• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

New fears or phobias, not specific to trauma

Status
Not open for further replies.
Your threads are always about the hypothetical and theoretical. People here tend to post about real problems, not just starting random conversations because they are curious. I approach posts as people wanting help, not just posting because they are curious and can’t think to google. People here want to help, but you are posting about things you don’t want help with, over and over again, but the worst part is that you pose it as needing help, when you don’t. I see this behavior as selfish because you are ultimately wasting peoples spoons when they could be helping someone who actually needs help and isn’t just posting to chit chat. Yes, I have power over my spoons, but I reply wanting to help people because it helps me. I realize that this just isn’t going to happen with you because you don’t actually seem to need any help, you just want to chit chat about hypotheticals.
 
Your threads are always about the hypothetical and theoretical. People here tend to post about real problems, not just starting random conversations because they are curious. I approach posts as people wanting help, not just posting because they are curious and can’t think to google. People here want to help, but you are posting about things you don’t want help with, over and over again, but the worst part is that you pose it as needing help, when you don’t. I see this behavior as selfish because you are ultimately wasting peoples spoons when they could be helping someone who actually needs help and isn’t just posting to chit chat. Yes, I have power over my spoons, but I reply wanting to help people because it helps me. I realize that this just isn’t going to happen with you because you don’t actually seem to need any help, you just want to chit chat about hypotheticals.
So then....don't answer.
 
I fear people a lot more now that my trauma is unpacked. In the 10 years post trauma pre-therapy I was in denial and numb pretty much the entire 10 years. I actually went clubbing a few times in my early 20s, did do a lot of drugs though, and actually made friends. Now, I need a service dog to be able to get milk and eggs and am lucky (but try to which is part of my continued therapy post service dog) to talk to anyone in said grocery store. That part of therapy is a bit easy while having a service dog as so many ask about him so I try to kick up conversation that way but yeah, a lot of fears

My brain seems to find random really odd fears and triggers. Like traffic camera while driving.

But, phobias? Nah! Maybe agoraphobia which I am actually dignosed with. Lightly if you will. Mild agoraphobia is how its written. But its all due to the fear of people and whats in the world.

I think this might be due to the hypervigilance that PTSD is. Though, technically having PTSD before diganosed, I think unpacking the trauma makings this 10 times worse.
 
I’m aware im more hyper vigilant and fears - absolutely . I used to enjoy the adrenaline of ‘fear’ ie roller coaster rides, horror movies ...now im a shivering wreck and almost physically sick if i try and watch a scary movie !
Re the Huntsman spiders mentioned earlier .. i was visiting friends in Melbourne Australia and we arrived at their apartment, it was pitch black and i went to grab the door knob to open the door and put my hand over a Huntsman ... it was enormous and bigger than my hand. It didnt bite it just scurried away ...probably my scream scared it off . Im sure my scream could be heard all the way back home in the uk !
 
Ohhh the huntsman scary spider.
Camel spiders are super freaky but they are not actually spiders.

For me my fear around spiders reduced when i learned more about the species. I also try to catch instead of kill. After spider is caught i would look at it with curiosity. I think exposure and awareness helped alot.
 
Oh, god! This is so funny. Not related to PTSD at all but may make your phobias sound a bit less crazy.

I have a new upstairs neighbor. A nice single lady from TN. She is deathly afraid of the lizzards we have here in Florida. I am not talking Iguanas that are now envasive here in Florida. I'm in Orlando. I'm talking the 2 inch tiny harmless lizzards. The ones we used to catch as kids, tap their mouths until they opened it and get them to bite our earlobes and wear them as ear rings. That harmless. She refuses to go near them! She won't even go near the stairs if she sees one. I have to chase them off for her.

I commonly hear her run up the stairs really fast and get a kick out of it every time. She tries to out run them screaming as she goes. I go to take Chopper out just now and there she is with like 12 bags of groceries by her car refusing to move. I had to chase the lizzard all down the stairs and promise her I couldn't see any to get her to move!

Oh my! Makes my day everytime. You are so not the only one with phobias!

Edited to add: Sorry, just had to share that. I know not related to PTSD but this seemed an approprate thread.

Edited to add 2: What makes this even more of a kick is not only are they harmless but they are EVERYWHERE! I mean, she's gonna have a heck of a time living here if she is that afraid of these harmless tiny lizzards!
 
Oh, god! This is so funny. Not related to PTSD at all but may make your phobias sound a bit less crazy.

