What are you afraid of?
My name is Chelsea and I am afraid of storms, fire and spiders. What are you afraid of?? We all have fears, some of them may be really common (e.g. heights, snakes, injections) or they may be uncommon (the list is endless). It doesn't really matter what your fear is - what matters is how we cope with these fears. If they are impacting on your everyday life, it's time to do something about them and while talking to a health professional is a great idea, there are also a few practical things that you can do to help yourself when you are faced with those fears. We are going to be discussing some of these practical tips and while our discussion may not be quite as amusing as the following video, we will keep it upbeat, positive and we definitely won't judge your fear/s!
Monday 23 September at 8pm right here, to discuss your fears in a supportive environment, and learn some tips from other people who know how you feel!!
Hope you can join us.
Also, it might help to have a read of this story, about how one person overcame their fear! http://au.reachout.com/The-strange-fear
And check out this fact sheet for more info on phobias (http://au.reachout.com/What-is-a-phobia )
i really dont like sharp corners or anything touching the front of my neck. i hate corners though and i always have to cover them up.
@ilovemycat wrote:
i really dont like sharp corners or anything touching the front of my neck. i hate corners though and i always have to cover them up.
hey ilovemycat
welcome to ReachOut and to tonight's GettingReal!
Interesting, there don't appear to be a techical term for fear of corners. Do you know when this fear came about?
@michine: i get really anxious.. i breath really heavily and i have to cover myself up with my hands or clothes or just anything really. i also shake... i do also have a fear of going places by myself (probably as to do with my anxiety) or doing things by myself. i usually do get anxiety attacks from all of these, mostly the going places by myself one though. i have a bed side table next to my bed and i have to cover it up with a pillow.
@doris: thanks. i've always had it really, i did have a really bad childhood and they probably did come from this.
Sorry for the late join, only just saw the post on Facebook (it was a pretty funny comic).
I actually am really afraid of deep water. When my feet can't touch the ground without my head going underwater, it feels like I am going to die. And I guess I hate spiders too. Both fears from bad childhood experiences I guess.
Physically, I don't get much happening, probably more blood pumps through my veins and my eyes dilute and other sciencey things. I remebering shaking when a spider crawled up my hands, I couldn't write for awhile, so I guess that is something that did affect me.
Hey @treebytheriver I just found this story on ReachOut.com about someone who also had a fear of deep water and overcame it! http://au.reachout.com/The-strange-fear
i) What’s the difference between fear and something a bit more serious like anxiety?
A fear is something/anything you're afraid of. It's more isolated (which reminds me, isolation/being alone is another fear of mine) and easier to move on with once it's over. Anxiety has more of an impact on your everyday life.
The difference in the definition isn't the clearest to me either.
ii) How do you know when a fear might be something you need some outside help with and
When it's inconveniencing and impacting on your everyday life.
iii) where could you go if you needed to get some help for your fear/s?
As others have said, a doctor and/or other professional (psychiatrist, psychologist) would be great. Speaking to a loved one like a friend/family member or a trusted person who can help is also really beneficial and can get things going well.
@tree: Thanks for chiming in!
I think in terms of physical changes I don't really tend to notice as I am usually too focused on my fear; as T-W said, "Tunnel Vision".
I can totally relate to the deep water one!! Though it's also one I have got better with as I got older....
Hopefully true for me too... Maybe after my HSC I can become more confident in my swimming ability. That would help.
welcome. the water fear was something i could relate to.
Zombies. Not even freaking kidding. I know it's irrational but I'll still have nightmares at least once a week haha
That's a good one Chonty 🙂 All of mine seem pretty bland in comparison!
Thanks for sharing with us guys,
When did you first realise that you had this particular fear? Was it by accidential or a surprising discovery?
When did you first realise that you had this particular fear? Was it by accidential or a surprising discovery?
My agoraphobia was diagnosed by a psychologist. Before I was diagnosed I commonly saw agoraphobia defined as 'fear of open spaces' which I didn't really think of myself of having it at all, so I was quite surprised. However that definition doesn't really capture the complexity of what it (agoraphobia) actually is, and once I understood it more it made sense to me. Emetophobia was something that I came to the conclusion that I had when I was teenager when I got sick with a few vomiting bugs. It was actually kind of useful as it meant I wasn't too keen on getting blind drunk like my friends because I didn't want to vomit.
"Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place."
@delicatedreamer wrote:
"Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place."
But addition to that definition being that while you are away from a safeplace that you experience panic or a panic attack? Is that what you mean?
For example, I don't always have panic attacks when I go out, but I usually experience some anxiety or panic symptoms that are related to agoraphobia. I hope that makes sense!
Do you have any coping mechanisms when faced with a fear? And How do you manage and you with around your fear in your day-to-day life?
Yeah I do. I like to try and "plan for" my fears if I can (i.e. If I know that I am doing some that day or week that will trigger a fear response then I will try and problem-solve ways to deal with it and/or minimise its impact). If I can't plan for them and they just pop up then I try to focus on my breathing and do a bit of grounding or immerse myself in another activity as a distraction.
Managing my fear in my life is hard at times, but as I said above I just try to plan things as much possible to minimise the impact of fear, use distraction and relaxation techniques (like listening to music, mindfulness and exercise). Most of the time I just try to push myself to get through things and reward myself when I've done them :). I also realised that I have let others know about my fear, despite what I said before, just not in as explicit words as 'I have x fear or x phobia'. Letting people know when I am confronted with a fear really does help me to cope, and sometimes they can offer strategies I haven't though of. 🙂
How do other people react or how do you think they would react if they saw you facing a fear?
Honestly, when I'm reacting, I don't even pay attention to how others are reacting.
Some people just stare at/watch me.
A few of my closer friends who are aware try to distract me, calm me down, generally be nice and helpful.
Before people (including myself) were aware of the social phobia, they'd think I was overreacting to nothing. You know, being silly or lying about feeling sick.
In facing them, I'm not sure that many would really notice. I imagine some of my friends would say things which would make me smile.
Particularly for the social phobia, I think a lot of people don't know what to say about it, so they say nothing.
