r/Phobia

Something happened to me involving doctors when I was little that I never told anyone about. Not getting into the story here. I didn’t even tell my therapist when I had one, because I thought maybe it wasn’t that bad.

I was wrong. I’m in my late teens, and I have not been near a doctor’s office, dentist‘s office, or a hospital in years.

And I know it’s gotten worse because I used to be fine with the dentist until something happened there that triggered what I’m assuming was a flashback to that original event.

It’s preventing me from getting ID, finding a job, or going into the career I wanted because I literally can’t handle the simplest of testing without breaking down.

I have had a fear of Micheal Jackson since forever, and I thought it was going to go away as I got older, but it hasn’t.

I once tried to cure this fear using exposure therapy. To do this I watched one of his music videos, I just searched “Micheal Jackson music videos” on YouTube and clicked the first result…bad idea…

The song was thriller. And since I have avoided MJ so much, I didn’t know about this music video and its…premise…
So I watched the video, and was then even MORE afraid of MJ.

My friend sometimes randomly shows me pictures of MJ or something (she lives across the country so it’s via text or face time screen sharing) and I literally scream out loud most of the time, or at least physically jump.

Even just the sound of his voice scares me. I cant listen to his music (which sucks, because I think I would actually really like his music) if someone says “hee hee” in that MJ tone I get freaked out.

There’s a part in Conan Gray’s song “Lonely Dancers” where he sounds vaguely like MJ (“waste time, forget that guy. He don’t know love, I hope he dies. Get back up, we’ll be alright”) and when I first heard it I was like “yeahhhh…I don’t think I’ll be listening to this song very much…” but I do listen to it on an almost daily basis (as with all of Found Heaven) so I feel like that’s a start?

When the trailer for “Micheal” came on the TV (a movie about MJ) I about had a heart attack. That’s worse than any horror movie imaginable.

My dad also listens to a song from back when he was in The Jackson Five, and that freaks me out too (the one that’s like “abc, easy as 1 2 3, doe ray me” or something)

So how do I cure this fear? I would love to listen to his music, as I feel like I would enjoy it. But I can’t because of this fear. I also think I would enjoy the new movie, and I also don’t want to be terrified every time that ad comes on TV.

I don't know what to name it, but I have an extreme phobia of this meme format. I used to watch them all the time to the point of developing this phobia. If you have an idea of maybe a name for this phobia or a similar phobia then I'd love to hear it. This may be more broad of a phobia but I'm not sure.

Hi, I'm a content creator online and I suffer from intense heliophobia, I've been struggling with it since late 2019 and it has not faded, I am unsure of the causes but the sun triggers intense anxiety and fear and the sunlight on my skin makes me very uncomfortable and anxious.

I don't know what caused it exactly, but there's this stigma that phobias are the direct response of trauma and well, I guess you understand me in this subreddit.

The thing is, I'm a mildly popular creator and I speak up on themes of racism, classism etc and I stand by my views that they should be eradicated, however, whenever I try to share this part of myself, my phobia, people start accusing me of being colorist and having internalised racism.

I'm Mexican, my parents are brown, my skin gets tanned very easily, which never bothered me, in fact, I used to purposely tan myself before my phobia, here's when I suspect something could've triggered it because one time I got sunburnt so bad my skin literally hurt and was peeling off.

However all my family is kinda light skin but gets tanned very easily and intensely. I wanna state that this never bothered me, and it also doesn't bother me now to be very pale because of the YEARS that have gone without me seeing the sun.

But for some reason people think I am heliophobic because I don't wanna tan, that I wanna be white, that I am afraid of the sun because I'm afraid of tanning and it's simply not true, I don't know what to do, do you have any advice on how I could explain my phobia and talk about my experience?

Even the thought of a getting a shot or getting my blood drawn is enough to make me light headed. And actually getting them is so much worse I almost passed out 2 separate times when getting them.

‎

‎I haven't found anything that helps me calm down - closing my eyes, having someone next to me - nothing helps

‎

‎I just want to able at least get my blood drawn without having a near panic attack everytime and inconveniencing everyone.

