Do you have an Irrational fear?......?

1. Spiders. Pathetic I know but if they're bigger than a quarter inch I run!

2. Deep water - ponds, swimming baths, pools, rivers and the sea. It's probably because I can't swim. I've tried to learn several times but it terrifies me and I just sink like a brick. I love the idea of cruising but the thought of being on a boat (however big) in the middle of the ocean turns my legs to jelly! When I was about 4 I was at the seaside with my Mum and wanted to go in the water as all the other children were doing. She kept saying no. Eventually she picked me up and tossed me into the incoming waves saying 'See if you like it now!' It wasn't very deep but of course it went over my head and I couldn't stand up. A man nearby fished me out and told off my Mum. I've been terrified of water ever since. She was also afraid of water so I guess her intention was to deter me from going near water too. She seems to have succeeded.

Slimey big River fish, Eels, Pike, Carp to name a few, and I could never swim in a river, or the open sea for that matter!
Tye stange thing is though im fine onboard a boat, happy to skipper one too, and Celebrated my 25th Wedding anniversary by cruising Transatlantic both ways over a month, and even took a dive on a Submarine with no problems at all!
I believe my problems started when I came across a large Conger Eel migrating between a pond and a riverbank and almost steped on it as a young Child about 6years old, whilst playing in a Pub beer garden in Norfolk.

Spiders, to the point of feeling sick just thinking about them. Can't click on any site promising a cure for arachnophobia, as it will inevitably have a photo of a great big spider. Makes my heart jump even when I am bracing myself to expect it.

September is the worst time, when all the big hairy-legged spiders decide to invade houses. And there are inevitably stories in the media saying that this year they are bigger and hairier than ever.

Earthworms. I can’t pass them . I hate going out after it’s been raining. My puppy once chased me into the house with one in her mouth , and I ran upstairs screaming . My husband was on nights so was in bed . He had to get rid of it from the kitchen. I can’t look at them !

Thanks timetogo for answering my question. I am very jumpy too!

I am the same Froglady I feel ill watching things on TV showing drone footage over cliffs etc. Another one of mine is going down stone steps especially if there is no handrail.

Crane flies- when I was 7 or 8 I went on a play date after school to a friend's home. When it was time to go there was a swarm of them all over the path I needed to walk along to get home. I tried a few times but each time they flew up around me and I became hysterical. My friend's Mum had to phone my parents to pick me up and I got a right telling off for being so silly.
Being underground- started when we visited a large cave while on holiday in Majorca. When we turned to leave, another coach party were coming in through the narrow entrance and I couldn't get out. I got very panicky and nearly vomited. Now when we go to France via the tunnel I have nightmares for several nights before we travel. But my DH gets seasick and the ferry journey is much longer, so I have to put up with it. He holds my hand and distracts me as much as he can but I love that first glimpse of daylight when we get out of the tunnel.

No irrational fears here, I think - but I put it down to my lack of imagination.

Perhaps there is some upside for those of you who do suffer? I know my DD’s fears have included volcanoes, buttons, flying... yet she is creative and artistic.

DanniRae it`s the ones that appear behind me in supermarkets and make me jump.
Honestly it`s like having a giant spider suddenly appear, i am rather a jumpy person at the best of times.

Potholing...... not for £1 million.........??‍♀️??

Frogs terrify me. There is a commercial on TV with 3 dancing frogs that I cannot watch. Can't watch anything on TV with people crawling though tunnels either. I sometimes have nightmares about having to crawl through a tunnel to get away from some unknown danger.

Rodents and fainting. I know prob sounds weird but I panic if I take a light head at all that I will faint and hit my head. I do faint, did with a blood test, school assembly a few times, cinema, a flight to Tenerife, etc, etc. I think because my mum died with a clot on her brain after a fall I am even more frightened of the fall when I faint.

Like other posters, I hate swimming anywhere near large objects like boats. Also hate caterpillars, but love snakes! My main fear is heights, especially bridges over water. Also hate standing next to huge structure's like Wind turbines. I put that one down to being taken on a sightseeing trip to a lighthouse when I was very small. I can still remember being carried up the spiral staircase in this vast white place...

Spiders and falling from a height for me too. Also being in a maze where you can't see over the top.

David Attenborough said to Princess Charlotte, who likes spiders, that he thought people were afraid of them because they have so many more legs than we have, and so they can move in any direction and we don’t know which way it will be. I’m not scared of spiders myself, but I could see what he meant.

I have a fear of electric bells and buzzers, even doorbells. I think it dates from schooldays, when in middle school we had a very fierce matron who used to make us change our shoes very quickly between lessons, before the bell went. I immediately became all fingers and thumbs, and couldn’t change quickly enough. How I dreaded that bell! Strange, really, because what could she have done to us?

Very long finger nails. I hate to see films with Chinese Mandarins whose finger nails are so long they curl, it really gives me the creeps. Once saw a programme where someone with nails that curled stretched them out to measure them - made me feel sick. Don't like to see women (or men) with exceptionally long nails either.

Very irrational but burst Balloons!

Wasps - sneaky horrible critters but I’m fine with bees.

timetogo2016

Spiders/rodents/some men.

What sort of men timetogo? I am interested can you explain, please?

Edges! Things like railway platforms. I have to stand at the back away from the edge. Hate the gap between platform and train. Cliff edges, riverside edges . Just anything with edges. ?

Don't like rats, mice, cockroaches, spiders, flies, wasps or any other insects at all. Don't like snakes, worms or anything squirmy. I don't think these are irrational fears, they're perfectly rational.

Sp*ders (can't even type the full word) heights and deep water.

I had to look away when the nuns went up the steps of the bell tower in Black Narcissus. My legs turned to jelly as soon as the scene flashed onto the screen.

Would never go on a cruise as I wouldn't sleep at night with all that black water beneath me.

Tried some online therapy re fear of sp*ders. One question was what don't you like about them? My answers - their legs, the way they move, their unpredictability.... sorry, can't go on, the blood is singing in my ears just typing this.

DanniRae and Froglady
Yes, the photo of the construction workers high above New York City is indeed genuine.
Those workers and indeed many construction workers who worked high up were of Native American origin. There were many Native Americans who interestingly had no fear of heights whatsoever, so these men were employed as specialist workers in the construction of US cities.

With me it's thunderstorms. Especially the lightning.
I sweat, get a headache, have to hide under something, my heart thumps,I can't go out. If they happen at night I put on every light in the house.
I know it's irrational but I've never been able to shake this off.

Spiders/rodents/some men.