#phobias -

[3eanuts]

November 7, 1956 — see The Complete Peanuts 1955-1958

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[luna-azzurra]

A list of phobias that your OC (original character) can have

Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders.

Acrophobia: Fear of heights.

Claustrophobia: Fear of confined or crowded spaces.

Ophidiophobia: Fear of snakes.

Cynophobia: Fear of dogs.

Trypophobia: Fear of clusters of small holes or bumps.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD): Fear of social situations and interactions.

Glossophobia: Fear of public speaking.

Hemophobia: Fear of blood.

Nyctophobia: Fear of darkness or night.

Thanatophobia: Fear of death or dying.

Mysophobia: Fear of germs or dirt.

Entomophobia: Fear of insects.

Aquaphobia: Fear of water.

Astraphobia: Fear of thunder and lightning.

Dentophobia: Fear of dentists or dental procedures.

Selenophobia: Fear of the moon.

Taphophobia: Fear of being buried alive or of cemeteries.

Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners.

Atychiphobia: Fear of failure or not being good enough.

Consider which phobia fits well with your OC's personality, background, and the story you want to tell. You can also explore how their phobia influences their behavior, relationships, and journey throughout the novel.

[batmanshole]

i have two phobias and idk i dont see many people talking about phobias despite them being fairly common in my experience.

i have pyrophobia (fire) and turophobia (cheese)

also please dont be rude in the notes of this post ok?

[juresmccann]

Angelophobia fear of angels

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price interview on the set of The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

[teaboot]

I hope it's okay that I took a screenshot, cause I felt that this deserved it's own post.

It's a good question, and as someone with a needle phobia myself it's one I have some experience with and feel I can speak on.

It's going to sound stupid, but it's this:

First, keep facing your fear. I personally elected to start donating blood, which sucked ass, but helped me get used to the feeling of having a needle in in safe environment, and celebrating the small victory every time I finished was a good motivator to keep going back.

What I did then was focus on what my body was doing. Was I breathing fast? Tensing up? Sweating? Going cold? Was I shaking? Where? Was it better to fidget, or hold still? Did closing my eyes help? Plugging my ears? I got familiar with my own physical reactions so I could start to separate them from my mental reactions.

Now when I experience a panic response, I'm not just objectively aware that my body is doing it's own thing- I genuinely feel that my body is acting on it's own. I'm stressed, but not SCARED, because my brain doesn't just know that it's safe- it FEELS safe. I'm emotionally strung out and on edge, but I'm not totally losing myself anymore. I can have a conversation while it's happening.

Now, sometimes I can see someone use a syringe for small procedures without flinching and closing off. Not often, but it's miles ahead of where I used to be. I can hold an epipen. I can use safety gear to dispose of abandoned needles outside my work. I don't think I could give myself an injection if I needed to, because I know I still lock up, but the idea of someone else doing one on me isn't viscerally repellant.

So... not cured here yet, but better.

TLDR: Baby steps, keep trying, pay attention to your body, celebrate successes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Taking steps to confront a phobia has to be a choice. Forcing someone else to confront their phobia when they ARE NOT READY, WILLING, OR PREPARED is incredibly distressing and can make things way worse. And with how completely fucking miserable and exhausting a panic response feels, choosing not to "just confront it" is a totally valid and understandable choice. Like choosing not to run a 100 mile marathon barefoot. If you find yourself tempted to trick or pressure someone into amateur exposure therapy, don't. I'll fucking find you

Again, this is just what's been working for me, but if you wanna try it, I wish you luck! ♡

[achromatophoric]

Wens and Enid + Fri the 13th =

Enid: Seriously? I totes thought it’d be like a holiday for you.

Wednesday: I must point out that it is purely a Western superstition. I also celebrate Martes Trece, Tuesday the Thirteenth, this superstition’s parallel in Spanish-speaking countries.

Enid: Tuesday?

Wednesday: Quite. And it’s not even a matter of triskaidekaphobia—

Enid: Triska-whatnow?

Wednesday: The fear of the number thirteen.

Enid: 😯

Wednesday: As I was saying, it’s not even specific to thirteen. In Italy, they are wary of Venerdí Diciassette. Friday the Seventeenth.

Enid: Whoa. That is kinda inconsistent.

Wednesday: Precisely. And besides, if you must fear something—

Xavier: *walks up* Hey Wednesday, do you have a mirror in your skirt? Because—

Wednesday: Friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Xavier: *goes pale* F-Fuck!

Enid: 🤨

Wednesday: Paraskevidekatriaphobia.

Xavier: Ah-AAAAH!! *flees*

Enid: 😧

Wednesday: *pleased* Fear something that is at least consistent.

Enid: The flip just happened?

Wednesday: Did you not know? Xavier has a debilitating fear of— excuse me.

Wednesday: *calls after Xavier* HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPPEDALIOPHOBIA!!

Xavier: *distant shrieking intensifies*

Wednesday: Mm. A debilitating fear of—

Enid: Long words?

Wednesday: *hint of a smile* Exactly. That’s my smart girl.

Enid: 🥰

Wednesday: Now then, Uncle Fester should be arriving at any moment with a semi full of stray black cats. Remember to herd them in front of people. I’ll take care of the mirrors.

Enid: Okay babe, but like, for not being a fan Friday the Thirteenth, you sure do go all out for it.

Wednesday: *sniffs* One need not necessarily approve of a holiday to enjoy it.

The two pause as Xavier’s distant shrieking is abruptly cut off by the screech of brakes and the sound of metal impacting whiny artist.

Wednesday: What luck. That’s Uncle Fester now. Shall we?

Enid: Sure thing! And by the way, happy Friday the Thirteenth, babycakes.