I have a new upstairs neighbor. A nice single lady from TN. She is deathly afraid of the lizzards we have here in Florida. I am not talking Iguanas that are now envasive here in Florida. I'm in Orlando. I'm talking the 2 inch tiny harmless lizzards. The ones we used to catch as kids, tap their mouths until they opened it and get them to bite our earlobes and wear them as ear rings. That harmless. She refuses to go near them! She won't even go near the stairs if she sees one. I have to chase them off for her.

I commonly hear her run up the stairs really fast and get a kick out of it every time. She tries to out run them screaming as she goes. I go to take Chopper out just now and there she is with like 12 bags of groceries by her car refusing to move. I had to chase the lizzard all down the stairs and promise her I couldn't see any to get her to move!

Oh my! Makes my day everytime. You are so not the only one with phobias!

Edited to add: Sorry, just had to share that. I know not related to PTSD but this seemed an approprate thread.

Edited to add 2: What makes this even more of a kick is not only are they harmless but they are EVERYWHERE! I mean, she's gonna have a heck of a time living here if she is that afraid of these harmless tiny lizzards!
Lol believe it or not there are people scared of butterflies. I kid you not.
 
I had a class mate in high school who was terrified of geckos. They are not native in our country, but we went on a trip and while I enjoyed watching them and found them more entertaining than any TV show, she went screaming whenever she saw one. She was terrifed that one might fall on her at night (honestly? I get THAT part ;) ). Another friend is afraid of geckos and lizards because she's fearing they might transmit diseases.

Zoogal is right, some people are afraid of the most harmless things. More often than not, our fears, even phobias, aren't rational at all. That's what makes it so hard dealing with them.
 
Oh, god! This is so funny. Not related to PTSD at all but may make your phobias sound a bit less crazy.

I have a new upstairs neighbor. A nice single lady from TN. She is deathly afraid of the lizzards we have here in Florida. I am not talking Iguanas that are now envasive here in Florida. I'm in Orlando. I'm talking the 2 inch tiny harmless lizzards. The ones we used to catch as kids, tap their mouths until they opened it and get them to bite our earlobes and wear them as ear rings. That harmless. She refuses to go near them! She won't even go near the stairs if she sees one. I have to chase them off for her.

I commonly hear her run up the stairs really fast and get a kick out of it every time. She tries to out run them screaming as she goes. I go to take Chopper out just now and there she is with like 12 bags of groceries by her car refusing to move. I had to chase the lizzard all down the stairs and promise her I couldn't see any to get her to move!

Oh my! Makes my day everytime. You are so not the only one with phobias!

Edited to add: Sorry, just had to share that. I know not related to PTSD but this seemed an approprate thread.

Edited to add 2: What makes this even more of a kick is not only are they harmless but they are EVERYWHERE! I mean, she's gonna have a heck of a time living here if she is that afraid of these harmless tiny lizzards!

I love lizards, skinks, chameleons, igauna, bearded dragons, geckos, salamanders, mud skippers, axolytl, and the i would be scared of the poison spitting komodo dragons.

The GIANT salamander is very cute and in Chinese they are called WaWaYu.

Nature is amazing.
 
I love lizards, skinks, chameleons, igauna, bearded dragons, geckos, salamanders, mud skippers, axolytl, and the i would be scared of the poison spitting komodo dragons.

So do I. I brought up Iguanas because they are now envasive in South Florida digging holes under the road causing the road to cave in. They are wild and huge and bite. They have teeth.

I was the girl that does and still does love snakes and love playing with them. Kids at easter handed me a plastic easter egg with a small tiny snake in it. Trying to scare me. I open it and go "oh, a tiny snake" and started playing with it. Really burst their bubble.

Now roaches is a whole other ball games. Im on the table due to a roach but will play with a mouse that came in. Roaches are gross. Other animals totally aren't. I'm a tomboy. Always ways. Spiders are cool too! Its just roaches for me. Chills! f*cking hate roaches!
 
Geckos and their little suction-cup feet and crazy see-through skin and super loud chirp. Living in the tropics I got to love the little buggers - watching them catch the bugs and do crazy stuff like jump through overhead fans!!!

Fast-forward to now and my aunt is terrified of them. It’s one of those situations where you try really hard to be compassionate and understanding and supportive of the person struggling in front of you...but at the same time you’re almost bursting into laughter at these tiny fascinating, harmless thing making someone so irrational and behave so absurdly!!

There’s a common humanity in fears and phobias. Really levelling. I love that - I love things that remind us how much we all have in common.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top