this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2024
47 points (98.0% liked)

Asklemmy

44160 readers
1245 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hello everyone

So I have a rather unusual fear of butterflies and a fear of darkness. The first one is definitely the fear that has confused lots of people in my life. I can't explain it, for some reason I am just afraid of them. If one even comes near me, I completely freak out. The latter is a rather childish fear of mine. I don't know why I'm afraid of the darkness specifically, but I know that I can't stand it.

So what are your fears?

top 34 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

nice try Freddy Krueger, or jigsaw, or pennywise or whoevery you are.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What if your fear is all three of those characters mooshed together in one sort of super fear monster? You just spilled the beans, friendo!

[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm afraid of drinking through a straw. I'm convinced (against all logic) that I'm going to inhale it and choke.

However, I recently started drinking through a straw again at my dentist's recommendation, to protect my teeth from carbonation. I have a set of reusable metal ones. They don't trigger my phobia at all. Maybe the texture makes all the difference.

[–] OmgItBurns 4 points 3 months ago

Human brains have the strangest triggers.

'This exact thing will definitely kill me, this nearly identical thing is fine.'

Existence is wild.

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

An ex was afraid of butterflies but not moths. They could explain what their were afraid of but not why it applied to butterflies and not moths.

My SO loves butterflies but is afraid of moths.

I’m not afraid of either. I’m afraid of being incapacitated though, so things like ledges or working under a car makes me uneasy.

[–] Zathras@lemm.ee 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fear of losing my teeth. Spent about 5 years with dental braces, teeth pulled (permanent and baby to make room), and oral surgery to have a tooth exposed to pull down slowly in place over time. I have some fucked up dreams, but nothing disturbs me more than one where my teeth are breaking, cracking, loose, or falling out. Maybe it is a bit of dental PTSD.

[–] klemptor@startrek.website 4 points 3 months ago

Wow, I had the exact same situation, including having the tooth that had to be pulled down into place. I still have dreams that I'm wearing headgear, or I'll dream that I bite into an apple and a tooth comes out.

[–] ClassifiedPancake@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fear of right wing extremists taking over the world

[–] Taalnazi@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Me too, thanks

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Heights. There was some movie or show where people were hanging from a skyscraper window after an earthquake, and I regularly have vivid nightmares about it. It’s not to the point of a phobia but a really strong fear. I went up the Seattle space needle with my husband, and he was clowning against the glass while I was only able to stay in the middle. Had nightmares about him falling or me falling off it ever since.

[–] Nomad@infosec.pub 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

There is a case of someone clowning against the glass and falling down with the glass and dying from it. So.... Fear validated?

Edit: Gary Hoy was the dude. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Garry_Hoy

[–] dditty@lemm.ee 9 points 3 months ago

I grew up in the country with an in-ground swimming pool that we heated with a solar cover. When the cover was retracted/rolled up Bullsnakes would hide inside. There were quite a few times when they'd hastily slither out unexpectedly, and I've been pretty freaked out by snakes ever since.

[–] nichtburningturtle@feddit.org 8 points 3 months ago

I weirdly have a fear of spiders, but only irl. And am relatively fascinated by them when viewing them on pictures/video.

[–] AceQuorthon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Long loose hair for some reason

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Work next to a lot of spinning machinery?

[–] AceQuorthon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 months ago

Nah, just the sight of it (Drains, the floor, etc.) makes me feel really disgusted

[–] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Bears, even though I think they're really cool. It's gotten worse over time. I've seen a lot of videos of idiots interacting with them, getting too close, leaving food out at campsites, etc.

Plus my ever-declining faith in humanity, it means the likelihood of a bear I would encounter being made more dangerous because of other people is high.

I used to want to go to the Adirondack mountains, but after reading reviews about one of the main camp areas being overrun with black bears (due to eating human food) that's no longer on my bucket list.

Even on a fairly recent camping trip with a friend with equal knowledge about bear safety, they left a plate out with some meat grease overnight. We heard all sorts of sounds and the plate was far from the eating area in the morning. Like can you not leave a welcome present out for the apex predator, please?

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

What is great is listening to bros who try to say they could "totally take on a bear". It's normal to be fearful of any animal that could easily fuck a person up.

