About-a-phobia

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Kneedragger

Kneedragger

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RaySirX
No I dont mean a fear of the word 'about'.

Last summer I went to a ski resort to watch a motorcycle trials event that was happening up the mountain. They had the ski lift operating to get people up, so naturally I hopped on.
Just as soon as the chair made a little progress I became acutely aware that we were already quite high off the hard ground and the ONLY thing between me and serious bodily harm was a rickety looking and completely open wood bench that was swaying back and forth as it moved.

Thank christ there was a man sitting next to me who was perfectly calm, because as we got higher and higher I became seriously (and I mean seriously) unstabilized.. and I told him to please, if he didnt mind, to keep talking to me as we went up.. I was almost rigid with panic.. and if it werent for him I dont know how I could have coped. God that was the most horrible and ghastly 25 minutes of my entire life. I would rather chew aluminum foil everyday for an hour before I did that again.

You?
 
I've lived so many funny and scary moments on the shadiest lifts at various ski hills in my life. I used to snowboard 50 days a season, so I've seen all sorts of chairs. The sketchiest had to be one of Smuggler's Notch's (VT) old 2-man wood units. Those things creaked and shook and swayed like no tomorrow. I've also ridden a couple trams and gondollas that go waaaay higher than your average quad lift on basically the same mechanicals. The only time I'm scared is when you're waiting the few seconds before the chair hits the back of your legs and you're staring down the clueless 5th lady in line who decided to board with your foursome for no reason at all. I ain't movin' and I know she's gonna eat ****.

No matter how many times I ride, I still get the sway back feeling from when you get on the chair when I close my eyes at night after a hard day's riding.

"Levez vos spatules" still has to be one of my favorite on-hill catch phrases from days riding the North East. Lift yer tips guy!
 
I'm surprised I didn't have the same crazy nerve-racking fear when I went on my first decent chairlift (well a series of about 30 all-up) last winter season at Mount Buller. Even though there was, most of the time, a constant feeling of unease I never once reached the point where you could genuinely call my view of the experience as a symptom of phobia. Lucky me I guess.

For some reason I just I absolutely hate heights, even walking across bridges or elevated walkways for some reason makes me panic.
 
I fell off one at 15 feet in the air. As it happens so, there was about 3 feet of snow deep. After that, I went on all the lifts I could.
 
I was also wondering whatever phobias in general other people might have. I guess being trapped with bugs or spiders or visiting a sadistic dentist springs to mind :)
Seriously though, I tried to calm myself on the chairlift by looking at the other people riding up. I remember clearly that there was what looked like a 4yr old girl standing up on the bench (!) next to her mother. Everyone has their own peculiar soft spot I guess.
 
Yeah I remember the first time I went on a plane, I had my legs tucked under the seat and was holding onto the armrests for dear life, for the entire trip.

Now, I think it's a lot better to deal with changes in force and motion by just gelling with it instead of being so rigid and resistant.
 
Yeah I dont have any phobias, but i am kinda scared of heights and i dont like rollercoasters or rides at the fair. I remember going this past time with a very cute girl who loved the rides, so i had to pretend to be all tough. i just kept looking at all the little kids who were riding it completely fearless.
 
Dead_Poetic
Yeah I dont have any phobias, but i am kinda scared of heights and i dont like rollercoasters or rides at the fair. I remember going this past time with a very cute girl who loved the rides, so i had to pretend to be all tough. i just kept looking at all the little kids who were riding it completely fearless.
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Same. I'm pretty much terrified of rollercoasters and heights. One of my friends was the same, he pretended to act tough and all and ended up literally pissing his pants. :lol:
 
Heights - but only if I am in the open. If I am in a building with windows to prevent me falling then I am ok and I am fine in a plane but if there is any chance I might fall ie from a balcony or a cliff or even a high ladder my legs turn to jelly.

Huntsman Spiders
IMG_2317sm.jpg

I am a scared of other spiders but these ones especially freak me out and they are pretty harmless.
 
Wenders
Heights - but only if I am in the open. If I am in a building with windows to prevent me falling then I am ok and I am fine in a plane but if there is any chance I might fall ie from a balcony or a cliff or even a high ladder my legs turn to jelly.
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I am the same way. Not afraid of heights but terrified of falling from them. I can go up ladders, but only the A-shaped ones. If it's a ladder leaning against something, forget it. I remember trying to climb up one to get up on a friend's roof. By the time I was halfway up, the ladder was swaying and wobbling violently. It's like my shaking legs matched the ladder's natural vibrating frequency. :lol:
 
Kneedragger
Last summer I went to a ski resort to watch a motorcycle trials event that was happening up the mountain. They had the ski lift operating to get people up, so naturally I hopped on.
Just as soon as the chair made a little progress I became acutely aware that we were already quite high off the hard ground and the ONLY thing between me and serious bodily harm was a rickety looking and completely open wood bench that was swaying back and forth as it moved.
Click to expand...

