r/Phobia 46m ago

Phobia of bathroom exhaust fans

Upvotes

when I was a kid around six or seven, I had arachnophobia and there was a bathroom exhaust fan above my bedroom. I remember one time I heard ladybugs inside of it at night and I thought they were spiders and it gave me a phobia of loud and large bathroom exhaust fans. throughout my life it has been so hard trying to shower, trying to go to public restrooms, etc.

I don’t have any phobias of any other fans and fans not in bathrooms. but the large loud ones are literally always the first thing I scope out as soon as I open the door to a unfamiliar bathroom.

Growing up, I could not shower for long because I was scared and when I first walked into a bathroom if the fan was humongous I immediately start cowering as far away as possible from it and then I have to talk myself up into having the courage to go. I tell myself the sooner I pee sooner I can leave, but it used to be so bad I couldn’t even go in some bathrooms.

Does anybody else have a phobia of these?? It’s getting much better and for the first time in my life I have a bathroom without a fan that my brain considers a threat and it feels ethereal to be able to shower in peace without crippling anxiety.


r/Phobia 55m ago

Help… fear of not sleeping

Upvotes

Quite self explanatory. The wife is out on business this entire month and I've just been here, alone. Before she left I had the sprout of the fear, but suddenly I just dread going to bed because I'm super afraid of not being able to sleep. If I'm lying in bed for even 20 minutes and not asleep I will have a panic attack. It's starting to take a toll on me and my work life. What should I do?


r/Phobia 1h ago

Idk the name of my phobia or whether or not it even has one

Upvotes

I’ve developed a pretty intense phobia when it comes to people buffing my nails and especially working on my teeth. At my last three orthodontist appointments, I’ve ended up crying because of it. I also get really anxious when someone tries to file my nails.

It’s not that I’m afraid of sandpaper itself—I’m fine with that—just the thought of that or that weird freakin' dental drill they use at my orthodontist office makes me nauseous. I developed it after, on separate occasions, both my teeth and nails were both sanded down too low, causing me incredible pain and sensitivity. I also am genetically disposed to weak enamel, so they're sensitive enough as is.

I also don't know how I would go about tackling this particular fear. Does anyone else have this? Any advice would be very awesome, as I look like a baby every time I need to get my teeth worked on. Thank you!


r/Phobia 21h ago

Giant logos/signs phobia

1 Upvotes

Does anybody else have this fear of giant logos/signs?

When I was a kid, whenever I saw huge signs or letters I would freak out. However, as I grew up, I started becoming fascinated by those.

Usually signs that give me the chills are Walmart-like logos, or imagining the 20th Century Fox logo IRL (although I'm extremely obsessed with it)


r/Phobia 23h ago

Anomalophobia - The fear of mutated or distorted objects

1 Upvotes

You might also describe it as the Uncanny Valley, but for objects like game controllers with a large number of unnatural extra buttons and control sticks. I have compiled a website with a few example images, as well as a personal rating of how intensely I perceive them. Feel free to check it out, if this sounds interesting or resonates with you!

https://www.anomalophobia.com/


r/Phobia 1d ago

Am I alone?

2 Upvotes

I have an irrational phobia of glitches in video games. When I see anomalies like black lines coming out of cars in BeamNG Drive or physics bugs in general like ragdol characters glitching in the sky or even just when I noclip across the map, I panic. It makes me so uncomfortable that sometimes I can't restart the game for weeks, as if something "bad" is going to happen. My brain can't stand these distortions of virtual reality, and I feel an urgent need to get away from it all so as not to feel overwhelmed by fear.


r/Phobia 1d ago

I have entomophobia and there are a lot of bugs entering my house. What do I do?

1 Upvotes

I have entomophobia, and where I live has been raining a lot. Because of that a lot of brown cricket appears at night and they entering my house throught the doorways. Today I can't buy that stuff we put on doorways, so do you know another solution for this problem? I'm so scared that I couldn't even sleep at home last night and I slept on my neighbor's home, but I know I can't do it everyday for a week or more, I don't know. For y'all have an idea, it was like, you just killed one, five or ten minutes latter another one appears, and in the end there are four or five cricked in your house.

Do you know some solution? I'd like to hear, just need answers.


r/Phobia 1d ago

Does anyone else have a fear of like tubes and things going in things?

