What are your Fears?

[XanBcoo]

Time for Gotwoot to set aside it's pride and admit to what we're afraid of.

Are you afraid of heights? Afraid of failure? Afraid of...fear itself???

I'm afraid of cockroaches and pretty much any bug that looks like it's not of this earth. I also get scared easily by movies and always end up imagining that the ghosts/monsters/whatever from them are creeping around my room in the dark or lurking behind the next corner. Fuck that shit.

[IFHTT]

I am afraid of public humiliation. So much so, that I hold my tongue a lot of the time in conversations with a large amount of people, even if what I have to say will actually achieve the result I am hoping for...

Or I guess you could say that I am afraid of the negative side of "what if" hypotheticals to the point that it affects my choices and actions, even if they more than likely have no real bearing on the current situation.

[Kraco]

I also get scared easily by movies and always end up imagining that the ghosts/monsters/whatever from them are creeping around my room in the dark or lurking behind the next corner.

Hmm... I don't think I've been afraid of anything in movies for a long, long time. I guess my distinction of fiction and reality is too strong.

I have very light acrophobia. I know I didn't use to have because as a kid I did all the crazy and witless shit kids do. But now when I look directly down from my 8th floor balcony I feel something unnatural that shouldn't be there. And it's not just that I fear my eyeglasses will fall down...

I also fear making phonecalls to unknown people. I have honestly wasted sometimes 30 mins planning all the possible outcomes of a phonecall lasting 30 seconds. No such troubles if I was to meet the same person face to face. This has also led me to hate phones in general (no offense, XanBcoo).

[Assertn]

I've been dreaming about zombies a lot lately.
It actually really sucks too, cause how do you win against that?

Maybe I just don't like being in situations where I'm utterly helpless.

[Board of Command]

My term marks will be released as of 1 AM tomorrow, or tonight if I choose to stay up till 1. My greatest fear is failing the one course where I bombed the final.

[Munsu]

The Devil.

[Terracosmo]

Becoming physically disabled.

I'd honestly rather die.

No drums or ability to strut one's junk around on saturdays = No Terra.

[Turkish-S]

Coming home and seeing my loved once are dead.... i think i watch too much movies.

[Animeniax]

@Turkish-S: Is that called the Uchiha complex?

My greatest fear is being alone. It's funny though how often I find that I enjoy being by myself more than being around others. I think maybe I hate the idea of being alone more than the actual practice. Plus, the social stigma of being alone or considered lonely really makes it feel worse than it is.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm afraid of cockroaches too, and anything that resembles them in size, shape or movement. Not to the extent that I can't overcome it after the initial shock, but the first sight always results in the "Holy Sh!t" state.

I don't know if this is acrophobia. I don't think I have a problem standing on the 30th floor looking down or out, but once I lean forward, stick my head out, turn around and look UP, I feel my balls shrivel. I had ovenphobia when I was younger, but that's gone now. To varying degree, I could say all of the above.

Something new( and one could say nerdish) would be Internet or hard disk failure.

[Psyke]

I'm afraid of losing my loved ones. I'd give my life so they can live, really. It's a little selfish, but it's a fear I can't get over, no matter how much the amount of mental preparation.

[Zachiru-Hirosaki]

Exorcism.

[XanBcoo]

I've been dreaming about zombies a lot lately.
It actually really sucks too, cause how do you win against that?
The Zombie Survival Guide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zombie_Survival_Guide) + Lucid Dreaming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dreaming)??

Coincidentally I also had a recent dream that me and my friends were involved in a zombie outbreak.

Edit: I guess I should say I'm also afraid of talking to pretty girls. It's one of those things I can rationalize away before or after the fact, but can never bring myself to do when I want to :(.

[rockmanj]

I'm afraid of water, so much so, that I am unable to swim at all. Also I'm quite afraid of being shot when I"m in the U.S.

[Eurasian]

Zombies...*chills*
But I think I'm more afraid of little children supernatural beings (i.e. the Ring girl).

[Abdula]

Fear, well I honestly don't think I have any fears anymore. This is not pride or anything I just really can't think of anything I would be afraid of anymore atleast not to the extent that normal people would consider to be fear, certainly no real phobias. There are things I'm still uneasy about though.

I guess the only thing I would say I fear is loosing control of myself and/or hurting the people I care about. Those things are always on my mind. Btw this is a great topic Xan I really wish I could respond at length to every post above mine but that would be way too long so I'll just do this.

