What is your biggest Fear???

[Skippy123]

I just saw this article about a guy trapped in an elevator at work on Friday evening and not discovered for over 40 hours.

http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S420074.shtml?cat=10728

I was curious what is your biggest fear????

 

[Selkie]

Well, the thing that never fails to strike real anxiety and fear into my heart is being asked to give a talk at work. That''s something I''m working on, but will never completely get over. Even when I was teaching labs regularly in grad school I''d get a little nervous right before starting the class, and that wasn''t even a real lecture.

I also have a slightly less likely, but nagging fear of hitting a motorcyclist (or even SEEING one get hit) on the freeway. I''ve seen way too many near misses, plus the aftermath of two or three bike accidents, AND my husband and dad both had serious accidents in the past. I''m SUPER cautious and attentive to when bikes come up behind me (they can split lanes in California) and always try to give them a couple extra inches if I can do so safely.

 

[musey]

Being homeless or in great debt. I fear this over death--FI thinks I'm crazy for this.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" was NOT a fun movie for me. I was depressed over that for, no kidding, at least a month. I saw it right before my last semester of college. NOT GOOD TIMING.

It sounds somewhat trivial when I write it out, but for some reason that lack of control over my own life simply terrifies me. It may be that I'm in that transitional college-to-real-life period.


Another great fear that I have is our dog being trapped and helpless in the event of an emergency. He stays in his crate while we aren't home, so I get worried about fires/floods. He wouldn't have anywhere to go!

Or when he travels with us, if the plane were to crash--he'd be in his little travel carrier and unable to escape the wreckage even if he did survive the crash itself.

I don't like this thread!

 

[allikatac]

I would say a house fire. I am always triple checking any appliances before I leave the house and I have been like this since I was little. I remember being in girl scouts and they asked us if we could save one thing in a house fire, what would it be. From that point on I remember always worrying about it. I don''t feel that I am materialistic, but I can''t imagine losing photo albums, quilts, family heirlooms, etc. I feel like they are a part of me.

 

[iheartscience]

For me personally (about myself), I think probably suffocating or just dying. For me in general, anyone close to me dying.

Yikes, this is going to be a depressing thread!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

My son dying before I do. Morbid, eh?

cheers--Sharon

 

[anchor31]

Heights. Hands down.

 

[somethingshiny]

Hmmm, besides the obvious something terrible happening to a family member (specifically a child), I don''t have any great fears. I''ve been through the whole homeless, bankrupt, fire stuff. I''ve watched my mom and dad both nearly kick the bucket. I''ve seen horrible injuries on family members. DH and I have had our share of problems. I gave up worrying a long time ago. I trust my gut in all situations and I hand everything to God.


But, I am horrified by spiders!!! Trying to get over it, but I''ve run screaming from vehicles, my home, my work place. Gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!

 

[Kaleigh]

Choking. My husband had to be rushed to the hospital 2 weeks ago. He has never had an issue with it. But Mom has, I have and so did my grandmother. So yeah choking for me.

Spiders would come in second.

Speaking of Elevator's my dad was trapped in one that was filled with people during the summer. Something like 10 hours. He said the BO was about to kill him.

Second elevator story. A friend of our's from college represented a guy as his lawyer that was in an elevator in Boston. It went up 20 floors and then came flying back down. Went back up, and again back down. Rinse and repeat. That poor man, was shaken to his core and had broken bones. He survived but barely. Can you imagine?? Like it comes to a halt, only to fly back up and come crashing down.

 

[Elmorton]

I''m definitely not afraid of elevators (though I used to be) - where I went to college, all the dorms were tall buildings and the elevators got stuck about once a week (especially when they were too full). The worst story I heard was from one summer when there was a cheerleading camp on our campus - the girls put each other on their shoulders to jam more people in - and yep, it got stuck.

My worst fear - my car flying off a bridge and drowning. I drive over the Mississippi at least twice a day, so yeah...that''s fun.