[–] MissJinx@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)
[–] Eiri@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago
[–] lady_maria@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

I'm horribly afraid of heights and can't even stomach a normal wall climb (like with a harness and everything) without quivering like a leaf.

Also most BIG bugs, especially if they have a lot of legs... though I think I'd probably be fine with a tarantula, for some reason. No idea why. The small ones are usually fine, minus wasps and hornets.

I'm kind of afraid of the dark too, but it's also not really about the darkness itself. I'll find myself vividly envisioning things like a snarling wolf suddenly lunging from the darkness to tear my throat out, or a large, unhinged man sneaking up behind me, or some shit like that. It usually only happens outdoors in rural areas where nights are much darker, which allows my imagination to run more wildly than usual. Thankfully, I live in a city now.

[–] Corno@lemm.ee 5 points 3 months ago

My biggest fear is that the Nintendo Switch 2 won't be able to dispense coffee.

Corny jokes aside, germs.

[–] keepcarrot@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is as good as it gets. Everyone struggling to rent, find jobs, finding out that a substantial portion of people around you hate you.

Bees, but only because I'm allergic.

[–] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 months ago

+1

I’m NOT allergic to them but they scare the crap out of me. Bees are a little bit ok. Wasps and hornets though - F that.

[–] pudcollar@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Someone's gonna die. I'm gonna get injured and go broke with medical bills. Heights. Crosswalks. Riding a bike in traffic. Driving in the city. I'm gonna go blind. I'm gonna get dementia and alzheimers. Shit times will happen again. Our country will go full fascist. My fiance will leave me or be assaulted or be sick. A recession catches us at a bad time. Climate change is worse than we expected. A lone star tick will make me allergic to meat. My asshole will never heal. AI is going to replace me.

[–] Ardyssian@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

I don't know the official name of this fear, but seeing the world spin around me makes me shut down (say goodbye to driving around roundabout highway exits, carpark roundabout ramps, jet boat spins, etc.). Even typing this out is hard.

Ironically, I (think) I would be ok if the spin is counterclockwise.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Knowing I'm dying as I actively die is probably my greatest fear. -Not everyone gets to be as lucky as those people on the OceanGate sub. -They really had to shove their privilege in our faces. -I say good riddance to bad rubbish!

[–] python@programming.dev 2 points 3 months ago

Yooo me too! Moths freak me out more, but butterflies are pretty close. I usually just hide under a big blanket whenever a moth makes it into my apartment and let my husband handle it, but he recently moved out for work. I only cry a little bit when I have to confront them myself 😎

I also can't stand Jellyfish to such a degree that I refuse to go into any open water. Even stuff like lakes and Rivers, which probably don't have Jellyfish, but the idea just freaks me out too much.

[–] aubertlone@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Just dying in general.

But hopefully before then I'll have lived a long and fulfilling life.

[–] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Not a huge fan of snakes. It's not to phobia levels, but I get a huge adrenaline rush when I see one, even if a fraction of a second later my forebrain identifies it as harmless. I love being in nature, so it's just something I have to deal with.

I've had several rattlesnake encounters and it's at least one guaranteed nightmare every time. The dream is always the same: I'm standing somewhere at dusk, often barefoot. Under a nearby, low object I see a rattlesnake. Then I see another to the side. Then another behind me. Then I realize they are everywhere.

I really hate ticks, so I appreciate their rodent killing service. But if we never ran into each other again that would suit me fine.

[–] BigLime@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Aliens. Ever since I was a child and watched an alien documentary with my parents on yhe history channel, and my dad kept saying that they were going to abduct me. I've sat in my room motionless before, watching an unexpected alien movie or show on TV, because I was afraid they would teleport into my room and abduct me. I sometimes still fear the dark because I feel as if aliens might sneak up on me. Im in me 20s now and still feel that tingle when I hear alien music or watch something about aliens alone.

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Death, and tight spaces.

[–] Mesa@programming.dev 1 points 3 months ago

I have a pretty bad fear of spiders. If one is in my immediate vicinity, I generally get pretty spooked. Images of them freak me out too.

There's this huge one that spun a web right outside my window. I'm leaving it alone, but I can see it every day as I'm working. It's one of those with the big orbs for an abdomen.