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

I recently decided my phobias were pointless. I am afraid of spiders. Not the small ones, not the big ones, just the ones that I don;t know are there. I've worked in places that have rat infestations, I've held snakes, I get rid of the wasps, moths ect in this house (my boyfriend is afraid of flying insects), I've rehung bats onto hedges so they can fly away, ect ect ect.

Spiders? Nope. Not doing that.

I've moved my whole life 130 miles, but I am afraid of spiders. How pointless is that!

I also panic in large crowd and in in enclosed spaces. I can control it though, and am increasingly ignoring it and focusing on the good stuff going on around me. E.g. On Saturday I went to see Oxford United play. Ok so there was little good stuff to see, but I focused on being out with my friends and having a good time, and that got me through.

Sorry this got so long.

Aren't all phobias pointless? I mean, in the sense that you are afraid of things which are - mostly - harmless. I live in Germany and here are no spiders which could kill or even really harm me and still I'm afarid of them. Pointless!

It's always good, to fight against your phobias! I try that, too.

Methos

Not all phobias are pointless... I'm scared to death of St. Bernhards because I was attacked by one (really nice scars on my right arm to show for it)... but because of this fear, I will never put myself in that situation again, and thus (hopefully) never be attacked again...

Some phobias do go beyond the normal limits of fear, but usually these phobias stem from something else... (a fear from childhood for instance)... you may also notice people are often afraid of the same things their parents are... For example, this lady I know is afraid of snakes. She has a small son. One day it was storming and they went down to their basement, and she saw a snake in the corner that had somehow gotten in their home... she screamed and freaked out in front of her child, so now that image is imprinted in his mind... Her son is now afraid of snakes, and probably will be for the rest of his life, because he knows "They make Mommy afraid."

Some phobias are bizarre and extreem, but they are there for a reason... you can't begin to overcome these fears until you figure out why you have them and come to terms with that... then you can take the necessary steps to overcome your fear.

Blessings...
~The Gypsy~

This IS pretty pointless, and very frustrating at times. If I'm unable to go to sleep (this phobia usually occurs around one o'clock at night) I suddendly find that I'm extremly afraid of going to sleep.

Strange, no?

Perhaps you are afraid that something bad will happen if you go to sleep (ie: a house fire, a burgler, suffocating in your pillow)... or maybe you're afraid that you won't wake up on time, or that you won't wake up at all... Maybe, subconsciously, you are having a bad dream that you don't remember when you wake up, and your mind keeps your body awake because it doesn't want to have that dream again... (Its been known to happen)...

When I was little, I was afraid to go to sleep in the car because I thought that if I shut my eyes then my Mom would disappear and noone would be driving the car... I still can't sleep in a car to this day, no matter how long the road trip... I can shut my eyes, but I'll never go to sleep (I'm not afraid anymore, I've just basically trained myself not to sleep in cars).

Blessings...
~The Gypsy~

The reason I'm afraid of sleeping, is more to do with that fact that I have no sensation of being asleep. I have no sense of time, and no sense of space, because my dreams trick my mind into beleving I'm somewhere else.
I prefer to always have at least a little grasp on reality (or virtual reality, as the case may be).

Sorry, but this is not a phobia -they are by definition, irrational (look it up) - your fear seems pretty rational to me but it is simply that - a fear.

C.

I suppose so....

If you want a pointless Phobia you can try mine. Anyone who's popped by to my user space knows this already..but my fear is of that foul and repulsive substance known to the world as.......Mayonaise.
Yup..that's right..mayonaise...
I'm not entirely sure wheter its a true Phobia or just an aversion to it. All i know is that I can't bear the sight of it...and in large enough quantity's the sight is enough to make me start to retch. The worst is when people get a wobbly spoonful of it and start dolloping it about **shudders**. The taste of it always makes me throw up, and i refuse to eat any fast food chicken based product on the basis of the fact that they normally contain mayonaise (and rarely seem to contain chicken). The smell is repulsive and everything about it makes me want to rip my arms off just so i can beat to death whoever the hell it was who came up with the idea (probably Satan).
So maybe its not a proper Phobia....like i said..its just an irrational aversion to rather than a fear....but i guess it might still fit into this category....i mean..its certainly pointless.

That IS pretty unusual. I can Imagine what it's like as I have the same problem with vommit. Just noticed a little comment there:

>...beat to death whoever the hell it was who came up with the idea (probably Satan).

Hellmann's does produce mayonaise...

Good point about "Hellman's"... Mayonaise is disgusting.