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

I have a phobia, I'm terrified of Butterflies,(stop giggling in the background please), summer is a nightmare it has subsided over the years but I still stop dead in the street when one flies in front of me and my heart still pounds when I see one, no one tends to take me seriously even when I run away screamimg, my parents didn't help much when they planted a buddliea (butterfly) bush in our front garden

Love Reefgirl

My Dad is afraid of butterfiles to. The stroy goes that he got a small one (it might have been a moth actually) stuck in his ear when he was very young and he's been afraid of them ever since.

It doesn't show much if you don't know about it, but if one comes into the house you can see him tracking it so that he knows where it is in the room.

It's nice to know I'm not alone, my ex husband once tried to drag me into the butterfly house in Syon Park not believing me and my phobia, I had hysterics literaly and he never tried it again

I can cope with butterflies - and from a distance I quite like em...I don't go outside too much and they don't seem interested in coming inside.

But moths I can't stand - I can't sleep with one in the house(especially since its a bungalow and there aren't doors on half the rooms) - have to get them out through cunningly turning off all the lights but one - and then opening the front door and turning on the outside light before turning off the inside one - usually gets rid of them...and it can work on wasps too.

I'm not a fan on flies either - I can cope with a couple but flies that land on me or more than two or three just send me running to find a blanket to hide under...on field trips I used to use 3 types of insect repellent.

I know it's stupid and I've never even been stung by a bee (although I have had a bumble trapped down the back of my jumper) or a wasp(and I have been surrounded by a swarm of wasps - one of which flew in my mouth) and I've only ever had a couple of mosquito bites. Knowing they wont hurt doesn't stop me getting the heeby jeebies when one flies past.

And don't even get me started on daddy long legs

The thing is moths don't bother me, I can cope with them and spiders too, my ex hated spiders and it was me who had to get them out of the bath

In fact, without their pretty coloured wings, butterflies would look quite creepy. But I only look at the wings. Moths seem more likely to frighten people as they look kinda prehistoric and even nightmarish - these large dark fluttering things on wings. On the other hand, they are pretty small compared to us - which is of course why these sorts of fears don't make any 'logical sense'. How can such an eensy weensy thing like a butterfly - or a mosquito! - cause fear? Is it because they fly and catch us unawares? But this wouldn't explain all these other insect phobias.

I'm actually not afraid of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, etc. But large hairy spiders (eensy ones don't bother me) and COCKROACHES totally freeze my blood.

As I said in the last thread spiders don't bother me unlike most women, I have no idea why butterflies freak me out, I have calmed down over the years tho

>but I still stop dead in the street when one flies in front of me and my heart still pounds when I see one,

That is me but mine is for frogs and toads. *shudder*

I can kind of cope with frogs, my cat used to catch them, she never killed them she just brought them in the house, but I left it to my mum to catch them and put them out

Equally I am fine with butterflies. It is funny isn't it?

But I know how you feel when you spot one. I get rooted to the spot.

Same here, I watch it very closely and wait til it's well out of sight before I move on, it sounds really silly I know but I can't do anything else

I totally agree with the cockroaches, they give me the serious heebie-geebies!

My advice is to never, never, never live in Florida. They have roaches the size of your thumb that fly

snazoo. . .

my advice is never live in Spain! They have cockroaches the size of toasters and they also FLY!!! Talk about the worst nighmare ever. I once woke up to find my cat frolicking around the bedroom - at about 4am - and realized he was chasing a massive FLYING cucaracha which THEN flew into my bed and hid under my sheets! It was then my turn to fly, let me tell you.

Comparing this to a butterfly . . . hmmmm . . . can't really.

My advice is never live in Croydon they have toasters as big as suitcases and they fly hurling slices of toast as they go. LOL.
Although I must be honest I've never seen it myself so I can't be sure whether it is true as the person who told me was a slice short of a sandwich.

okay . . . okay . . .

I admit I'm prone to exaggeration.

How about flying roaches the size of sparrows? (this really isn't too far off, though this is usually how I describe Canadian mosquitos).

The thing is, FEAR automatically increases the size of the thing we are afraid of. Once I was living in Bristol and was using a pay phone next to a stone wall (at night) and mid-conversation I realized the the entire wall was alive and heaving with every sort of spider you could imagine . . . I was so grossed out that I almost forgot to be scared - ALMOST - and then of course I remembered and ran away.

Come on you guys, I thought this was "Silly Fears?"!

My fear really is silly, because, it is *Indoor* Arachnophobia. A spider in the bath gives me the Screaming Ab Dabs , but if I encounter a spider in the great outdoors, no problem.

Why Lady Lynda critiscism
I thought that was pretty silly myself although a very good way to deal with a phobia is link your phobia to something that reduces it's impact such as something really nice or something that is humourous.or both

Not criticism, I know these others are real phobia's, and I can empathise, but the title is "Silly Fears?"

I think I am silly because my fear is confined to one set of parameters, rather than a single cause.

I started this thread and you will note there is a question mark at the end of it what I meant to say was many people have told me how silly I was being scared of butterflies do any other people have fears their friends find silly or strange