The chairlifts I hate are the ones where the bar is in the middle of the chair, so not only do you have to watch that it doesn't smack you in the back, but you have to make sure it doesn't start swaying back and forth. Now if you get a chairlift that has the bar coming in from the right side (facing up hill) it's best, since when you sit on it the chair will tip away from the center poles whereas with a center bar chair, you'll sway more and get too close to the center poles for comfort.

Anyways, I really don't like going on any rides that are over like 60-70 feet high, especially roller coasters because you can look just to the side of your feet and look straight down the side of the tower! Fast rides I don't mind, it's just the tall ones that get to me!
 
One of the stranger phobias I have is things spinning around me. Although it has kind of passed on. I used to hate it when I was driving through the countryside and the fields looked like they were spinning around me. Sometimes I would think about it before going to sleep and would have to get rid of the thought to get some peaceful sleep.
 
Wenders
Huntsman Spiders
I am a scared of other spiders but these ones especially freak me out and they are pretty harmless.
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I had an uncle with an irrational fear of bee's. The slightest sight or sound of one and he would run away, arms flailing. But a part of me thinks its normal not to like certain animals or insects. If I didnt like bee's I would try to kill them (!) which is what I do to mosquitos.
I guess thats part of what a phobia is- its fear, rather than hating something.
So Wenders when you see a Huntsman Spider you dont react by wanting to hurt it?

But dont listen to me, I would be a terrible therapist.. "Wenders, I want you to practice killing things instead of being afraid of them, ok?"
 
Kneedragger
So Wenders when you see a Huntsman Spider you dont react by wanting to hurt it?
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I don't necessarily want to hurt them but if thats the only way to get it outta my space then that's what I will do.
Since I have been a single mum I have had to get braver when dealing with spiders, it's either that I have to avoid any rooms they are in. I won't get too close and I won't risk having one run up me so I get the vacuum cleaner out and suck them up. Works a treat.
 
My friend had a phobia of needles. I saw him giving blood just once and he almost passed out but before all that, he told me to get his girlfriend and so I did. But when he went overseas, his battle buddies kept on taunting him with needles until he wasn't afraid.

I was scared of rollercoasters but never experienced it. So I did the next best thing, went on the Nascar one in Las Vegas and then after that. I was alright...though for some reason I do tend to stay away from them.
 
I used to have Thunder-phobia. Every time I heard a thunder I would just turn music on, and try to fake nothing is happening, get the lights on, and close well the window protection (don’t know the term in English) to not see the lightning, otherwise I would just go under my bed.

Now, maybe because for my future career, I am thinking of being a Meteorologist or something to do with the weather, I kind of love storms, it is fascinating. Every time I hear a storm, I go to the windows, and stare at the beautiful lightning bolts, and say, wow, this is amazing, I really love it.
 
LdS
I kind of love storms, it is fascinating. Every time I hear a storm, I go to the windows, and stare at the beautiful lightning bolts, and say, wow, this is amazing, I really love it.
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Fear of storms is probably the oldest fear the race of man has. But in past centuries people didnt know when violent weather would come, so many cultures attached special meaning to such events. And of course the ancient Romans (and others) had gods who were personifications of weather (wasnt thunder the sound of Thor's hammer?)

I am the same as you about storms. Its fascinating to witness the strength of nature. Of course just this week there was an ice storm in the north east US which left more than a million with no electricity--and for several days. But if you read the 'children of yesteryear' thread you see a flicker of how sometimes NOT having modern technology brings people together. Even being alone, but knowing that you are sharing a big nature event with others, creates a bond. Its the reality behind that expression, 'one touch of nature makes all men kin.'
 
I have a fear of heights. Though, ski lifts aren't quite high enough (generally) to get me bothered. I avoid tall buildings and airplanes when possible.

I've had trouble with heights for most of my life, I remember the specific event when I discovered it at the age of about 11 or 12. I've tried various methods of getting rid of it to no avail.
 
I don’t think I have any particular phobias. I used to be somewhat scared of heights, but now I’m okay (so long as I can grab onto something). And I have pretty much the opposite of insect/arachnid phobia – I’ll pick up just about anything as long as it isn’t very poisonous.
 
