Phobias

An odd result of my Autism. Assuming my Autism, or I'm just bonkers nuts.

I am not afraid of anything at all.

Nothing. At all.

I was sure I would find drowning the most frightful experience. But during my suicidal period before my diagnosis. I was planning to go out to sea, tie myself to a slab of concrete and sink the boat. So I think it's fair to say drowning wasn't my biggest concern.

I often go walking in the countryside, by myself, at night. The noises and unknown doesn't bother me at all.

I'm a bit of a odd fella you could say.

It's always easier to see phobias in other people than it is to realise what your own phobias are.

When growing up I and my family had to deal with my mother's phobias.  One was lifts and escalators. This phobia got worse and worse over time.   Initially she refused to go down an escalator, she could go up but refused to go down, she was terrified because she couldn't see where it was going and had meltdowns in shops when we tried to persuade her to go on one.

Then, before she could go up an escalator, she insisted that she could see actual manual stairs, where she could go down again, then because we were at the foot of an actual stairway, she refused to return to the escalator and insisted we climb up the stairs.  So she avoided using the escalator in either direction.

As I got older the problem got worse.  In one part of the city centre there was a moving conveyor with a gentle slope.  She used to go up and down that. Then one day she had a panic attack and complete meltdown because it was moving and refused to go on it again.

As an infant I remember us using lifts in stores.  But later she point blank refused to get in a lift saying that nobody knows how to operate a lift.

Flying! I have flown but the thought of doing it again petrifies me.

Also eyes, cannot bear to look at someone touching their eyes or curling eyelashes, etc.

Clowns 

Being locked in a lift or something 

Needles 

Water in my ears sets me screaming and crying n I'm 34. 

Also this might be a funny one but certain smells really upset me like the smell of bleach but my worse one is the smell of that TCP antiseptic liquid oh my days even just seeing the bottles gets me uncomfortable but the smell is something absolutely terrifying to me. 

I have one major phobia. Toilets. Particularly old fashioned wall mounted/pull chains. If i know there is one i can't go into the building. I also can't look at pictures of them including cartoon pictures. I have regular nightmares with them. Not sure why i am scared as i've never had an obvious bad experience as a child but they petrify me and i am physically sick if i go near one. Weird but more common than you realise.

Hope said:

Regarding daddy longlegs...

I was actually refering to the 'Daddy Long Legs Spider', also sometimes incorrectly called the 'Harvestman Spider' (the Harvestman is an entirely different species), not the insect.

Which, as I said, isn't a true spider, but is an arachnid.

That information about the crane fly has really put me at ease! Thank you! I've always hated daddy longlegs, but I don't think I'll be that bad anymore!

Regarding daddy longlegs: I used to be scared of them, and I still am to an extent. But after researching the 'crane-fly', as they are also known, my fear diminished somewhat. They are completely harmless, and actually start their life as the leather-jacket worm, eating decaying vegetable matter, much to the dislike of farmers and gardeners. The  crane-fly emerges in September, and its sole purpose is simply to mate and then die. It lives off the food it  consumed as a worm. Somewhat unnervingly the flies are attracted to light, buzzing around lamp shades. The buzzing stops as soon as the light is turned off.

I have an extreme phobia of certain dog breeds, but like some dogs. I am scared of thunderstorms, illness (I am hypochondriac and have OCD), scared of fire-works - this used to be a phobia, but is now simply a minor fear. Finally, I am scared of being on a boat when there is the slightest motion.

It's fascinating how phobias start..most of them are triggered by a bad experience. For example, my fear of clowns was triggered when I was about 5 years old and I'd gone to a play centre. Then suddenly, a clown ran out from underneath a slide and starting chasing all the kids, targeting me. I was distraught :( Now I freak out when I see a picture of one!

I don't know if I would class it as a phobia but most forign languages bother me. Not so much French as I have a decent enough understanding of it to be able to understand the basics of what they are saying.

I think it is because I constantly assume people are talking about me so being in another language just makes it worse. Last night I had to collect my partner from Bristol station. There were a lot of taxis waiting there and most of the drivers come from muslim countries. All of a sudden loads of them started shouting allahu akbar! and I was terrified, I instantly started my engine and was about to drive off but managed to control myself. It told myself that it was probably one of their birthdays or one of them had just had a baby. It was a very strange situation but was pleased I didnt just run away from it.

Spiders. Particularly Tegenaria ('house spider').

And, interestingly, I'm not bothered by the Daddy Long Legs Spider, which isn't a true spider!

I definitely have at-least one, but I hate it so much I don't even want to write it down.