@ Xan: Hate roaches, hate seeing them, hate knowing they exist. Not scared of them could pick one up and wouldn't really bother me. Seeing one doesn't generate much reaction either. Talking to pretty girls makes me anxious but not from fear from excitement, you should just stop thinking about it so much.
@ IFHTT: Not at all afraid of public humiliation been there done that, got over it.
@Kraco: Riding roller coasters, ferris wheels or living really high up will help you get over it or atleast significantly desensitized. My sister went bungee jumping although I wouldn't recommend it. Had those same qualms about phones as well, guess I still do but I don't pay attention to it anymore.
@Terra: been there done that.
@Turkish S: I really think you watch too much movies, besides there really isn't anything to fear there, thats more just shock so as long as you're able to keep yourself together you'll be fine. The fear would come afterwards and that would be the fear that you too could suddenly die or have whatever happened to them happen to you.
@Ani: Being alone ain't so bad, its sad and depressing but you'll get over it or you'll get used to it. The latter part is what you should fear.
@Psyke: Really shouldn't fear it as there really isn't much you can do about it and I can tell you mental preparation doesn't count for anything.
@ZH: Been there done that
@rockmanj: Almost drowned about twice so not really afraid of water per say either I live or I die. I am afraid of the ocean though but for other reasons. Never been shot, been shot at and again either I live or I die so no bother.
@Munsu: Not worth the fuss, really.

I guess I'm too rational to really be afraid of stuff so the only thing I'm really afraid of is fear itself and anything that comes up that I find myself afraid of I immediately do it, just so I know that there is actually nothing to fear. Plus it should be obvious by now but I gone through alot of crap in my life so I don't really have any room for fear anymore.

-Btw Xan care to discuss the topic of Lucid dreams. There was a time when i was younger when I was constantly plagued by nightmares(rape, decapitation, being burned alive that kinda stuff) learning to do that is how I got over them, didn't know it actually had a name. Thanks for the article. I believe there is a dream interpretation thread or something like that.

[Psyke]

It's not that I'm not rational about it, and that we can all talk about fears in a calm and logical manner until we really put ourselves in that situation. It's the whole logic vs emotion/instinct again....

*edited for spelling

[Abdula]

Yeah I know. No one ever really knows how they will react to a situation until they actually experience it but I've been there and my solution was to literally just stop caring about anyone at all and just focus on myself. Needless to say that didn't work too well. That was me rationalizing things my thinking was if it hurts to lose them then if I didn't care about anyone then loosing them wouldn't matter. Typical childish logic although my logic wasn't wrong its just that if loosing them doesn't matter then having them around didn't matter either and going through life not caring about or looking out for anyone just left me with an empty feeling. Plus I realized that if I didn't value anything then my life itself didn't have any value.

[python862]

I would believe my greatest fear is that of going insane to the point of hallucination. What I mean by that is that I fear having my mind create people and then having dialogue with them... I suppose what I'm describing is what happened to the mathematician John Nash. The only other fear I have (which is more a phobia) is of heights.

[XanBcoo]

Talking to pretty girls makes me anxious but not from fear from excitement, you should just stop thinking about it so much.
Yeah, I know, but like I (and Psyke) said, fears are easy to rationalize until you put yourself in the situation. Usually it's just a gut reaction, and the only thing that can help you is experience.

There are definitely different categories of fears too, and with a lot of them you can't really put yourself in the position to gain experience from them. There are some irrational fears like fear of mice, girls, bugs, and open spaces or whatever that can be dealt with, but a lot of them are like what you described as a general uneasiness that can't really be "faced", so you're just left with a nagging "Oh God, I really really hope that never happens to me".


-Btw Xan care to discuss the topic of Lucid dreams.
It's been brought up a few times on Gotwoot but discussion has never gone anywhere beyond people saying "Oh, I can do that" or "Oh, I can't really do that". I know there are sources out there and definitely a few forums dedicated to dreams though, if you're interested.

[Kraco]

@Kraco: Riding roller coasters, ferris wheels or living really high up will help you get over it or atleast significantly desensitized. My sister went bungee jumping although I wouldn't recommend it.

I don't think I can really significantly desensitize it as it's only so slight anyway. It doesn't actually prevent me from doing anything I want to do, and I have still climbed to some towers and such places where you could easily fall to an unsightly death (I'm not talking about tourist traps here), but nowadays I just grip the railings stronger and a certain uncomfortable feeling always lingers there.

[Uchiha Barles]

I don't think I can really significantly desensitize it as it's only so slight anyway. It doesn't actually prevent me from doing anything I want to do, and I have still climbed to some towers and such places where you could easily fall to an unsightly death (I'm not talking about tourist traps here), but nowadays I just grip the railings stronger and a certain uncomfortable feeling always lingers there.

Pfft...to hell with being anymore desensitized to heights. One small mistake at ground level, you trip and fall...ooops:p . One small mistake at that height and you trip and fall....oooops :eek: :( . It sounds to me like you have the EXACT level of fear and respect for heights one ought to have. Whenever I find myself on a balcony that's really high up and I find myself more comfortable that what you're mentioning, I leave the place. In fact, I usually try to make other people uncomfortable too so that they're aware we're that high up..."Wow, can you imagine falling off this balcony and getting impaled on the spire atop that church below? Holy cow..."

What am I afraid of...prison. There really is just no winning once you're in prison. I don't care how tough you think you are. Prison will show you how tough you're not.

[Archangel]

Lol i guess i just have a fear of death because i don't believe in either heaven or hell, i just think after this we'll just disappear into nothingness