I have a phobia, anyone else?

[sumi]

I was just wondering, why do people treat me funny when I say I suffer from a phobia? I either get funny looks like I said I'm mentally unbalanced or something or I hear "Oh, I suffer from one too, I'm so scared of..."
Phobias, real phobias is no joke! Mine doesn't seem to have a name, I'm absolutely scared to death of burning. Seeing someone burn on TV triggers panic attacks. I sometimes black out. I'll come to my senses standing in a room on the other side of the house with no recollection of walking there, with concerned and freaked out relatives/friends staring at me, wondering what to do. Otherwise I get nausea, I feel dizzy, like I want to faint... Then a few days later I get nightmares. I get them quite often, actually. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and try not to get back to sleep, scared I'm going to continue dreaming. I feel crap in the morning, wondering what to do. Stop watching TV? Then I'll page through a magazine... Someone tells me a story, "Such and such had a house fire..." I want to scream at them "Stop! I don't want to know!" I walk in a supermarket/mall/anywhere I bump into scarred people. I draw them like a magnet. How many are there out there???
And these people who make a point of telling me all about this guy who doused himself in gasoline... They enjoy upsetting me! I can't stand the smell of petrol. I'm scared of using gas. You wouldn't get me near a big fire...
And people just don't get it. They think I'm weird. I'm not. I just have this irrational fear of something. I can't control it. I can't make it go away.
I'm NOT mentally unstable.
I just need people to understand.
If there are anyone else who has a phobia let me know, I feel so alone in this.

 

[Momagain1]

I cannot even pretend to understand this...so I am no help in any of it...

I just wanted to say I'm sorry you suffer from this, it sounds awful and

lots of hugs!!

 

[Gingerlilypad]

Phobias have a mind of their own. There is no rhyme or reason for them. I have a spider phobia. If there is a spider in the room, I leave the room and shake until I know that spider is dead. I have gone to my garden, seen a spider, and sent hubby out to kill it before I will go into the garden again. Yes I know spiders will eat insects and most are harmless, but it is a spider. I have had nightmares about spiders, woke up screaming from them.
Thank goodness since I have had guineas loose around in the yard there are less spiders...and ticks..and mosquitos...and wasps...and bugs in general.
But mostly I seem to see less spiders.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
Do a Google on "pyrophobia" and you'll find a lot of links, some of which you may find helpful.

 

[sumi]

Thank you. I've looked at pyrophobia, but though the sight of fire makes me anxious, it doesn't trigger attacks. My mind just starts spooking me with thoughts, you know. I'd look at the flames and think what, how..? It's like having a fear of drowning, but not water itself, just drowning. I try to avoid fire when possible in social situations, drink a bit too much, hope no-one decides to share this story about some poor soul who tripped/fell asleep...
I am worried I'll develop pyrophobia as well, in a kind of guilty by association way. As it's the root of my problem. That will be bad, as I see fires all the time, every day. I just hate having to do anything with it. At work (a restaurant) my boss forced me eventually to do flambe's and stuff and he would laugh if I burn myself... He'd get mad if I let the fire in the fireplace go out, 'cause I'm scared of going right up to it to put more wood on. I don't work there anymore.
I'm lucky my husband supports me all the way. He'll keep an eye on TV and warn me, he'll help me when I burn myself, he keeps our son well away from family barbeques... I wish everyone would be so understanding.
I'll have a look at the websites and see what I can learn. The only time I've asked for help I've been told to "pray for healing". The person I spoke to made me feel so stupid. I've been suffering in silence a long time, it took guts to come out on this forum and say how I feel.

 

[Momagain1]

I'm sorry someone told you just to pray for healing..while I am a HUGE believe in the power of God and prayer...
I am thinking you need to seek professional help and mayube some anxiety meds??? God love you for speaking out for this in
an open forum!!!

 

[sfw2]

For me, it's a fear of driving over tall bridges. Yes, I know it's irrational. That's what makes it a phobia! Not sure why it started, although I do know when. Zoloft seems to help, but I haven't tried to drive over the bridge that started it all, since I've been taking it.

I'm also arachnophobic and needlephobic, but the bridge thing is the worst.

Just know you're not alone. And it might be worth talking to a professional counselor.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I have a phobia of stairs. It's not as severe as it used to be, though I don't know what has improved it. Just typing this my hands are sweating LOL. I can go up and down some stairs ok, stairs that have strong railing and carpet I am ok with. Wide stairs that I can see down between them freak me out, or stairs that are made of metal that you can see through (like a grate) absolutely make me feel sick., escalators sometimes scare me and other times not. I don't really know if this is a true phobia or not...but it's quite intense sometimes. I've been walking down stairs and froze and can't continue.

 

[sumi]

Thank you everyone. I wish I could afford counseling. But sharing with you helps. I thought long and hard about posting on this forum about it, but I'm glad I did. You are great.
I'm nervous about taking medicine, I know too many people who gets dependent on pills. I'd love to try and face it head on, but the nightmares gets me everytime. Catches me when I'm sleeping and not on alert. What to do?
Thank you also for sharing your phobias. Makes me feel less alone.

 

[bustermommy]

Heights. Can't even walk up or down a flight of stairs that are open (you know, between the steps). My dentist had an office on the 3rd floor and his chair faced a big window. Had to change dentists.