<p>Needles. We have a pet rabbit that needs a weekly shot & I just can’t do it. I also cannot watch blood being drawn. (did I mention I’m an EMT?) </p>
<p>Stinging insects are a part of the needles subset - anything that pierces my skin. I attribute it to being stung by a hornet when I was 18 months old in my stroller.</p>
<p>June bugs.</p>
<p>Don’t laugh.</p>
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<p>I also have a fear of heights. When D1 graduated from high school, I took her on a graduation gift trip to the Loire Valley of France to see the beautiful castles. Part of our tour included a hot air balloon excursion over the area to see the castles from above. I told D from the outset that I would NOT go on the balloon ride. In the end I succumbed to pressure (I was the only one of our group of 8 who didn’t want to go) and, once in the air, calmed down-we didn’t go as high as I feared-and enjoyed it immensely.</p>
<p>Oh, June bugs are the worst! Seriously. The only good bug is a dead bug. I never tell people I am afraid of bugs because they always think it’s funny to throw bugs on me.</p>
<p>When I was in my early 30s, I went to a baseball game and had to sit up high, close to the lights. There were bugs flying everywhere. A strange man sitting near me pointed at my shoulder/neck/boobs, and said, “There’s a bug on you.” I literally froze, and could not look down to see where it was for fear of being nose to nose with it. In the calmest voice I could muster, I asked him to get it off of me. He just stood there. Nearly in a panic, I finally squeaked out, “I don’t care where you touch me, just get it off!” He flicked it off my shoulder.</p>
<p>The fear that something bad will happen to my son is my big one. It can keep me up at night if I let it. I think that’s just the price of being a parent.</p>
<p>I’m afraid of mice and rats. I’m also afraid of being choked, I cannot stand having anything tight around my neck…even turtleneck shirts make me feel anxious. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I love public speaking. If I could, that’s how I would make my living!</p>
<p>I’ve always wondered if I could go up in a hot air balloon with my fear of heights. Maybe so. I’m certainly never afraid in an airplane, but that’s so enclosed.</p>
<p>I am terrified of heights (even in airplanes), but gave ex-H a hot air balloon ride for his birthday one year. Except for the initial whoosh off the ground (we had to go straight up due to some restrictions on noise around where we took off), I did not have any issues. It was so tranquil and lovely… it was almost 30 years ago, and I still remember it well.</p>
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<p>I’ve heard of these, but don’t know that I’ve ever seen one. What are they like?</p>
<p>Just google it and you will see photos. They fly and they have barbs on their legs, so if they get on you, they kinda stick to your hair and clothes. Probably harmless, but I am getting anxious just typing this. They are plentiful in the south during the spring and summer, and they seem to be very attracted to light so you can’t walk out on your porch at night without being attacked. I hate them.</p>
<p>My siblings used to put them on me, which is why they now terrify me. If you try to take them off, they kind of stick to you. Same thing if you swat at them. There 's this kind of creepy sticky resistance to them. And they’re kind of crunchy feeling.</p>
<p>Ugh. I feel nauseous just thinking about them.</p>
<p>Geez, there certainly are a lot of us with acrophobia (fear of heights). And it seems the older I get, the worse I fear being up high. Heights give me the weirdest physical sensations: the most peculiar feeling in the soles of my feet, a sensation so bizarre that it in and of itself induces panic in me. Plus, I experience something almost akin to vertigo, and become absolutely convinced that some “force” will pull me over the edge. A lot of multi-story shopping malls have glass railings that enclose the overlook between floors. I can not by any means stand closer than 2 ft away from the edge. Tall bridges also bring about a sense of dread in me. There’s a very tall, approximately mile long bridge that crosses a river gorge in Pennsylvania. I had to drive across that bridge every time I picked up, or dropped off my D when she was a student at Bryn Mawr. There were two spans, one going each direction, and three lanes in each span. I always made sure to drive in the middle lane so as to put as much room between my car and the edge as possible, and I had to give myself a pep talk the whole way across. I don’t think I ever took full breaths until I’d completely crossed.</p>
<p>I had to look up Jerusalem Cricket, because I had no idea what they were. They are kind of gnarly looking, and supposedly inflict a rather painful bite (oh joy): Don’t look if bugs creep you out.
[Potato</a> Bug aka Jerusalem Cricket - YouTube](<a href=“Potato Bug aka Jerusalem Cricket - YouTube”>Potato Bug aka Jerusalem Cricket - YouTube)</p>
<p>June Bugs–Yes, and it is also true, at night they cluster around the lights near the screen doors and when you try to shoo them away, they fly AT you instead of away. I’m not afraid of them, but I could totally see that. </p>
<p>Big ick factor.</p>
<p>It seems to me that Jerusalem Cricket was what Pa Engels would say in the Little House books instead of another 2 words that might be offensive to some. Maybe I’m wrong.</p>
<p>JUNE BUGS !!! ARGH !!</p>
<p>Seriously , just reading that conjurs up anxiety I felt as a kid living in an area that had them. I remember being a teenager and my mother leaving the light on for me outside, When I came in, there was one swarming around the light and got inside when I did. I wouldn’t sleep in my room that night because my bedroom was right off the kitchen , and I didn’t see where it went
And when I was about 11 yrs old ,we had the summer of the 17 yr cicadas. That right there was my worst nightmare come true
People always try to rationalize that " they can’t hurt you " but that isn’t the point and doesn’t help to hear that either</p>
<p>I am fearful of car accidents especially head on collisions due to someone driving in the wrong lane. When driving I am always scanning the road ahead to be sure some drunk driver has’nt entered on the wrong lane. This fear has become worse since everyone uses a GPS and they might not update their devices which could easily result in something like this happening. So many people follow their GPS’s without even thinking about where they are.</p>
<p>^^^^I read recently that most head on crashes occur in the victim’s far left hand lane. So staying out of the passing lane really decreases your chances. So does staying off the highway after midnight.</p>
<p>Today’s NY Times has an opinion piece about phobias: [Phobias:</a> Things to Fear and Loathe](<a href=“http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/things-to-fear-and-loathe/]Phobias:”>Phobias: Things to Fear and Loathe - The New York Times)</p>
<p>I am afraid of calls in the middle of the night. Even if they start with, “He’s okay,but…” Even writing this down is producing a pit in the middle of my stomach. Been there.</p>
<p>Reading through all the posts brought to mind other fears I have. After some bad experiences, I have become afraid of bats. Several times, in various houses, I have been awakened by a lost bat flying around the bedroom. I used to hate all needles, but I’ve come to tolerate a simple shot in the arm. On the other hand, I hate having blood drawn and I am absolutely petrified of intravenous needles.</p>
<p>I’m a brave blood donor but afraid of sharks (watched Jaws with knees to chest, feet off the floor) and grizzly bears.</p>