They’re one and the same with what many may call my childhood fears if by “irrational fear” you mean things I don’t hold active trust in, I’ve had a bad trial by fire with… opens list… snakes, spiders, psych wards, social wrath, and depths (don’t count on me to go somewhere I can’t touch the bottom of).
Irrational - being kidnapped and not having access to feminine products. Totally rational & terrifying- clowns.
I don’t think the first one is irrational
I thought it was just one of those weird things to worry about until i read this. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/05/my-period-has-become-nightmare-life-in-gaza-without-sanitary-products
Why is the last one the rational one while the first one is irrational?
Lots of people are afraid of clowns and I’m probably not likely to be kidnapped. Hope i didn’t just jinx it.
Oh. I was thinking in terms of severity, though for me, commonality would be reversed too. I’ve no clowns to fear, but kidnapping has its history if you ask me.
Clowns
I know they’re just people in makeup, but I always fear them no matter how much I try to reason away the fear
What about mimes?
Mimes are fine by me, their acts are largely watch only and not as direct.
Besides, the fear definitely rooted from watching IT at about 8 years old
Getting evicted. I don’t do anything wrong or break my lease in my apartment, and have never had a complaint against me but for whatever reason I get super freaked out when someone knocks on my door. Even if it’s just a delivery driver.
I remember one time I actually called off sick at work because I saw my landlord on my ring doorbell tape something to my door and I was literally worried sick. Started thinking I had to start looking for another place.
Turns out it was just a notice saying that they were going to give residents a free fire extinguisher in the coming days. All that panic for nothing.
My shoelace getting caught in an Escalator.
Is that irrational?
Just ride barefoot.
Easy. Next!
Sea monsters. Doesn’t matter that I’m a middle aged man who has been in dozens of lakes without incident. Every goddamn time there’s a constant “hey, something could rise from the depths and eat you right now. You never know!”
They don’t want to EAT you or anything, they just like to lightly brush against the side of your foot with a tentacle one time because they’re smart and curious, but shy.
I’m kind of weird. I can’t stand the idea of swimming in the deep ocean. It makes me skil crawl and want to run as far away as I can… despite loving the ocean. Just don’t make me swim in deep ocean waters.
Not too uncommon.
Yeah. It’s so weird imagining that there is so much dark space below oneself, where anything could be lurking.
And stop moving, and you’ll sink deep down. No safeguard that stops you at some point. You’ll just sink and sink and sink.
That’s a perfectly normal and healthy fear, for those mortals who dare display hubris towards the endless sea shall be met with a fate most grim
I’m not sure if those first two sentences are connected. 😉 Anyway, that fear is called thalassophobia, and is very common.
That we* get the government we deserve.
*Global we, not just where you live.
Palmetto bugs.
I am so unreasonably terrified of those guys. I have held tarantulas, I love snakes, happy to hold your pet rat or lizard, bees and other insects mostly don’t bother me.
But palmetto bugs strike fear into my very soul.
Melted ice cream…
That’s what milk is though.
Mine is being stuck in another dimension. When I was a kid I was stuck in a multi layer dream and I think I was like 3 layers in before I was about to give up.
Some examples are movies like Room 1408 or Silent Hill.
I don’t think it can happen, but I’m always terrified of it. The closest real life example is disassociation (depersonalization or derealization) fuck that noise.
Yes also that.
I get stuck in dreams like that semi-regularly. They’re kind of traumatizing every time.
3 layer dream?
5 layer dream tree with “fake waking up” thing and sleep paralysis is where it’s at
Bees. I’m not allergic or anything, I just formed an irrational fear of them probably after I was stung on the foot when I was a kid.
Needles. Oh, and getting cut on my wrist or Achilles heel.
i mean, that last one did in Achilles, and that dude was basically invincible. On a normal person like you or me, that’d obliterate us in an instant.
Showering with the lights off. And having my teeth fallen. I suffer from cavities, I don’t even know why I have so many, I brush my teeth twice to thrice a day. :( so I’m seriously scared of ending toothless at some point.
Showering in dim/no light is fucking amazing.
Hot and dark. Mmmm.
Also, I ripped one of my own teeth out at 16. (I congenitally lack 4 permanent ones so the milk teeth they were supposed to replace never fell out. Had the last one taken out at 18.) The crunchies while wiggling the tooth was actually not unpleasant. Nostalgic, it was.
Also, we’re doing pretty well for a drug which could regrow teeth, so you can worry less about ending toothless.
Floss. I have some floss picks near my bed, computer and bathroom. I just idly use the floss picks a couple times throughout the day, usually watching YouTube or something and have only gotten 1 cavity despite going through really bad depression and poor dental hygiene.
I use floss, too. :( .every morning and night. I still don’t know the reason for it. A dentist told me it was just a genetic thing and I should be way more careful than others. Another dentist told me it could probably be anemia. But I’ve read that bulimia causes cavities (I used to be bulimic for a long period)
Your fear is very rational then haha. It also helps to consciously scrape the front and rear tooth with the floss. Much easier to do with floss picks.
Other than that you can look into some blood work for that anemia and any other anomalies. My condolences man, that sounds so fuckin tough.
Holes (trypophobia) and sharks in the pool. I used to be on the swim team and loved swimming, but at some point in my teenage years I got this irrational fear that a shark was chasing me in the pool and now I literally can’t do laps anymore. It sucks cause I really enjoyed it and I was good at it. Nothing triggered the fear as far as I can remember.
The trypophobia I have many theories but I think it is actually just one of those fears people have sometimes.
Sorry your post reminded me of this
I’m not clicking that you can’t trick me
Edit: I clicked it actually, you got me. It is not a holes trigger so it was ok. Actually looks like a pretty amazingly awful movie and I may just have to watch it.
Unfortunately IIRC it’s a skit, not an actual movie.