Burning alive or being murdered are my second biggest fears - but these aren''t really things that keep up up at night. I used to watch Snapped on Lifetime every morning with one of my college friends before class and it finally dawned on me that random murders don''t happen too often and no one I know is psychotic, so I''m probably OK on that one. And, DH checks our fire alarms and carbon ones literally once a week, so my fears are assuaged there, too. (

 

[justjulia]

Dh or one of my children being late coming home w/o a phone call. (Car crashes, etc)

 

[Aloros]

I have a pretty acute fear of failure. I have a couple things I really want to accomplish in my life - I can''t imagine not succeeding.

I fear something happening to my sister. We''ve always been really close - she''s moving to the other side of the world for a year, and that''s going to be weird for us both!

 

[Haven]

I fear being wrongfully accused of a major crime, a la The Shawshank Redemption. I can''t even read about true stories like that, ugh.

 

[diamondfan]

in no particular order:

something happening to my kids
really stormy seas if I am on a boat
tunnels, caves or confined small or large dark spaces, but I do not like confined bright small spaces either (can you say CLAUSTROPHOBIA?) Mines greatly freak me, collapses etc just are scary
planes (the inevitable)
insects, spiders, snakes
surgery


fires

 

[Skippy123]

Wow, you guys came up with lots of them.

I have a huge fear of small spaces, being locked in an elevator with lots of people, and a few others.
Just recently I was in a train station in Spain and had to run to the bathroom before I got on the train. I was not sure if there was a bathroom on the train so I didn't want to take any chances. Well this bathroom at the train station was this heavy steal door that was vacuum sealed in the wall of this huge train station sort of invisible and it had a red, yellow and green button.

Of course everything was in Spanish and the bathroom was hot, icky, there was no running water and I could not open the door after I shut it; I tried every button to try and open it. Boy did I panick, so I started pounding on the door and yelling help in Spanish (one of the only few words I know in Spanish). I felt like I could not breath and I told myself to stay calm but it was not working.

I heard people get off the train and started pounding and kicking the door. I kept thinking I wish I brought my cellphone but left my purse with hubby. Finally an employee came and had to unlock the door. He was in shock that door would not open and I told him what I did (which is what I was suppose to do to open the door). I kept thinking what if it was the evening and my husband was not around then for sure I would have been in trouble. While it was happening I kept thinking one of my worst fears has happened. You should have seen how sweaty I was afterwards;

I never want to go through that again.

My husband did tell me when he saw me that he was really starting to worry about me. I made him promise that there forward on the trip if I don't come back from the bathroom after 10 mins to go looking for me!!!

Lisa, I use to work somewhere where the elevator would fall; I always took the stairs because someone was hurt because of that. I am somewhat fearful of that happening.

 

[miraclesrule]

Wow...deep thread. I love it!!!!

My greatest fear as a Mom is having something tragic happen to my daughter or my future grandchild. That is really the only fear I have.

I suppose I have a fear of my own premature demise, but not because I fear it, but the ramifications and effect it would have on my daughter.

Other than that, I am pretty fearless.

 

[Harleigh]

Hi Skippy,

Good question...

For me, I''d have to say drowning first. I used to be a great swimmer until I started having shoulder problems at age 17. After 3 shoulder surgeries, my shoulder fatigues much faster than it used to, and I don''t always know how long I''ll have before it gives out. I am seriously considering taking water wings with me to Maui...or maybe a life vest...you can never be too careful!

Second, dying in a fire myself, or with FI being a fireman, him dying in a fire. I also check all the outlets at my house and make sure everything is off that I can before leaving, and then I find I''m still paranoid about it.

I am also afraid of most dogs, though I am hoping to get over that a bit when we get one of our own after the reception in August, along with a new kitty.

I was bitten by a dog on my backside while riding my bike as a child, and we never had any pets growing up for me to get used to. My FI had a huge Rottweiler while we were together the first time, and she was the first "pet" dog I''d ever come close to having. She was a huge lover if she knew you, but she scared me sometimes as she was a rescue dog that had been abused, and she weighed a lot more than I did. When FI had to put her down was actually how we started talking again, because as he said, I was the only "mom" she ever really knew while he had her.

