h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ok, this goes in the 'Wierd Phobia' category. I will admit it freely, I am terrified of polystyrene/stryofoam - whatever you want to call it. It's EVIL to the nth degree!

I don't know why, I've never had a negative experience with it but I'm literally sacred to death of it. I can't be in the same room as it, if it's on the pavement I cross over, if someone puts it near me I break out in an almost allergic reaction - cold sweat, breathlessness, severe itching from head to foot, heart races, go dizzy, tense up. As a matter of fact I'm getting all tense and itchy talking about the godforsaken stuff

Anyone else have issues with it or am I the only one?

Another really strange phobia belongs to a friend of mine - he is pathologically phobic of belly buttons - yes, belly buttons. Now this guy can take punishment but you touch his belly button (not that I have or would) and he'll faint. If he sees a belly button he throws up and talking about them sets him really on edge. Like myself, there is no possible reason for this but it happens. *Shrugs*

Anyone else got a really peculiar phobia?

Hmmm I do sort of know what you mean. That sound polystyrene makes when it's banging together - it's akin to the 'nails down a blackboard' thing.

I'm not saying it's sensible mind...

But then who am I to judge? I can't stand to be in the same room as salad cream or mayonnaise...

I'm sure it's not that weird... polystyrene is quite... *yeuch*

I, for one, have this terrible thing that happens when I come up against a wrong spelling or use of grammatical... stuff. Like, in the book 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', I may be classed as a stickler or whatever, but it's more than that.

Everytime I come across some terrible writing (a little exaggeration there, thankfully - it's not all the time, just quite a lot), be it spelling, punctuation or simply writng styles, I go all "ARGH!!!!" Seriously. I go all tense and want to run as far away as the terrible material as possible.

And since I'm practically addicted to reading both books and story websites, I get it quite a lot. (One example is the book "Shadowmancer". The man doesn't use a SINGLE bloody exclamation mark throught the whole book so it's like "run[full stop]" "help[full stop]". 'Scuse me while I run...)

Gah. Sorry, that was rather long and rambling and altogether useless. But it's still weird, just not sure if it can be classed as a phobia...

That awful squeak *shudder* that it makes when it rubs together makes me want to scream. I also feel like screaming when it rubs against my skin.

Yes i too must say that i am terrified of the sound that polystyrene makes when it rubs together. Im not scared of polystyrene, strangely enough, but whenever anyone is handling it i will squirm and sometimes sweat as i wait for it to make that awful noise.

It's awful. I almost want to kill people when they do it intentionally.