Post by wanderlustmom on Aug 31, 2023 14:46:35 GMT -5
It's not irrational but kids swimming. It's a little better now that they are an adult or almost an adult but I still get nervous if they are taking a trip without me and I can't watch them swim. I take my worry about it next level
And I have white coat anxiety, I've mentioned it on these boards before. It was really bad after my mom died but now it's quieted down to regular white coat syndrome for me. I always think Im about to get bad news
Post by starburst604 on Aug 31, 2023 15:00:24 GMT -5
Oh and here's another, also driving related. When someone in the car in front of me tosses a cigarette butt out the window and it hits the road, I hold my breath because I think it will somehow bounce up into my gas tank and my car will explode.
Not a fear but another thing I do ALWAYS is if I see a cat on a sidewalk or roaming around streets I say out loud "BE CAREFUL, KITTY!!" It's like a mantra I have to say or the cat will get hit by a car.
Oh and here's another, also driving related. When someone in the car in front of me tosses a cigarette butt out the window and it hits the road, I hold my breath because I think it will somehow bounce up into my gas tank and my car will explode.
Not a fear but another thing I do ALWAYS is if I see a cat on a sidewalk or roaming around streets I say out loud "BE CAREFUL, KITTY!!" It's like a mantra I have to say or the cat will get hit by a car.
Ok but with all the wildfires started from cigarette butts this doesn’t seem that irrational!
For the first year or so after moving here I was terrified that orange cat would get stuck behind the refrigerator. I've never worried about the other two - just him.
We've been here about four years now, and this fear is still overwhelming if I think about it too long. He's still skinny enough to fit, and there's no way he'd be able to back out because he'd have to jump onto the cabinet. And to do that he'd have to turn around which would be impossible. And H can't sleep without white noise so I doubt I'd hear him calling for help, which means he would be stuck for hours.
*deep breaths*
I have to physically see all three cats before going to bed or I can't sleep. I just lie there straining my hearing for any/all sounds. H gets annoyed with me so if I haven't seen all three I wrack my brain trying to come up with an excuse to go back downstairs to check. And then usually all three are snoozing in the living room.
Related: I don't like it when H and I are both out of the house at the same time. I get an intense feeling of dread that doesn't let go until I walk back in the door. Nothing has ever happened to cause this fear, but my stupid brain likes to dream up extremely vivid/disturbing scenarios 😭😭😭
White utility vans. The kind with no windows in the back. But only white, really. If it's another color I don't think about it that much but a white one? I won't park by it or walk by it. No way.
I think it’s because these are the vans people drive to kidnap you. At least in all the stranger danger videos growing up they did. Run!!
Belly buttons - I hate the sight of them (my own included). And if I see someone else touch their belly button, it sends me over the edge.
I do not have a fear of belly buttons, but I don't like when you can see an outline of someone's belly button through their clothes. My friend knows this, and I could see her belly button through bridal gowns when we were shopping. She asked the bridal consultant how to hide it. The bridal consultant said to put cotton in your belly button. That sent me over the edge! I don't like the feel of cotton balls... then to stick it in a belly button?
No thank you.
Oh, the thought of that!
Years ago, when one of my H's friends found out that bothered me, he took a picture of his and texted it to me. I deleted it immediately.
I am scared that I’ll accidentally commit a big crime and have to go to prison for a long time. I am so boring, so I’m not concerned about anything specific, just that I’ll do something totally unintentionally.
That’s probably more anxiety than fear, but most of my other anxieties are successfully quieted by medication. 😁
I’m afraid that I’ll hit a pedestrian with my car and somehow not notice and drive away, but then I get arrested for killing someone and leaving the scene.
Post by fivechickens on Aug 31, 2023 17:29:52 GMT -5
Well clowns but that is probably not irrational.
A gate at work. It closes the kitchen area when the kids’ lunch is over for the day (similar to the gates stores in malls use when they close). We use a drill with a long hook thing to open and close it. I hate closing the damn gate because freaks me TF out. It is really probably the process than the actual gate. My co-workers make fun of me (not in a mean way) that I close the gate in slow motion. Haha
For the first year or so after moving here I was terrified that orange cat would get stuck behind the refrigerator. I've never worried about the other two - just him.
We've been here about four years now, and this fear is still overwhelming if I think about it too long. He's still skinny enough to fit, and there's no way he'd be able to back out because he'd have to jump onto the cabinet. And to do that he'd have to turn around which would be impossible. And H can't sleep without white noise so I doubt I'd hear him calling for help, which means he would be stuck for hours.
*deep breaths*
I have to physically see all three cats before going to bed or I can't sleep. I just lie there straining my hearing for any/all sounds. H gets annoyed with me so if I haven't seen all three I wrack my brain trying to come up with an excuse to go back downstairs to check. And then usually all three are snoozing in the living room.
Related: I don't like it when H and I are both out of the house at the same time. I get an intense feeling of dread that doesn't let go until I walk back in the door. Nothing has ever happened to cause this fear, but my stupid brain likes to dream up extremely vivid/disturbing scenarios 😭😭😭
I am like this with my dog. If I haven’t seen her for a while, I go looking for her and usually wake her up from some luxurious nap and she’s mad. It annoys my husband.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Heights. To the point that I can watch something on tv that shows extreme heights and my hands get sweaty and I get very anxious.
My car falling into a body of water. This is irrational mostly because where I grew up, this wasn't even a remote possibility. We didn't have any water. Where I live now has water everywhere, but the fear precedes me living here.
Same, and this was heightened when I had DD and worried that if we submerged I couldn't get her out of her carseat fast enough. So I bought this little tool that has a point you can use to smash a window and a slicer that can cut car seat or seat belt straps. I keep it in a little cargo net near my passenger seat that's easily in my reach.