Fast forward to our years apart, when I dated a man with a fat Corgi and a huge Great Dane, aptly named "Moose." He was a giant lap dog and couldn''t hurt a fly if he tried, so I became more accustomed to being around dogs. Then we happened to go to a friend''s house before camping for the weekend and he had an even larger Great Dane, one with a huge tumor coming out of his neck. I felt sorry for him as I knew they would be putting him down soon, and he just seemed so loveable. After asking if it was okay, I was gently petting him on the head for at least 15 minutes when all of a sudden his jowls start shaking and next thing I know he has his mouth clamped to my wrist. Luckily, my wrists are absurdly small and I had 4 layers of clothing on due to the cold, but he still managed to leave puncture marks on my arm through all of that...still have the scars, I think. The poor thing had to be put down that night on the way out of town for camping, and I will never forget how I felt when he bit me just 3 inches from my face, nor the fact that because of that, he had his life taken away from him, regardless of his quality of life at the time it occured. Now I''m just a fraidy-cat around all dogs until I get to know them and see they won''t hurt me. Hard to do when this dog outweighed me by about 50 pounds and was over 6 feet tall on his hind legs! Maybe I should start with a Chihuaha or mini Yorkie!

And lastly, I''d now have to say small spaces. I never thought I was claustrophobic until I started having MRI''s done again recently. I have had at least a dozen or so over the years, but maybe now it''s just the loud banging that makes it worse, but when I had to have MRI''s taken of my fractured collarbone in December, I nearly had a panic attack, and I am not normally like that at all. The scans took well over an hour and by the time I was done, I was drenched in sweat and a nervous wreck, but I didn''t move because I knew it would have taken even longer. Looking back, I realized that if they had just propped my head up with one more pillow so I could see my feet and the light, I probably would have been okay. They layered me with so many blankets because I was shaking so bad, but I felt sort of mummified and absolutely helpless...it was horrible.

Wow...just writing all that made me get a little jittery! I guess it''s good to get it out of my system and face my fears!

 

[Gypsy]

I think it must be falling from a great height as I have bad recurrent dreams that feature this.

But I'm afaid of a lot of things, admittedly. I'm just not very brave.

 

[strmrdr]

heights

That''s why I love too repel and wanted too go skydiving.

Next up would be ants, I got attacked by fire ants when I was a kid so its my life''s mission to kill em!
But I wouldn''t really call it fear more of an intense dislike!

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Anything medical - doctors, sharps, hospitals, the smell of them, the thought of being trapped in a clinical setting, being in an old fashioned ward with strangers nearby, any sort of treatment. Lack of care, no way of escape, treatment without consent, the wrong treatment by mistake...Aaaargh! This developed after a couple of traumatic experiences in hospitals, I used to be ok. In fact, for the first five years of my working life, I worked in a hospital and lived with my then fiance, a surgeon. Now I have to look the other way if I drive past a hospital.

And spiders.

Ok, my recurring nightmare would be a hospital ward with a spider in it.

 

[simplysplendid]

1. Losing my children and hubby (to things like accident or illnesses)

2. Cockcroaches

 

[Delster]

Drowning. I truly fear a death that involves not being able to breathe.

We lost a family member by drowning. I can swim but that family member was an excellent swimmer - even worked for a while as a pearl diver. I had a complete meltdown at the last Bond movie, had a full blown panic attack at that scene at the end. From the minute she stepped in the lift I was freaking out cos I knew what was coming. Took BF an hour to calm me down after that

Ow this thread hurts

 

[Deelight]

This thread is really sad

The main ones I have:
Dying young like my mum did and leaving young children behind (main reason I started working out)
Something happening to anyone of my family or BF or my animals
The dark, can''t stand it though I am slowly getting better.
Anything creepy crawly spiders, bugs (especially Christmas beetles)
The Dentist

I will leave it there before I start sounding like a fearful nutjob

 

[Lorelei]

I have many fears, but here is my main phobia...moths. I hate ''em, especially horrible fluttery ones with dusty wings, and if they get ANYWHERE near me, I scream my head off. I also hate Junebugs and that horrific buzz they make at dusk on a summer night....

