Irrational Fears

[crokett]

What doesn't add up is the title of the thread Irrational Fears. To the person who has the fear, it isn't irrational to them, it is real. What may seem irrational to one person may not be irrational to another.

Well.... I guess all fear is irrational since fear is an emotion. I'm not debating the reality of the fear, I am just curious if there are things you are afraid of that are otherwise harmless? My wife doesn't like bees either, but that makes sense since she is highly allergic. I mean, a beehive 10 feet up in a tree doesn't matter to me but it is life-threatening to her.

Edited: I suppose I have a fear of heights. Being on the roof of a very tall building doesn't bother me but not sure I'd ride the Stratosphere in Vegas.

[Crash2510]

I am afraid of heights suppose its irrational because its not falls that kill you, rather it is the impact.

so i guess i'm afraid of impacts

mom and sisters deathly afraid of spiders Imagine what they thought when they saw this

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Dolls. Chucky dolls. Annie Dolls. Puppets are way over board. They will eventually come alive and suck the life force out of you will you sleep.

[LinuxRandal]

I guess I wonder what the difference is between a regular fear and an irrational one?

Some fear of Wolf spiders, but more just a desire to crush before they jump on you.
Some fear of mice, after having one run up a pant leg when working under a car.
General fear of heights (won't go up a tall diving board), but fine on a ladder, or roof (is it heights, widths like the comedian joke, or fear of control that I know I have).
Used to have a much greater fear of snakes, brought on by my abduction as a kid, then later having one thrown at me by a lawn mower. Kinda had to overcome that one helping a neighbor with various projects for his reptile room (lot's of snakes and a few lizards).

So is an irrational fear one you can't overcome, or what is the difference?

[crokett]

I guess I wonder what the difference is between a regular fear and an irrational one?
So is an irrational fear one you can't overcome, or what is the difference?

I phrased it badly - fear is an emotion and by definition can't be rational or irrational

What I meant was fear of something you really have no reason to fear to the point it affects your lifestyle. For example - snakes. My sister is afraid of snakes. Last summer she didn't use her deck for two weeks because she saw a black snake on it. Black snakes are harmless, beneficial even. The only way she would go back on it was for me to crawl under it and pronounce it clean.

And again, back to the bees. My wife is afraid of them, with good reason. She is highly allergic.

[maxparot]

I wouldn't call my fears irrational actually many fears are healthy and are instinctually in place to save your life.

My fears are are based on bad experiences and some are conditional. We have all fallen and been hurt or injured and we know the pain or injury is proportional to the hight. I have no fear of hights as long as I have both feet on something solid and a hand hold. I've been to the Grand Canyon stood out on an edge with a hand on a tree and been able to look down without any fear. take away the hand hold on the tree and that is were I'd stop. Ladders also no problem as long as there is something to grab on to along the way and at the top. While working on a roof I get very nervous near the edge. and sit down for stability.

I've had 3 near drowning experiences 1 as a child but after I had already started to swim. I was pushed into a pool when I wasn't expecting it and panicked. The second in my late teens caught in a riptide. The last time about 5 years ago I was out of shape and tried to swim to far and lost my wind. I have a healthy respect for the water yet I have just this year become certified as a scuba diver and even took it another step and received advanced open water certification and look foward to progressing further as a diver.

As for instinctual fears of other animals I have seemed to overcome most if not all of them. This may not be a good thing and actually could have gotten me killed a few times. Once while in florida as a teen I turned over a board from a junked pinball machine to discover a small snake as I went to grab it is slithered away. I later found out it was a Corel Snake and is highly poisonous and nearly alway deadly if bitten. Another time snorkeling on a reef in Key West I was swimming with sharks and faced off by barracuda. In Tahiti again snorkeling with sharks.

I now live in Arizona where we have bobcat, coyote, rattlesnakes, scorpions and poisionous spiders just to name a few of the creatures that can threaten your life.

[docrowan]

No irrational fears whatsoever, nope, not me....

On a completely unrelated point, would you guys stop posting pictures of giant hairy spiders without a warning on the thread!!!

[Mrs. Wallnut]

No irrational fears whatsoever, nope, not me....

On a completely unrelated point, would you guys stop posting pictures of giant hairy spiders without a warning on the thread!!!

Same here with the warnings. I am fine with the spiders but its the picture of the snake that had me almost running from the room, or actually scrolling down very quickly.

SNAKES are my one big fear and I will not even watch them on television, and usually run the other way when I see them in our yard, (small harmless ones).
Mark was going to watch a movie a while back and when I found out what he was watching I went to the bedroom to watch something else. It was "Snakes on a Plane".

[JoeyGee]

Big bridges over water. I HATE driving over them--always have, even before the MN bridge collapse. It's not debilitating, I can do it, but I get very nervous doing so. I try to stay in the center most lane and go as fast as I can.

I don't know how it's related, but I LOVE watching documentaries on bridges being constructed--especially on the older ones like the Brooklyn and Golden Gate. There was once a 2 hour show on building a bridge over the Missisippi in the mid-90's. I LOVED that show.

Joe

[Uncle Cracker]

Same here with the warnings. I am fine with the spiders but its the picture of the snake that had me almost running from the room, or actually scrolling down very quickly.

SNAKES are my one big fear and I will not even watch them on television, and usually run the other way when I see them in our yard, (small harmless ones).
Mark was going to watch a movie a while back and when I found out what he was watching I went to the bedroom to watch something else. It was "Snakes on a Plane".

Sorry about that, MW. But Ms. Baby and I have converted harder cases than yours... She is slow and gentle, warm and dry, and just the opposite of what most ophidiophobes would expect. Nobody has to turn into a snake lover, but most are relieved to put their fear to rest.

[scmhogg]

I am not afraid of heights, as a former paratrooper and Yosemite rock climber. But, I feel a panic attack coming on whilst watching someone else close to the edge. Just watching NCIS this week, with one of the stars standing on a high ledge, got my heart rate up to double.

I'm afraid of SWMBO. This is not irrational, though.

Steve

[Mrs. Wallnut]

Sorry about that, MW. But Ms. Baby and I have converted harder cases than yours... She is slow and gentle, warm and dry, and just the opposite of what most ophidiophobes would expect. Nobody has to turn into a snake lover, but most are relieved to put their fear to rest.

I have tried being around them and trying to at least get over my fear of them but I just can't seem to calm down after seeing one.

A while back I had a customer come in and as I was waiting on him I happened to look up and he had a snake around his neck and it was all I could do not to run the other way. What I did do was stand at arms length away from my register and finish the transaction and then try to calm down after he left. I am sure that my blood pressure was sky high.

Maybe one of these days I will get over that fear, in some ways I hope so.

[Uncle Cracker]

Maybe one of these days I will get over that fear, in some ways I hope so.

Ms. Baby and I are both rootin' for you...