Phobias and other irrational anxieties

[Nautipus]

I had a dream one time that my friend was a werewolf. But he was still cool.

[Earniel]

See, werewolves would have been the least of my worries - I would have been gearing up for the regular rape&pillage scenario. x_x
We-ell, in a nice cottage on a fenced old abbey domain, in a nice rural community, but with several minutes biking distance to the nearest houses, you don't really come across many rapists and pillagers onless they're into trees....

You don't necessarily come across werewolves either, but then that's part of the irrational things. :rolleyes:

[Midge]

*Reviving old thread time!*

I have emetophobia. It's not as bad now as it used to be. I would bawl and run from the room if I even saw a sign of gagging, let alone vomiting. I couldn't stand to hear it. I remember being at preschool and seeing a classmate throw up from at least 30 yards away. I was incapacitated for the rest of the day. Once my brother was ill and I spent an entire evening holed up in the pantry with one small book and my fingers stuffed inside my ears.

I bring this up because my husband got sick last week. Though I freaked out a little bit, I was proud of myself for giving him a hug, bringing him a glass of water and cleaning up the bathroom after he felt better.

It's funny because some people get a nervous stomach for things like public speaking or doing something they've never done before. I get a nervous stomach when people around me are sick. Even thinking about it, I'm wishing I hadn't eaten so much for my lunch. Though I didn't get sick last week, I ate like I was for four days.

I don't know why I'm like this. I don't remember anything from when I was young. I can't remember a time when I wasn't emetophobic, though.

I do know it's improved though because I can now read stories when people get sick, or hear about them without worrying. I still can't watch them on TV or in real life, or hear the actual event, though.

[EllethValatari]

It's not a phobia, but I have a very serious case of OCD. Every night I have to go through the house, straightening the rugs and chairs to line up exactly with the tile. Then I go and straighten all my books and computer, keyboard, and frames. It takes about 10 minutes, and if I try to go to bed without doing these things, I can't sleep because I feel like a horrible person for not doing them. The same thing happens when I'm out of town.

It sucks. Anyone else have this or am I completely crazy? :eek:

[Rían]

I have it in a very minor way - there's just a few things that I feel I have to do. One of them is I have to put the tv volume on even numbers, except I can also have numbers ending in 5. Weird, innit?! There's a few other things, but I can't remember them now. It's not an every-night kind of thing, its just when certain things happen I have to do them a certain way, so I can't remember them right now.

[EllethValatari]

Yes, I probably would do the TV volume thing too. :)

[katya]

I used to do a lot of weird stuff like that too, but not to the point where it would interfere with my life or anything. I think I remember being very particular about TV volume. Now the thing I do the most is walking on floor tiles in patterns. But it's not like I have to or anything.

[Midge]

That's my favorite part of the definition of "phobia" or "disorder" - that it interferes with everyday life. It helps me know that my emetophobia isn't extreme. I've read stories of people with severe enough cases to nearly have agoraphobia because they didn't want to chance running into someone who was ill.

And I don't think you're weird for straightening things. If we didn't have order in our world, where on earth would we be. Rian, my brother does the same thing with the volume in his car. Basically his thing is that it can't be a prime number. It can be even or divisible by 5, and maybe 3 (I can't remember). But like, 17 or 19 or 23 are unacceptable.

I never step on cracks with tiled floors or sidewalks if I can help it. Who's with me here?

[EllethValatari]

I never step on cracks with tiled floors or sidewalks if I can help it. Who's with me here?

I am, but I often forget all about it :rolleyes:

It's good that your emetophobia isn't extreme enough to interfere daily. :)

[katya]

I either don't step on the cracks or I step on them in a certain pattern.

[Earniel]

Why is stepping on cracks on the floor bad?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Don't step on a crack, or you'll fall and break your back.

[Rían]

The one I heard is "step on a crack, break your mother's back" :eek:

I have a very minor thing with cracks. It's not big enough where I have to look down, but if I AM looking down, I will sometimes avoid them. Also sometimes if I DO step on a crack, I'll step on another one to "even" it out :rolleyes:

Isn't this weird?