And those horrid flying beetle things with hard cased bodies, I don''t know all the correct names for these specimens, nor do I care really, I hate them.

But I don''t mind mice or rats....

 

[Delster]

Oh Lorelei I have a huge fear of daddylonglegses! Yet I wouldn''t bat an eyelid at a mouse or a rat

And wasps. But I''m allergic to those so I''ve got good reason

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/22/2008 7:25:53 AM
Author: Delster
Oh Lorelei I have a huge fear of daddylonglegses! Yet I wouldn't bat an eyelid at a mouse or a rat

And wasps. But I'm allergic to those so I've got good reason

You like squeaky thingies too then!!!

Hehehe!

I also HATE daddylonglegses especially if you are stuck in an outside privy at night, having a last twinkle, and the damn things are crackling around a bare lightbulb....oh struth....

Oh that reminds me. As I live right out in the countryside, at harvest time I often find hoppergrasses in my bedroom

I freak.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 4/22/2008 7:10:19 AM
Author: Lorelei
I have many fears, but here is my main phobia...moths. I hate ''em, especially horrible fluttery ones with dusty wings, and if they get ANYWHERE near me, I scream my head off. I also hate Junebugs and that horrific buzz they make at dusk on a summer night....

And those horrid flying beetle things with hard cased bodies, I don''t know all the correct names for these specimens, nor do I care really, I hate them.

But I don''t mind mice or rats....

Those things are creeeeeeepy when they go shiny are called Christmas beetles I had one attack me in my face when I was little I am still mentally scared

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/22/2008 7:39:02 AM
Author: Deelight

Date: 4/22/2008 7:10:19 AM
Author: Lorelei



I have many fears, but here is my main phobia...moths. I hate 'em, especially horrible fluttery ones with dusty wings, and if they get ANYWHERE near me, I scream my head off. I also hate Junebugs and that horrific buzz they make at dusk on a summer night....

And those horrid flying beetle things with hard cased bodies, I don't know all the correct names for these specimens, nor do I care really, I hate them.

But I don't mind mice or rats....

Those things are creeeeeeepy when they go shiny are called Christmas beetles I had one attack me in my face when I was little I am still mentally scared

Gawd....I was driving in my car a few years ago on a summer evening, I had the window down and I heard a sound like a gunshot go off, along with slimy wet splatters...

It was one of those things had smashed into the side of the car, on the metal where the window pane fits, right beside me. I stopped the car PDQ in terror and I could see the thing spinning on it's back on the rear floor of the car, with some of it's innards spread everwhere...

What a memory.....

I feel your pain Dee...

I now ALWAYS keep my car windows closed.

 

[Delster]

Waaah you ladies have had scary experiences!!! Are you talking about clock beetles or are those different? I know someone who got bitten by one of those once. It was in a shoe and she put her foot in and it bit her big toe. She needed stitches!

I dread it in the Autumn when the daddylonglegses come in the windows in the evenings cos they''re attracted by the lights. Why oh why are they so fond of hanging out in bathrooms??? And they never reveal themselves till you are at your most vulnerable and then BAM there''s like five of them hovering around your vulnerable self! Aaaargh!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/22/2008 7:46:58 AM
Author: Delster
Waaah you ladies have had scary experiences!!! Are you talking about clock beetles or are those different? I know someone who got bitten by one of those once. It was in a shoe and she put her foot in and it bit her big toe. She needed stitches!

I dread it in the Autumn when the daddylonglegses come in the windows in the evenings cos they're attracted by the lights. Why oh why are they so fond of hanging out in bathrooms??? And they never reveal themselves till you are at your most vulnerable and then BAM there's like five of them hovering around your vulnerable self! Aaaargh!

ROFL!!!!

Good visual, I know exactly what you mean!!!

Do clock beetles fly? The thing that hit my car flew in a fashion I suppose, am I right in thinking that clock beetles are cockroaches?