik on Jan 27, 2005 7:50:59 GMT
I had a big fear of heights when i was younger, i still have it, but it reduced a little. I also thinks i have a stage fright.
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Post by Lori on Feb 13, 2005 16:41:46 GMT
I also thinks i have a stage fright. You think? You been on stage recently to confirm that? ;D
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