[Rían]

I bring this up because my husband got sick last week. Though I freaked out a little bit, I was proud of myself for giving him a hug, bringing him a glass of water and cleaning up the bathroom after he felt better. Good for you! :thumb:

I don't have a phobia, but it does make me gag a lot to be around throwup - I have to hold my breath and sometimes leave the room for some air if I'm the lucky one to be cleaning it up.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

The one I heard is "step on a crack, break your mother's back" :eek:

Good thing I don't have mother issues. ;)

[Rían]

:eek: :eek: ;)

[Earniel]

Ah, so it's like superstition? A bit like the ladders and Friday the 13th? Does it have an origin? You can link the don't step under ladders or you'll get something on your head, and black cats to witchcrafts, so what's the story behind the don't step on cracks thing?

If it was true, though, my spine (or my mother's for that matter) would have been ground to dust by now. :p

[Rían]

Yes, that particular phobia (cracks) is linked to a superstition (or kind of one? not like black cats, but still enough to have a little saying) - but like many superstitions, it makes a bit of sense - back years ago, building codes were not as strong or were non-existent, so a cracked area could be very dangerous. Maybe the moms made up that little rhyme to remind their kids to avoid those potential dangerous spots. Anyway, it's interesting that the penalty falls on the mother - maybe that was a way to weed out bad little kids :D (those that cared for their mothers would obey and be safe, and those that didn't like their mothers would not! :D )

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Now, there's an entirely new perspective on family planning. ;)

[Earniel]

I see, so in some cases it's not just a common superstition but can be an actual phobia as well? I don't think I've come across something similar in Northern Europe yet, hence the questions. :)

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I think it's often more a matter of obsessive-compulsiveness than of a genuine phobia. Though, the line between the two may blur a bit, I suppose. Jack Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets does it big time. The funny thing is, it's culturally closer to Humpty Dumpty than to black cats, or so it seems to me.

[Earniel]

Humpty Dumpty? How does he fit in this?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I just mean that it's closer to a nursery rhyme, like Humpty Dumpty, than it is to standard superstitions, like black cats and salt over the shoulder.

[Rían]

Maybe it's a kind of folk wisdom rhyme thing, like "red sky in the morning, sailor take warning" etc.

Yeah, the Nicholson movie was great, and that bit with the cracks at the end very moving. I think it does blur a bit with phobias, OCD and superstitions, too.

[BeardofPants]

I knew it as, "Step on a crack, marry a rat." It subsumed many a childhood walk. *face-palm*

[Rían]

LOL! :D I've never heard that one! That's more fun :D

[katya]

I just remembered, when I was little I used to take the ferry boat to and from Mackinac Island. My dad told me there was a hole in the dock. I remember being really afraid of it, and not knowing where it was, and looking down at the ground for it. And someone asked me if I was trying not to step on the cracks, and I was like "Why not?" and that's where I first heard the bit about breaking backs.

[Voronwen]

Ok, this feels weird even posting about this... LOL...

When i was around 4 years old, i was petrified of the vacuum cleaner. :p It all started when one day my father accidentally sucked up one of my little Fisher Price people (remember those? i'm dating myself, here!) with the hose. After that, i was afraid i was going to get sucked up. I even remember which Fisher Price person it was - the blue one with the little blonde braids. How's that for post-traumatic stress? :p

I still remember one day while my parents were vacuuming, and i jumped up onto the dining room table. I sat there screaming and crying until they were done. :p

Thankfully i outgrew it soon after! :eek:


The one i didn't outgrow, though, is my fear of strange dogs. I was chased by a Doberman at my grandmother's farm when i was 5. To this day, i fear strange dogs - especially big ones. I mean... i've been known to climb trees to get away from them (Varokhar has seen me do this... hahaha! :eek: ) ... *ahem* , yeah.... part feline.... :o

[Rían]

That isn't weird at all, Voronwen - those totally make sense (as long as you weren't, like, 15 and still afraid of the vacuum!)