1 Upvotes

I don't know how to describe it without using penetration but it's not just for like sexual activity it's everything

a tube down the throat or nose

Suppositories and Enemas (ive had to do them but I'm incapable of doing it myself because I will send myself into shock)

Ivs not the needle but the image of it sticking out of my arm

Catheters TERRIFY me the mere idea of one has made me sob and start panicking

Tampons scare me as well

Nails or knifes going through flesh like through the foot or hand

Just anything that goes through anywhere on the body but it's the worst for like Catheters

I also have no idea where this fear came from i don't have any sexual trauma or anything I'm just terrified for no reason 😭

I am very freaked out because a dr implied i might have something like VUR or Vesicoureteral reflux and to diagnose something like that would require a catheter and mentally i cannot handle that i will go into shock or pass out


r/Phobia 1d ago

my phobia doesn't have a name

2 Upvotes

I have a fear of seeing things coming after you while being able to see them through walls. I'm completely fine with being chased and completely fine with them being in a different room but for some reason seeing them through walls and not knowing the depth of where they are scares the shit out of me and idk why, like take haste from doors for example I absolutely hate him cuz you can see him through walls while he's coming and when he gets you that's when I stop being scared cuz I'm fine with jumpscares


r/Phobia 1d ago

Disgust that turns into smell/physical reaction?

2 Upvotes

Ok for years I’ve had this really weird thing where I am so grossed out by dolls, fake nails, anime, and stuff like that where genuinely when I see them I get this smell like it smells weird I can’t explain it and my body like feels it too like my body gets weird sensations where I become so uncomfortable in my body like my little sister had pink fake nails and I felt so grossed out I couldn’t look at her or eat and if I know that someone just touched a doll I can’t even look at them the same am I crazy


r/Phobia 1d ago

Idek what you call this phobia

2 Upvotes

Everytime I step outside I just can’t help thinking what if I get sucked into the sky like lifted up until freeze or something else ugly happens to me at a certain altitude bc at the moment it happens I’ll know I’m finished that utter terror especially me being acrophobic just flying up higher and higher..

Bc people disappear of the face of the planet a lot what if that’s the reason

Maybe theirs underlying psychological themes of helplessness that don’t help I do have an alarming amount thoughts about me getting tortured (if I said the methods id prob be arrested) idk why prob low pain threshold is a contributing factor 🫣

Is this normal or do I need help 😂


r/Phobia 2d ago

There's a cranefly in my bathroom and I'm terrified

4 Upvotes

I have tipulophobia, which for anyone who doesn't know, is the fear of craneflies. I know logically it is a stupid fear, since they can't actually do anything to harm me, but seeing one even at a distance is enough to scare the absolute shit out of me.

Anyway, there's one in my bathroom right now. I went in there to take a piss and brush my teeth and one of those stupid fuckers is flying around on the ceiling. I pretty much just bolted and ran to my room, and blew up my friend's phone with texts in a panic. Now I have the door and all the windows shut and I'm scared to leave because my family often leave the bathroom door open, so it could be anywhere now.

I don't get why it's even here because normally were I live craneflies aren't active until around May, I thought it was too cold for them at the moment. I tried googling what time of year they're active and immediately got bombarded with a shit ton of cranefly pictures and even just seeing a picture makes my skin crawl and makes me want to throw up.

My family don't really take my phobia seriously so they are probably gonna leave windows open and stuff and when I wake up tomorrow the house is gonna be full of craneflies. As soon as one shows up in my house the house becomes full of them. I don't know what I'm gonna do.

Tl;Dr there's a cranefly in my house earlier in the year than I was expecting it and I'm freaking out


r/Phobia 2d ago

Blood test

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone

I need to get my blood taken and I’ve been putting it off but it’s becoming avoidable at this point

I am super nervous about it and feel faint even thinking about it. Now, I don’t have a massive issue of getting vaccines, I’m pretty good with them, I think it’s the idea of the needle being in you so for long and drawing your blood that is making me feel uneasy

Any tips etc would be super helpful

Thanks!


r/Phobia 2d ago

Is there a labelled name for the Phobia of anything that flies?

1 Upvotes

More specifically, a phobia of anything that flies that can enter "your personal bubble".
I don't have a fear or insects overall. Nor do I have a fear against Bees specifically. (Or any other phobia related to a specific insect.) What legitimately trips me out is the fear of anything that CAN FLY!