I don't really have any phobias to speak of. Small skuttly spiders that unexpected mouse in the shed give me a good fright but I've held mice and spiders at petting zoos and the such.

Though I now refuse to go on Pirate Ship rides unless they have an individual harness.
 
I don't have any particular phobias... I'm generally not scared of things, unless they are threatening my life. Of course I have to recognize that threat, but it has happened a few times.

I was almost blown off the top of a 5 story building by an especially strong and sudden gust of wind. That was scary, the kind where your throat just knots up. Not fun.

When I first started riding a motorcycle. I had to acclimate myself to the speed of it. At first 60 was pretty scary, then 70, then 80. One day I was accelerating up over the crest of the hill and hit the top doing nearly 100. The feeling of the front end getting really light and the bars shaking is a feeling you never forget. I was stupid and didn't realize that accelerating while cresting a hill would cause this. I'd been told to grip the bars loosely in your hands and just try to act as a damper and slow the movement of the bars. Well, it worked because I'm still typing this. :D I keep it below 70 these days.
 
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i have a fear of staring eyes, wide evil or scared eyes petrify me. i would never watch the grudge lol. i also have a fear of large scale things, i mean really huge things and if they are moving thats worse :scared: its usually just parts of big things usually too, like a giant engine or something i dunno...its hard to explain. i guess its a fear of insignificance, of feeling small.
i am reasonably okay with heights, as long as its safe, i walked a stretch of coastal path in dorset recently and the weather turned. right on the cliff top with about a foot wide to move and sheer drop on one side it was first time i have felt so terrified, i had to walk 3 miles around before i could get back in land. it was downhill if i went back and i figured it would be safer to walk up than slide down. if it was clear and sunny i would have been alright but the situation with the wind and rain made it a bit of an ordeal.
 
I have an off and on fear of heights. it depends on how often i've been in a place. Like my uncle has this ledge above his front door that's normally sealed off but we but a christmas tree up there.

In the beginning I was scared badly but after 3 or 4 times going up there and coming back the slow safe way I was fine.

I'm also afraid of spiders when they appear very close very suddenly. I don't mind them as much when i can see them from a distance and close on them, but if it's suddenly spider I freak.
 
I know what you mean. One time I was riding a ski lift, and as we approached the exit station, my dad pulled up the bar so we'd be ready to get off. Now this particular bench had ice on it, so when I inched forward a bit to be ready, I slid off the bench, down 10 or 15 feet into the snow embankment before the exit, about a foot away from the place where rocks jutted out of the snow:scared: The operator stopped the whole thing and my dad was scared to death. But luckily I didn't hit the rocks and I was ok. But i haven't fully recovered from that and have developed the phobia described in this thread.

:-)
 
I have never really understood phobia's developed past childhood. If you weren't afraid of it before why are you afraid of it now? To tell the truth I've always thought of adults who develop phobias as kind of pansies.
 
Kneedragger
Fear of storms is probably the oldest fear the race of man has. But in past centuries people didnt know when violent weather would come, so many cultures attached special meaning to such events. And of course the ancient Romans (and others) had gods who were personifications of weather (wasnt thunder the sound of Thor's hammer?)

I am the same as you about storms. Its fascinating to witness the strength of nature. Of course just this week there was an ice storm in the north east US which left more than a million with no electricity--and for several days. But if you read the 'children of yesteryear' thread you see a flicker of how sometimes NOT having modern technology brings people together. Even being alone, but knowing that you are sharing a big nature event with others, creates a bond. Its the reality behind that expression, 'one touch of nature makes all men kin.'
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Thanks. Great post. Is what you said, when I was a child I didn’t know the why about storms, and, just like ancient people, was scared of it. I remembered I pray it to God to make the storm end. Now that I know what it is, I am fascinated.

BayConRong
I have never really understood phobia's developed past childhood. If you weren't afraid of it before why are you afraid of it now?
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It is really complicated but normally, those phobias appear when you at child don’t know the danger in a certain thing, and on adulthood, when you get a little more rational, you realize how dangerous it is that thing and develop a phobia.
Although I think it is pretty rare for that to happen. Or, if you are including teenage has past childhood, then it is pretty normal to develop a phobia in that age range.
 
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my sister has a phobia of lifts and guess where we went a couple of days ago

the Rialta tower in melbourne

and as some of you may know the only way up is in a lift
it only takes about 30 seconds to get up but she was reeeeeally 🤬 herself
i found the whoe situation rather amusing :D
 
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