Yes! When DDs were little I used to freak out about who I would grab first and IF I could grab and save both of them. I avoided crossing the Niagara River because of this fear, but even crossing little creeks freaked me out.
Post by arehopsveggies on Aug 31, 2023 18:05:49 GMT -5
Eyeballs. I can’t look at eyes, touch my eyes, go to the eye doctor. I saw a pediatric eye dr as an adult till I moved- because I act like a toddler when I’m there. It’s awful
Falling in one of those pit toilets at campgrounds/hiking trails. Or I will vividly picture my kid falling in and having to dive in after him
For the first year or so after moving here I was terrified that orange cat would get stuck behind the refrigerator. I've never worried about the other two - just him.
We've been here about four years now, and this fear is still overwhelming if I think about it too long. He's still skinny enough to fit, and there's no way he'd be able to back out because he'd have to jump onto the cabinet. And to do that he'd have to turn around which would be impossible. And H can't sleep without white noise so I doubt I'd hear him calling for help, which means he would be stuck for hours.
*deep breaths*
I have to physically see all three cats before going to bed or I can't sleep. I just lie there straining my hearing for any/all sounds. H gets annoyed with me so if I haven't seen all three I wrack my brain trying to come up with an excuse to go back downstairs to check. And then usually all three are snoozing in the living room.
Related: I don't like it when H and I are both out of the house at the same time. I get an intense feeling of dread that doesn't let go until I walk back in the door. Nothing has ever happened to cause this fear, but my stupid brain likes to dream up extremely vivid/disturbing scenarios 😭😭😭
I am like this with my dog. If I haven’t seen her for a while, I go looking for her and usually wake her up from some luxurious nap and she’s mad. It annoys my husband.
I am so glad it's not just me 😂 (and also sorry that you feel this too).
I’m terrified of cockroaches, probably well beyond the normal disgust, and growing up around flying ones didn’t help. I hate to even hear the name!
My first house was older and I’m guessing not well sealed. I had pest control on speed dial if I saw one, but thankfully they were few and far between, with a few exceptions. I once walked in to see one crawling on my toilet seat and I know it was wasteful but I could not bring myself to ever sit on it again. I used the guest bathroom until I finally broke down and replaced the seat. In my brain it was like it was forever one with the thing that shall not be named.
Post by lilypad1126 on Aug 31, 2023 18:35:06 GMT -5
Driving on really high overpasses/bridges. There are a LOT in my city, and I hate it. I also hate driving over really high or long bridges.
Driving anywhere near a semi hauling logs. Thanks Final Destination 🙄🤣 but also I saw one lose its load of logs once, so, I feel like it’s only partly irrational.
Driving up steep uphills. I lived in a mountain city once and the streets were SOOO steep! I was terrified I’d either hit something or, god forbid I had to stop for some reason, that I’d never get going again.
Teeth falling breaking/falling out Driving off a high ramp or bridge (also being on a roller coaster and it going off the track) Breaks barely working on my car Elevator falling Oh, also forgetting my locker combination…
But none of these things have ever been something I’m concerned about while conscious.
However, I just looked up what a lotus pod is and I’m going with that as my new irrational fear. They’re like creepy optical illusions.
Absolutely yes to my car being submerged in water and not being able to get myself or my kids out. I had this dream every single night when I was pregnant with my first, and I still wonder why. For this reason, I hate bridges.
I also hate driving with big drop-offs next to me. I had a hysterically sobbing meltdown in Big Sur on highway 1. For HOURS, I had to look at a 500-foot drop right outside my car window (I was the passenger) and it was starting to get dark, and I could not handle it. It’s a shame because the sunset views were stunning!
And yes to someone breaking in and stealing my kids. Our car was ransacked in our driveway (my son had gone to get something out of it and didn’t re-lock it one night), and ever since, I have worried about someone getting into my house and taking my kids (and yes, I realize taking loose change from a car is quite a ways away from taking children out of a house!).
Not a recent one but when DD was a baby, DH traveled a lot for work. I was convinced I was going to fall down the stairs after putting her in her crib and I would lie unconscious at the bottom of the stairs for days while DD cried in her crib. Every night before going to bed, I would have to walk the path from my bedroom to hers at least a couple of times just to make sure there was nothing I would trip on if I had to get to her in the middle of the night.
A driving one that I think is totally rational but other people don't seem to have is being too close to other cars when stopped on the highway when I'm one of the last cars to stop. I like to leave a LOT of room between me and the car/s in front of me in that circumstance, mostly because as a reporter I covered several horrific accidents where an oncoming car didn't realize traffic was stopped and the vehicle they rear-ended was pushed under the vehicle in front because there wasn't enough space for anything else to happen. For similar reasons, I get a little panicky being stopped between or next to fast-moving traffic or having to be on the side of a highway. I definitely overestimate risk in some situations just because I was exposed to the rare bad results over and over. (No one sends a reporter out to cover the time someone stopped too close to the car in front of them and things worked out totally fine, lol.)
Not a recent one but when DD was a baby, DH traveled a lot for work. I was convinced I was going to fall down the stairs after putting her in her crib and I would lie unconscious at the bottom of the stairs for days while DD cried in her crib. Every night before going to bed, I would have to walk the path from my bedroom to hers at least a couple of times just to make sure there was nothing I would trip on if I had to get to her in the middle of the night.
If we're talking about PPA fears and irrational fears surrounding your kids, when we lived in our old house it was a corner lot and a lot of people came down the street parallel to our house turning onto the street in front of our house (making a right) and lots of people loved to speed so I was afraid someone would be going too fast to make the turn or be drunk and run through our yard and through our house killing DD. Because her room was that front corner of the house.
I also didn't like her room being the front corner because the window faced a business and I was afraid of someone breaking into the house through her window.