I have always been interested in what scares people. There are the obvious ones: death, cancer, Winston Peters somehow getting in charge of this place (did you see the lovely JC interview him last night? Twat). But even more interesting than the scarys is the phobias. I think most people have one (even Indiana Jones was afraid of snakes). So fessing up here, I have six main phobias (in order of magnitude): clowns, balloons, heights, spiders, birds, and a touch of claustrophobia. I also get a little agoraphobic if I am WAY out in the country with big sky overhead. None are paralysing but the symptoms are very similar. From a feeling dizzy, to belly churning nausea, I sometimes get heart palpitations and once I had a full on panic attack on the Jubilee Line. That was seriously not pretty.
At different times in my life some are more pronounced than others. After Mum died I was horrifically claustrophobic and even being in a crowd was difficult. Clowns are just so fucking sinister, they are ‘the whores of mirth’. With balloons it’s the anticipation of them popping that I cannot bare. Spiders are crawly and yuck. Birds peck your eyes out (they do so). And before you start with the judginess, at least I don’t have photografiakremazophobia, or the fear of hanging pictures on the walls of your home. Because that would just be weird.
Treatment is usually cognitive behavioural related. Which basically means you get desensitised by being exposed to your phobia, in order to get ‘perspective’. And while I am all for the facing the fear bollocks, I don’t expect I will be tandem skydiving with a clown holding balloons full of spiders so birds can peck them anytime soon…
DEFINITELY clusters, like honeycomb or those rocks with lots of holes in them. Or paper wasp nests, have you seen one of them? They are totally scary and make me want to be sick. And rats and birds (just if they get inside – outside they are ok). I think you inherit phobias from people. My mum hated birds and rodents too and as a kid I was ok with mice but not now. No way. I like spiders though, big ones don’t worry me. They are a gardener’s friend aren’t they? Sas, you are a gardener. Love your spiders.gx
What scares people? funny enough Radio Hauraki was discussing this very thing yesterday morning as I drove in to Nelson. Some things were plain WEIRD ( yoghurt tops,hand lotion, pregnant women,bus tickets, answering the phone !!!) but some were more universal…spiders, snakes, thunderstorms. Fear of balloons is apparently called globaphobic and is surprisingly common considering how often they are used at family celebartions. My daughter absolutely LOATHES them and actually once refused to go on a brownie camp when she heard there was a balloon popping game planned. What do I fear? Heights, RATS (mice aren’t so bad) parking in parallel parks when other people are around (read husband),my horrible stretch-marked stomach being accidently seen in broad daylight going bald(very real fear when I was pregnant as I lost so much hair).
oo- I too have a thing about the anticipation of balloons popping! Must be something bad happened when we were children. I have a friend who has a fear of clusters – we looked it up on the web once and found that quite a few people are scared of clusters. She says they make her feel sick. She doesn’t like the snowglobes I have on a shelf because they are a cluster. Weirdo.
* Needles (more the anticipation than the jab itself … sweaty palms, jelly legs, and a nervous energy that means they practically have to strap me down to stop me jiggling … and it DOESN’T get better the more you have – trust me, I was ‘Saint Sebastian’ after the caesar).* Moths (mainly the big hairy ones … they crawl into your ears and suck out your brains … yes they do … but I don’t know what’s worse, a live moth or a squished one. Both make me want to wretch … and therefore H is Master-moth-catcher-and-set-free’er),* Also a touch claustrophobic but only when too warm (discovered half-way under a pyramid in Giza … H said something about the “air being dead” and I nearly fainted).* A friend of mine is scared of polystyrene … because of the noise it makes. Now *thats* fucked up. ;)