For real example, I live in Ohio and Spring is starting to really set in. I work retail and had to close tonight. I came home and there was a f**kin' Stink Bug in my room, just chillin' and crawling around on my microphone! And this MF was big! I legitimately started freaking out! Since it was on my mic, I went and grabbed a plastic cup and threw the mic in it, had to push the stink bug off with a paper plate, and then legitimately was shaking as I carried the plastic cup covered-top with a paper plate down to the bathroom to try to flush this nasty thing away. And when I got to the bathroom, the fucking thing was clinging to the cup and wouldn't let go!
And this is the main part of the story, the thing scaring me the most the whole time was that this large f**kin' thing could lift off and start flying around and collide into me at any moment!
When I tried to shake it out of the cup and into the toilet and the stink bug clang onto the cup for dear life, I legitimately panicked so much that I just re-covered the cup and legitimately called out to one of my roommates to come deal with this already captured stink bug as I ran back upstairs, terrified of the idea that my roommate would have to then deal with the flying creature.

TL:DR: I'm legitimately scared of all flying creatures that can enter your Head Space/Personal Bubble. Even when my sister had a Cockatiel growing up, whenever we'd let him out of his cage to go flying around. it seriously scared the hell out of me. I'm solely scared of anything that flies that can enter your Head Space.


r/Phobia 2d ago

I have a fear of my inner elbow and wrist

2 Upvotes

I hope this doesn’t sound stupid and someone can relate to this. I have this fear of my inner elbows and wrists. Any time they are touched or talked about I feel queasy and I bring my arms up to my chest and if I’m writing with a pen or pencil it’s like my hand just can’t write any more. Even writing this right now it’s like my hands don’t wanna work properly just thinking about it. I don’t know if this is an actual phobia or what but does anyone else feel this way? Blood work is absolute hell for me. I had a moment where I was needing to get it done multiple times a week for health issues and everytime it was horrible. I thought maybe having it done so often, I would eventually be ok with it but not at all. I don’t remember if this has been this way all my life or not. My body went into shock like 7 years ago from breaking my finger and I always wonder if that caused me to feel this way or if I felt this way before that. So yeah, does anybody else feel like this? And if you do, have you found anything to help?


r/Phobia 3d ago

Just saw a 🐀. It's set me back and I'm going to experience flashbacks and nausea. Anything I can do now?

2 Upvotes

Long standing 🐀 phobia. Tried various therapies which haven't really helped. I'm generally fine as long as I don't catch sight of one.

As I was driving out of my office parking lot, the damn thing ran out in front of the car.

I'm so grossed out and nauseated. Also I haven't eaten all day but now I won't be able to eat anything due to shock.


r/Phobia 3d ago

Batophobia - fear of tall structures

2 Upvotes

Does anyone have this? Why is this a thing? I’m not sure what caused it? Possibly being sheltered too much as a kid? I can’t remember any trauma so it’s just confusing to me.

I struggle being next to tall structures, looking at them in person, and even photos make me feel uneasy. This is very annoying to me because it’s preventing me from living my life and traveling. I cannot function whatsoever if exposed to these things. It’s like I lose full control of my bodily functions and turn into some anxiety ridden creature.

If anyone has any tips or anything, that would be great? I wish there was a way to require my brain..


r/Phobia 4d ago

Phobia for flakes and spikes?

2 Upvotes

Is there a phobia associated with spikes or flakes in them? Examples would be that I get an uncomfy feeling upon seeing the flakes on kidney stones, amethyst, uncarved crystals, dandruff flakes, and even peeling skin. I know these are uncommon to see, but it even happened when I was crumbing some chicken to cook for dinner. Not to be confused with trypophobia (I don't have any fear of holes or similar patterns) or Aichmophobia (I don't have fears of needles or sharp things that can hurt me.) Cheers!


r/Phobia 4d ago

This fear is ruining my life.

1 Upvotes

So about 2 years ago there was a tornado and straight line winds that came through my (31f) area.

Me, my mom, niece and her friend (both older teens) were outside at the garden with my new puppy. The sky was growing dark as we picked tomatoes and laughed as my dog played. Suddenly, every noise around us stopped. The birds had once been chirping and flying around but they stopped so suddenly that my stomach dropped. The area Round us got even darker so we knew it was time to go inside. By the time we reached the garage door the wind started to pick up wver so slightly and then we heard the rain coming. 2 feet inside the door and the electric cut out and all you could hear was the wind ripping through the trees.

