What are your phobias and do you have any strange ones?

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My son is frightened of trees, and gets distressed when he sees their branches blowing in the wind, especially fir trees.

Here is a list of my own phobias, I will list them starting with the ones that have caused the most anxiety and difficulties throughout my life:

1. Worms.
2. Social phobia.
3. Public toilets (especially when no windows, fear of getting stuck inside or lost and unable to find exit to public toilets), also can't cope with noisy hand dryers.
4. Getting lost inside building, being inside unfamiliar building, coridoors that turn so that you can't see what's ahead.
5. Hospitals and in particular procedures or operations.
6. Lifts (cannot go in one due to claustrophobia).
7. Agoraphobia.
8. Dogs.
9. Bees and wasps.
10. Heights (including looking up at tall building).
11. Dentists.
12. Intense fear of crossing roads.

What are your worst phobias and how have they affected your life? Do you have panic attacks and avoid situations as a result of your phobias? Have any of you overcome a phobia?

Venus

Big spiders and army ants...was in the Philippines when I was younger and saw some HUGE spiders and some HUGE army ants...Im now terrified of spiders and red ants
Wasps and Bees...they scare me.

When I was a small kid, the babysitter's older kids thought it would be fun to make me scared of things than anyone else wouldnt be scared of...I used to be terrified of escalators and elevators....I used to call them alligators...This was all mostly because those older kids of the babysitter made me terrified of such.Im not terrified of such anymore...I stopped being afraid at the age of 5 ot 6.

Gum, and pens that click to open and close. If I hear or see or hear anyone chewing
gum or hear someone clicking a pen over and over again, I get panicky and have
to leave right away. It is due to my sound sensitivity. Also claustrophobic.

Bleach, chemicals and disinfectants. I keep worrying that I may accidentally drink one and die.

Stickers, it sounds silly but I can't stand how they stick to me and I get an uncomfortable feeling around the smaller ones.

Um..
getting microwaved.

It doesn't come up much though so I'm peachy.

Spiders
Heights
Flying

My biggest ones are phone calls and Sesame Street.

I've had people comment that I seem like I can be calm in situations where other people freak out.. Sure, maybe it's impressive that I'm not afraid of bugs or blood... But I freak out just if I have to call the pharmacy to get a prescription filled!

Ohhh I can relate to that. Medicine is my biggest interest, OK obsession. The site of blood doesn't phase me at all. But phone calls leave me with rapid heartrate and sweats (although I wouldn't say that using the phone is one of my phobias, just something that causes a huge amount of anxiety).

Thank you to everyone who has posted on this thread so far. Anyone else got any phobias to share?

Venus

I am emetophobic and claustrophobic. I also have a phobia of going into forests not because of the possibility of being attacked.. but because of the possibility of finding a corpse! Yep....

The only phobia I think I have is a fear of rollercoasters. I rode a little kiddy rollercoaster when I was a child, one that only banked and turned, and I remember gripping the handles with a death grip and having difficulty breathing. When I was 17 I went to an amusement park to try and get over this fear, but I ended up going into a panic attack while waiting in line. I jumped over barriers and pushed people out of my way to get out. I haven't gone near rollercoasters since then. I've heard it's a control issue, but I've never had problems being in a car with someone else driving, or using public transportation, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

I don't like heights, but it really only becomes an issue if I'm on something unstable, like a ladder on an uneven floor. I wouldn't classify it as a phobia.

Sharks, I'm physically unable to do the shark encounter at sea world, the one time I went my father had to pick me up and carry me out, I was only a few feet in the door.

Birds, freak me out.

bugs, but not the pretty kind..........just the ugly freaky kind.

Something grabbing my ass while I'm sitting on the toilet. I cann't explain that one at all.

1: Thanophobia (Fear of dying)
Intensity: I'd say it's pretty intense because I'm going to die someday *duh*, so I have to find a way to cope, I usually cope by not thinking about it.
2: Necrophobia (Fear of corpses, both human and animal)
Intensity: I don't like being in the proximity of corpses, I'm not sure if I could ever go to a funeral because of this, I certainly could never become a mortician.

Ironic note: I love fiction (movies and games) involving the undead including zombies, vampires and other sorts which is again strange because I find corpses and the undead to be "creepy". I used actually have a very strong irrational zombophobia when I was a teenager, I have to really question what the heck I was thinking back then.