Wednesday: *snorts* A miserable Friday the Thirteenth to you as well, mi corazón.

Enid slips on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and links pinkies with Wednesday. Together they head for the accident parked semi, leaving a wake of shattered glass as a yowling black tide of cats floods the streets of Jericho.

Have a miserable Friday the 13th!

[alice-the-kittycat-yt]

[selectivechaos]

do not laugh at people for uncommon phobias

your phobias are not embarrassing. people can have phobias of absolutely anything, and they can be really precise and something that other people would think is strange to be scared of. your fears are valid feelings. you shouldn't have to be ashamed, but many people do not know about phobias beyond the common ones.

if it's something you don't understand because you've never seen it before, don't laugh at it.

they're not "being silly",

they can't "just get over it"

they need actual help, rather than unprofessional exposure therapy

they're experiencing real real fear

people with common phobias get sympathy; people with uncommon phobias get ridiculed at the worst possible moment: when they're in a state of fear.

so i repeat: don't laugh at them. 🌹🌹

[gremlinmodetweeker]

König's Serious Phobias

I'm pretty stressed out because I'm moving, so I decided to write about König stressing out too! Yay! Anyways, let's go.

König has a complicated past. His childhood was filled with bullying, his adult life has been filled with bullets and bombs. He's been through too much for one man, honestly. The fact that he hasn't either become a hikikomori or a homicidal maniac is a miracle. I think the only reason we're safe is because he has a good family and he found good friends when he joined the military. However, he has scars. Not all of them are painted on his skin.

I've collected phobias that I think he might have into a list, however some of these fears are fears that though they impact him seriously, he can live with them and won't have a panic attack upon facing them. Fears that genuinely terrify him identified. His fears are ranked 1 through 5, with 1 being a fear that just makes him a bit wary/on edge, but he's not going to have a meltdown unless pushed or 5, a fear that can cripple him with just a brush.

Phobias are listed under the cut (also I got the fears from a list online, hence why they're mostly alphabetical)

1 Scopophobia: Fear of being watched

König grew up in a small, rural village surrounded by monsters in all shapes and sizes. Adults were cruel, children were monsters. He grew up being afraid of going out because he knew that everyone in the village saw him as the socially outcast freak. Every time he looked at people, he saw them looking at him with disdain. I think a lot of this is due to developing social anxiety, and so thus he became paranoid, but he did develop a fear of people watching him, judging him, following him with their eyes. He hates going out into the civilian world because of this.

1 Agorophobia: Fear of open spaces or crowds

König is scared of going out into crowds. Why? See phobia above. He can't stand being outside of a place he considers safe. Not in a 'I can't go on missions' way, but in a 'I don't want to go to a shopping mall' sort of way. On a mission, he's either alone or in combat. When he's in civilian life, he doesn't know how to turn the military brain off. He can't get it through his reptilian brain that he's safe, and he's okay, and no that person carrying a duffle bag is not actually carrying a hidden rifle, and no that person with a thick coat does not have a bomb under their clothes, and no that person who's walking towards him does not have a knife in their belt. He is safe. He knows this logically, but he can't stop his heart from racing. It's too loud, too hectic, too many things can go wrong too quickly.

5 Atychiphobia: Fear of failure

Do you know what failure means when you're on a mission infiltrating a cartel base? Failure means watching your teammates get blown apart by a bomb. Failure is watching your best friend fall down into a puddle of their own blood. Failure is getting a bullet between the ears. Failure is not an option in his world. When people make mistakes, don't check their surroundings properly, when someone dares to light up a cigarette at night in an open area, that's when people die. Remember this phrase when you go to smoke on a battlefield. The first light catches the sniper's attention, the second light he lines his sights, the third light he pulls the trigger. Mistakes cost lives when on the field.

1 Catagelophobia:Fear of being ridiculed

This one is pretty self explanatory. He's been bullied his whole life. He's pretty sick of it.

3 Cynophobia: Fear of dogs

König, due to working in missions that target gangs and domestic terrorist groups, has had the misfortune of seeing dogs being used against his own people. He's been attacked by a dog before himself. In combat, dogs are tools of terror. He's seen his own team use dogs, and he knows what they're capable of. You might see a fluffy German shepherd. He sees a dog that's torn peoples hands off. However! He does also like dogs when he meets them in public. He is not going to assume your dog is a killer, but if your dog growls, he won't dare touch that dog. He won't even get close. He's seen what dogs can do.

As mentioned before in this post, König's first reaction to fears he can see is to lash out. He will punch or kick without thinking. He doesn't even yell or gasp when he does it. It's just what he does. If you go to sneak up on him, you'd best be ready to dodge. He feels really bad about it, and he's been banned from 10 different haunted houses around the world.

For fears he can't physically lash out at, he will just keep an eye on things. OODA loop, you know? Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. That's going on in his head over and over again. If he's out in public, that's going on in the back of his head. If he sees a dog, he's going through multiple different scenarios and evaluating the likelihood of each possibility. Normally he's a quiet man, but he goes deathly quiet when he's afraid. If you notice him freaking out like this, it might be nice to ground him by getting his attention and then taking his hand, or distracting him from what he's thinking about. He might not say it until later, but he'll be thankful.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[cassafrasscr]

They really are covering the full spectrum of phobias in this one, huh?

- Confined Spaces

- Falling

- Creepy Crawlies

- Fungus

- Elevators

- Drugs

- Creepy Children

- Betrayal

- Ghosts

- Body Horror

- Liam's Terrible Mouth Sounds

[juresmccann]

Coimetrophobia fear of cemeteries

[crimsonprayer]

unfriendly reminder that phobias are actually considered anxiety disorders and not just a fun word for fears