Fears:- How do you overcome them face to face?

[East]

I think I have flirted with alot of fears in my lifetime and alot of them have subsided....like snakes. I used to hate them but now...eh...not so much.

Black or hairy spiders...definitely sacred of them. The white ones...not so much.

My worst one that hinders me nowadays...getting stuck at a light or in traffic underneath an overpass or on top of an overpass or on a bridge. Watching the bridge collapse and the freeway collapse... in the earthquake shook me deep down inside...and then the worst part.....

I did not want to drive over the overpass that they built in Oakland...the one that collapsed in the earthquake...my gut told me not to but sometimes I tell my gut to shut up and I lecture myself that it was just a stupid fear that I had from the earthquake...but my gut kept on and I just ignored it...

...so I was on my way to Petaluma one morning sometime between 2-3 AM when I came up to the beginning of the overpass and I was shaking with fear inside but I keep telling myself to suck it up and go ahead...my gut was freaking out...and just a few hundred yard before I was about to enter the overpass these two cop cars raced in front of me and spun around facing me...OMG...I thought they thought I was a criminal or something...and they pointed for me to go the other way which at that point was the Oakland Bay Bridge...the Bridge that fell down! I hadn't been on that either since the earthquake! F*ck! Well...My lover looked over to the left as we entered the bridge and said there was a bunch of fire and smoke and we couldnt' see where it was coming from but figured that is why we were rerouted so we drove over the Bay Bridge and then the Golden Gate to get to Petaluma and I found out that a tanker had crashed and melted the damn overpass at the exit and we would have been on it... just one minute earlier...I listen to my gut always now...period.

Which leads me to the other fear I have...ignoring my instincts.mile:

[ZakNoguera]

i onlyfear aliens it canbe called an irationalfear but... whatif :S

[monk]

Heights - can't stand them.

If I put on two pairs of socks I feel giddy! :biggrin:

[LateBloomer]

Hmm one of my biggest fears is having to swim, whether it be shallow water or deep water I'm petrified of it, partly because I'm not a strong swimmer and mostly because I have nearly drowned around five times or so, and on four occasions there has been other people swimming, life guards etc but none of them dived to my rescue so to speak, I've had to calm myself whilst taking in lots of water from shouting and going under to scramble to the edge of the pool - one of those times though I had blacked out but thankfully my brother dragged me out the pool and done the whole cpr nonsense, if it wasn't for him spotting me under the water - on holiday as it was just me and him at the pool - I might have slipped away, I've yet to attempt to face this fear of mine, but cannot work up the courage to do so, even placing my whole head under the water in a bath tub has me in panic mode and my heart racing.. apart from this.. I can't name any other "big" fears - small ones though - spiders, clowns, the dark

I also have a fear of water, but deep water in particular. I'm ok in a shallow pool, but if my feet can't touch bottom, sheer panic.

I hate it.

I took swimming lessons as a child. Hated it.

Forced myself to take swimming lessons again as an adult--completed the course by swimming the length of the pool and back--but hated every minute of it.

I'm afraid I'll never change this about myself. I've tried, and it's just who I am.

[Almac]

I've always hated heights, I once went up Blackpool Tower with my boyfriend at the time, and nearly fainted..!!!

[Zet]

The strongest fear I got is doctors (Not dentists although). Not sure why, think the waiting room contributes a lot, as I do not like overcrowded places in general. But siting there waiting for bad news and people staring at you, trying to figure out what is wrong with you creeps me out. But also letting someone examine me, exposing my body and its flaws.

Then I got some week fears. I got a slight fear of fire and extreme heat. I find my self always nagging at my mother when she leaves a living candy or did not close the fire cabinet.

I hate being around lots of people.

And I got a weak fear of heights. I love a great view... until I look down, it doesn't freak me out but can be very uncomfortable.

Most things do I regulary handle, Being at a café it can be pretty crowded from time to time and you got to handle hot pans and things. But I am horrible when it comes to doctors. I've tried once or twice to face my fear but never managed.

[zeon]

hello,
I did some reasearch on fears a while back and the reason they suspect we have a fear commonly known as arachniphobia is because our brain cannot process and understand how a creature can have eight legs.. The way it moves is also what baffles us inside and because we cannot understand it we protect ourselves by installing fear which leads to protection of violence to the spider OR running away

Kindest regards

zeon x

[East]

hello,
I did some reasearch on fears a while back and the reason they suspect we have a fear commonly known as arachniphobia is because our brain cannot process and understand how a creature can have eight legs.. The way it moves is also what baffles us inside and because we cannot understand it we protect ourselves by installing fear which leads to protection of violence to the spider OR running away

Kindest regards

zeon x

Interesting...I think that is valid because I opened one of my storerooms a few months back and I have these rubber mats that go between the shelves for comfort standing or sitting that are light gray and as soon as I opened the door this rather large creatures ran really fast from the front down this aisle to the back. From the size of it I thought it was either a small mouse or a big cockroach. As I rounded the corner I realized it was a huge spider...ACK! I killed it immediately because I feared it would hide and have babies...if it had been a mouse I would have never kill3d it and a cockroach would have had a 50/50 chance.

[mrk2010]

I have a bit of a phobia of pigeons and the noise they make when they take off, it's a bit silly really when I go to university a big city where they fly at you. I handle this by trying to avoid then and walk around.