‎

‎Any advice is appreciated

Hi, I’m in need of help/advice. I’m almost 21 years old and have been struggling with a fear of bugs my whole life. Not just the bad or annoying bugs but like literally every single bug, crawling, flying, you name it (though the flying ones are the worst). I was just trying to sit outside with my mom because it’s a beautiful day out, but the whole time I’m stressed out and a couple bees/wasps fly by and before I know it I’m breaking out in tears. My mom is understanding, but my dad always says “it’s just a (insert bug here), it won’t hurt you” like, I get that, but this fear is irrational and I don’t understand why I can’t be outside like a normal person without freaking out anytime a bug comes near me. All I want is to be able to be okay with them, I’ll never like them but I just want to be able to chill tf out.

My question is, how the hell am I supposed to overcome this? Can a therapist help? I don’t want options for repellants or things like that, I want a real solution to get over my fear. Exposure therapy terrifies me and I don’t know that it will ever really work. Any advice is appreciated.

I've rearranged a lot of things in my life to survive the spring/summer because of my bug phobia (esp spiders) so today, I doused my car with peppermint oil; that should work keep stuff away right? for the most part?

Its been going on for months. I barely got through my finals in my first year of college. I struggle with falling asleep. I tried getting it off my mind by distracting myself with many things, but the thought of human civilization ending by a black hole in my lifetime keeps coming back. Its affecting my mental health to the point where I considered suicide many times so I dont have to experience the spaghettification. To be honest, I dont even remember how I used to live my life without worries like these.

My dad has had a fear of snakes for as long as I can remember. I’m not trying to force him to interact with one or “get over it,” but I do want to understand how to support him better.

I’ve been interested in getting a pet snake someday, but he’s extremely uncomfortable with the idea, especially in the house. I don’t want to make his fear worse or disrespect his boundaries.

For people who have dealt with phobias (or supported someone who has one), what are healthy ways to:

• talk about the fear without minimizing it
• avoid triggering someone
• help them feel more in control
• make the home feel safe for them

I’m not asking him to handle anything — I just want to understand how to approach this respectfully.

Any advice from people with phobias or experience supporting loved ones would really help.

I have a phobia of needles specifically sharp points being put into my body. Every time I go to a healthcare professional to try and get my blood work done they don't have the ability to comprehend it. They keep telling me that it doesn't hurt that they've done blood work for little children and they didn't scream. I every single time without fail have explained it's not about pain. Not once have I ever had any healthcare professional understand. If I'm scrolling on tiktok and shit and see like a guy step on a needle or a nail a chill goes down my fucking spine it's not about pain it's the idea of something long and sharp going into my skin. Frankly I don't understand why they can't just knock me out to get my blood work done as nothing has ever worked.

Moved in with my sister a few months ago, I just saw a roach. A fucking roach in my bed. I don’t know what to do I can’t be in this house. I have to leave. What the fuck bro IN MY BED BRO. WHY IS IT EVEN IN MY ROOM THERES NO FOOD IN THERE I DONTKNOW WHAT TO DO. WHAT DO I DO???

My insurance is limited in what it can cover and no where I can find specifies they treat this with CBT. I can't face this on my own. I'm on NJ Medicaid. I can't go outside without flinching from the slightest movement of something small because my brain hasn't figured out if its a bee or wasp coming to attack me. I need help before I become completely unable to leave my house, I'm desperate.

i have been hoarding cds, dvds, and game cards because i have this weird fear everything will get deleted off the internet and I won't be able to every play/see it again. What is this called?

I’m 13M and I live in what I can only describe as an "atrocity" of a home life. My parents are deluded, hypocritical, and act like children, leaving me to be the "adult" who fixes their mistakes. I’ve developed a "fawn" response and hyper-vigilance just to survive.Right now, my 19-year-old sister is obsessed with getting a cat. I have a deep phobia and a fear of being attacked by animals. I’ve done the research and tried to "help" my family by explaining the massive mistakes they are making—the 15-year financial burden, the hygiene issues, and the fact that I won’t feel safe in my own living room.Instead of listening, my sister is trying to "convince" me by spamming kitten TikToks and "facts" like "kitten poo is small." She treats my fear like a stupid excuse. My parents say they "might probably not" get it, but they are still letting her harass me and poke at my boundaries.I realize I’m stuck in a cycle of trying to save them from their own bad decisions, but I’m the one "crashing out" from the stress. I want to unlearn my "yes" programming and stop being the family's problem-solver. How do I stop trying to help people who see my safety as a joke?

Posted before on this subreddit about my parents. This is further update on them which also now includes my sister.

https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbynarcissists/comments/1spvi5f/i_wish_i_had_better_parents_it_changed_me/