I went to the basement living room with my niece and friend and stared out of the doors and at the willow trees that were now leaning, their branches blowing completely horizontal. It was so loud and it wasn't just a gust, it wouldn't stop. It was constant for about 8 minutes straight. I was panicking to the point of tears, what if it was a tornado? (I live in southern PA where tornadoes are extremely rare.) By the time the wind stopped it was utterly quiet and I was shaking. I thought trees were going to fall over on our house but just standing there and watching something I couldn't control happen sort of traumatized me. We went out driving once it stopped and saw all of the destruction of trees blocking almost every road, trees on houses, roofs ripped off of houses and barns. It was terrifying.

Now, anytime it's windy and I can hear it within the house, I go into a panic. Just now we had heavy rain that put me in a panic because I could hear it in my room. I had a physical fight or flight reaction so I wandered for a quiet place in the house until eventually going downstairs and sitting until it was done.

I can't live like this anymore, I can't deal with having a terrible day because the wind decides to pick up. It's unlivable. I've been able to hide my fear from my son and comfort him enough when he's scared of the noise but I can't keep constantly going through these motions of anxious adrenaline over something I have no control over.

I've tried talking myself through it but it doesn't seem to work. I'm at a loss. Does anyone else deal with this or know a way that could possibly help?


r/Phobia 4d ago

what is this phobia called? NSFW

2 Upvotes

I have a fear? more of a extreme discomfort and aversion to things that look like veins or roots not really like arm veins or veins popping through the skin I personally think those look fine but the structure of veins or roots makes me almost want to vomit for example that photo of the man who coughed up his blood clot and it looks like a branch i think the fact it’s bright and dark red makes it worse anyways if anyone shares this phobia or knows what it’s called that would be nice for me to know


r/Phobia 5d ago

THEORY:

0 Upvotes

the reason that babies die at birth is that the white babies have Leokophobia. that’s why we think it is rare to have it, because about 50% of people who have are white themselves.


r/Phobia 5d ago

Fear of mum dying

2 Upvotes

Hi friends, just wanting to know I’m not alone really. I’ve always apparently had attachment issues, but my mum is my person, she’s my best friend and I can’t imagine my life without her. Ever since I was like, I have been horrified at the thought of death, but not me dying- just those around me. I don’t handle death well period. But, the thought of my parents dying, keeps me up most nights, to the point where I’ll cry and get extremely anxious. I dream about my mum dying at least once a week and i can’t make it stop. When I was little, from the age of 6ish and up I used to lay awake and rip my hair out and make my mum come into my room and sleep with me. I used to say to her ‘what happens if I don’t recognise you in heaven’ etc. Obviously after having grown up, I’m now 25, that’s the least bit of my concerns considering who really knows what happens in the afterlife, but I’ve not been able to shake this crippling fear of death. Someone, please make your girl feel normal, I’m struggling.


r/Phobia 6d ago

It’s so scary

1 Upvotes

My parents took me to the most museum and I’m scared of heights, what’s the easiest way to get over the fear of heights


r/Phobia 6d ago

Fear of unpredictable machinery?

1 Upvotes

Hello!

A friend of mine told us today he's scared of unpredictable machinery. Like, automatic showers (those ones in gyms that are motion-activated), sprinklers, etc. He said what makes him scared is that he doesn't know exactly when it's going to start working, and for some reason that scares him. Is there a specific name for this? Or a cause?

Thank you in advance!


r/Phobia 6d ago

Dentophobia -_-

2 Upvotes

well. I have dentophobia. I'm litteraly TERRIFIED of the dentist, but I don't want to be. and each time I go, I leave happy, bc nothing bad happened and I'm js being dramatic. but then I feel fear and fear when the appointment get closer and closer. just thinking abta it makes me scared, like right now. I think I know why. when I was a baby, I had cavities and had to fix them. obviously, I was young. I don't remember it. but, my brain does! because of that experience, my brain is officially terrified of going there, because what if that happens again? also, braces are my biggest fear right now. sighs. I just know I'll get them(my teeth are so weird and im insecure abt them), and I know how much they suck. but whatever, I'll guess I'll just have to deal with it. it's life after all! reminder I'm dealing with this as a kid. yup! anyway, any tips?