It always makes sense to at least be cautious around strange dogs, too.

[Voronwen]

Right, LOL! At least now i know for when i become a parent, not to suck up my kids' toys. It just might be traumatic. :p

I agree about the dog thing, though. Just wish i were a little less spooky around them.

Oh and.. not sure if this is the right thread (fun thread, btw)... but, i'm kinda OCD :o ..especially about a neat, spotless house. My mom once accused me of having a house that was rather like a museum ("i guess you don't breathe in here!" ). LOL. So yeah.. it's a good thing i made friends with the good ol' vacuum! :p

I'm sure having kids will break me of the OCD-house thing, though.....

[Rían]

Yes - although teaching them to clean is important, there are things that are more important :)

I realized this morning that I have a slight thing about 13, and that I tend to count things automatically. I was putting on underarm deodorant, and I did 6 strokes on one side and then 7 on the other, and I had to go back to the first side and do one more because it was 13 :rolleyes: I guess I'm a little more OCD than I realized ...

[inked]

There's OCD and ther there's OCD:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351174/African-country-set-make-breaking-wind-crime.html

:eek:

[Rían]

That's crazy! :eek:

[Tessar]

Actually that's a law I could completely get behind. People need to not be noxious. >.<

[Rían]

Well, the only hard part is finding out who the perpetrator is ... <.< :eek: >.>

[Alcuin]

You know what “they” say: Even paranoids have enemies.

[Jonathan]

Lol Alcuin! Brilliant :D

[Midge]

I am, but I often forget all about it :rolleyes:

It's good that your emetophobia isn't extreme enough to interfere daily. :)

Yeah. It could be that I just make such a big effort to avoid it that I don't have to have it interfere. I'm pretty sure I would be really upset if I watched someone puke through the window of the office where I work sometimes.

Why is stepping on cracks on the floor bad?

This is what I found (and someone else did most of the work - I couldn't corroborate anything said, so it might just be picking birds from the sky)

Ill-fortune is said to be the result from stepping on a crack in the pavement. Present day society usually associates the superstition behind treading on cracks to the rhyme: "Step on a crack, break your mother's back" but the superstition actually goes back to the late 19th - early 20th Century and the racism that was prevalent in this period.

The original rhyming verse is thought to be "Step on a crack and your mother will turn black." It was also common to think that walking on the lines in pavement would mean you would marry a ***** and have a black baby. (Apparently this superstition only applied to Caucasians and because of the rampant prejudice against black people, was considered an activity to avoid.)

Stepping on cracks also had significance for children. In the mid-20th Century it was popular to tell children that if they stepped on the cracks in the street, they would be eaten by the bears that congregate on street corners waiting for their lunch to walk by.

Also, the number of lines a person would walk on corresponded with the number of china dishes that the person would break, later in the day.

Only in the last few decades has the rhyming superstition resurfaced to be the recognized "step on a crack, break your mother's back" and in some areas, two superstitions above are melded together to include the number of lines one steps on will correspond with the number of your mother's bones that are broken.

I spent a good amount of time walking with my face down so I could make sure I didn't step on any cracks. My feet were small enough (and may still be) to fit in the 12x12 tiles on the floor at school, so I would just take slightly larger steps than was comfortable and step on every other tile. I moved almost like a knight in chess. :D

I would also over- or undercompensate if it appeared I was going to misstep and hit a crack.

Good for you! :thumb:

I don't have a phobia, but it does make me gag a lot to be around throwup - I have to hold my breath and sometimes leave the room for some air if I'm the lucky one to be cleaning it up.

I'm always jealous of people who are able to just get over it. I'm an adult, I can take care of myself now, but when I was younger, I had to have at least one parent available if I needed them when my brother was sick. I'm sure it was frustrating for my parents, but we got through. :D