3: Morosphobia (Fear/hate of the idea of fate)
Intensity: I hate and fear the idea of "pre-determinism" and "fatalism", I feel it robs me of my freedom and I don't understand why other people literally promote a philosophy that robs them of their freedom and individuality, so yeah it's pretty intense fear combined with a strong hatred, it's a pathological phobia of mine since I can get extremely depressed when I think of "doom", and an extreme idealogical antagonist.
4: Selective arthropod-phobia: I have a thing about spiders, centipedes, earwigs and coachroaches being in my personal space.
Intensity: My personal space is rather small so I don't wig out (backing away or squishing them) unless they get very close to touching me, otherwise I don't mind them.
5: Fear of heights
Intensity: Um, not sure, I don't mind being in a high place as long as there are safety devices (such as railings), but without it I can be alot more anxious.
6: Fear of needles
Intensity: It used to be intense when I was a kid, but now I can tolerate it, still don't like getting shots or having blood drawn though.

flowers. I fell very uneasy and uncomfortable around them.

Several people here with phobias of flowers, trees, forests... that would be the end of me.

Anyways, I just have a couple.

* Social phobia (diagnosed). No surprises here. People freak me out.
* Telephones. I really really really really hate talking on the telephone. It was much worse when I was younger. I couldn't go near the damn thing. A little better these days.
* Needles. I have a severe physical/psychological reaction to them. They cause me to get nauseous, dizzy, and proceed to pass-out. I can't control it. It's happened every time I've had to get a shot or have blood drawn, or even when I've only seen needles on TV or in movies.

That's pretty much it. There are other things that I don't like... unfamiliar public places, for instance. But I wouldn't go so far as to call it a phobia. Phobias to me are things that cause an uncontrollable aversive fear response.

Emetophobia here too. Which has generalized from just fear of throwing up, to fear of other people throwing up, as well as a fear of gagging (due to the association: you can't really throw up without gagging). This is my oldest and strongest phobia, although thankfully has lessened over the years in that I learned over time it's harder to catch stomach viruses than I used to think. So I'm less OCD about it. My fear of gagging has also generalized to fear of the dentist (I have a sensitive gag reflex and can't go to the dentist without constantly gagging) and swallowing pills.

I also have a fear of falling. No idea why, I've never really taken a big fall from which I've gotten the s**t scared out of me. I know my balance isn't the greatest and so I've always tended to be very careful while walking or running, always looking down. I fear falling simultaneously for getting horribly hurt from falling (like tumbling down stairs and breaking my neck) but also the public humiliation. Strangely, I'm sure if I fell down some stairs and broke my neck, I'd have more important things to think about (if I were even conscious) than how ridiculous I look to other people. But nevertheless, that's what scares me. And unfortunately I get flashes of horrible falling scenes, even though it's never really happened. I may start walking down some stairs and suddenly get a flash of myself falling and breaking my neck and it just makes me cringe and start to do my eye tic.

Public bathroom phobia. It's not that I'm scared of the public bathrooms themselves, it's just the fact I can barely stand to use the restroom while someone else is in there with me. Just the thought that somebody could come in at any moment makes it extremely difficult to um... you know. Over the years, I've gotten more used to urinating in public bathrooms, although if somebody else is in there I usually have to wait until somebody flushes a toilet or uses the sink or something. But as far as #2, that's just impossible. I can't do it while somebody else is around. So if I'm out in public and just can't wait until I get home, I have to try and find the most secluded bathroom possible-- which can sometimes be quite a search.

Finally I have a fear of deep murky waters. I'm one person you'd never see going into the ocean any further than just beyond the shore (despite that worse things frequently happen to people there). I've never been fond of water but it's moreso the things that could BE in the water that scare me. And what's more, I fear UNREALISTIC things: like one of the worst scenarios I can picture is me being out in the middle of an ocean and seeing a megalodon shark heading my way (yes, in my scenario I actually see it coming, heh). zOMG, that sends chills up my spine like no other. And strangely enough, trying to console myself that such creatures are extinct does little to quell the fear...

Emetophobia is very common. I just wrote a book which is now being polished and it describes how the emetophobia affects me.. one of many things in my life that is. I am more phobic of others being sick than I am of myself. Thankfully my kids rarely do it and whenever they do my husband takes care of it. I cannot be around it at all! I even hate it when my dog gets sick!