What are your worst phobias?

[Tom]

My biggest phobia is that Vin Diesel really does a MV reboot. Every thought of it makes me shiver and sweat as in my dream I see a bald Crockett with a figure like Arnold Schwarzenegger and his cover is working at a gas station 

[pahonu]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 3:32 PM, pmconroy said:

Totally off topic, but this crossed my mind. Anyone have intense, irrational fears? Mine are:

1. Selachophobia (fear of sharks)
2. Thalassophobia (fear of deep, dark water)

They're pretty closely related, but those are my most intense fears. Which is ironic considering that I want to live near the ocean like Sonny!

Hey pmconroy,

I've never heard either of those terms to describe these fears, interesting.  I've heard the terms for many other phobias.  Either way, you wouldn't want to come with me on my swims from late spring until early fall.  About three times a week after work, I swim in the marina where I live here in Long Beach.  I was just out on Thursday.  I've competed in the Naples Island swim several times as well, which is about 3 miles around the island inside the marina.  The rest of the year I paddle in my kayak as the water gets pretty cold.  Sometimes I paddle by swimmers in wetsuits in January or February!  I'm not that hardcore.  http://www.naplesislandswims.com/

I wouldn't say it's deep, dark water, but the visibility is limited and several years ago there was a nurse shark sighted near the slip where my boat is located, and the spot I get in the water.  My wife says I have the stupid ability to put things out of my mind too easily.  LOL!  She paddled along with me on the Naples swims.  Now that I think of it, I have been swimming off the stern of a boat off the coast of Catalina Island.  That was probably a couple hundred feet of water.  I don't recall thinking of sharks at the time, though.

Interesting topic!

[jpaul1]

sharks have been demonized by Spielberg. but apparently they only attack humans by mistake. when they think you are a seal, or a turtle. and most of the time they spit back, coz they seem not to like our taste lol. sometimes with pretty nasty wounds, i agree

[Mr. Calderon]

4 hours ago, jpm1 said:

you mean you prefer loneliness to spending time with family/friends (social meetings)

Well..its kinda complex to express here. I dont feel very ease to express because it hurts a bit. It was much worst time ago. In some way its what you are talking about. Sometimes i think its like to push a big rock up a big ramp. I have few friends and i love to be alone. And this is not good. Who would say, the old Mr. C has social phobia....

[jpaul1]

i asked coz i had this too. the more the time passes by, the more things gets improving. the search of loneliness is not necessarily a bad thing. it's not good when you see others as a threat. i have a good uncle that is like that too. he is educated, he's totally sociable, but he just spend his time alone because he just likes that

Edited October 7, 2018 by jpm1

[Daytona74]

vor 13 Stunden schrieb jpm1:

sharks have been demonized by Spielberg. but apparently they only attack humans by mistake. when they think you are a seal, or a turtle. and most of the time they spit back, coz they seem not to like our taste lol. sometimes with pretty nasty wounds, i agree

 

Yeah, but it's a mistake that can cost you a limb, or even your life...

I think the hunting technique of Great Whites in particular is that they initially attack and stun their prey with one large incapacitating bite which is often already fatal due to tissue damage or blood loss. So they go in for the kill from the get go, but only really come back to feed when their prey is either dead or isn't putting up resistance anymore.

So that even if a Great White mistakes a surfer on their board for a seal and realizes its mistake, the damage is often already done and people bleed to death or drown before they can get back to shore, even if the attacking shark doesn't come back to actually feed on you.

 

I'm going to the Canary Islands again in two weeks, and the islands are home to nearly all the well known species of shark that exist. There have even been confirmed sightings of one or two Great Whites in the last few years. I haven't seen any sharks there while snorkeling, and the locals are more like, "hm yeah, we have those",  and shark attacks on humans don't normally happen. It just doesn't seem to be a place where sharks become aggressive, although a hammerhead was spotted there this summer at one of the most popular tourist beaches. But I always have kind of an uneasy feeling when I get in the water there.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Daytona74

[Tom]

vor 12 Stunden schrieb jpm1:

sharks have been demonized by Spielberg. but apparently they only attack humans by mistake. when they think you are a seal, or a turtle. and most of the time they spit back, coz they seem not to like our taste lol. sometimes with pretty nasty wounds, i agree

True. Even more, of hundreds of shark species only a handful is potentially dangerous to humans (account for most attacks based on an internationally maintained data base of all attacks on humans in the last 50+ years). 

I went swimming with sharks last year together with my 11 year old daughter in Asia as they are always around the reef where we were snorkeling. We swam with reef sharks (white tip and black tip reef sharks) of 2m/7ft length and filmed them even at close range (<2m). Nevertheless they did not allow closer contact and swam off once they felt uncomfortable. Of course it is important to identify harmless shark species up front before approaching them and know how to behave near sharks (move slowly, no hasty movements). I would never put my kid in uncontrollable danger!

I blame Spielberg for causing a worldwide sharkphobia and witch hunt on all sharks which are very important for underwater balance just for his movie ticket sales. Irresponsible behavior in times of animal protection!

[Mr. Calderon]

11 hours ago, jpm1 said:

i asked coz i had this too. the more the time passes by, the more things gets improving. the search of loneliness is not necessarily a bad thing. it's not good when you see others as a threat. i have a good uncle that is like that too. he is educated, he's totally sociable, but he just spend his time alone because he just likes that

Im not so sure if in my case if it gets improved. I know for sure its not 100% cured or will be. I have a selective force field...with time some are accepted, others are stopped, and depending the behavior, previous accepted ones are spit out. Lots of therapy, and i just got improved by myself. In my case, if you cant go into a shopping mall using the main door, i prefer to go using the back door. The problem is not stop to go to the mall.

[jpaul1]

4 hours ago, Daytona74 said:

 

Yeah, but it's a mistake that can cost you a limb, or even your life...

I think the hunting technique of Great Whites in particular is that they initially attack and stun their prey with one large incapacitating bite which is often already fatal due to tissue damage or blood loss. So they go in for the kill from the get go, but only really come back to feed when their prey is either dead or isn't putting up resistance anymore.

So that even if a Great White mistakes a surfer on their board for a seal and realizes its mistake, the damage is often already done and people bleed to death or drown before they can get back to shore, even if the attacking shark doesn't come back to actually feed on you.

 

I'm going to the Canary Islands again in two weeks, and the islands are home to nearly all the well known species of shark that exist. There have even been confirmed sightings of one or two Great Whites in the last few years. I haven't seen any sharks there while snorkeling, and the locals are more like, "hm yeah, we have those",  and shark attacks on humans don't normally happen. It just doesn't seem to be a place where sharks become aggressive, although a hammerhead was spotted there this summer at one of the most popular tourist beaches. But I always have kind of an uneasy feeling when I get in the water there.

buy yourself a small diving knife. you put it on the calf, or on the forearm. that way if the are the one in 500 millions that is being attacked you can make him unhook fast

[BunMVO]

On 10/6/2018 at 5:43 AM, Daytona74 said:

yeah, that's always a tough one, when somebody talks to you about that one thing they really love, like it's almost their number one favorite thing in the world, but personally, you just think it's all a bunch of nonsense...

 

Yeah. And I like to be polite so I usually just not my head in agreement and “yep”, “haha”, “mhm”

[pahonu]

22 hours ago, jpm1 said:

sharks have been demonized by Spielberg. but apparently they only attack humans by mistake. when they think you are a seal, or a turtle. and most of the time they spit back, coz they seem not to like our taste lol. sometimes with pretty nasty wounds, i agree

I'd point back to Peter Benchley, who wrote the original novel based on the Jersey Shore attacks, before Spielberg.  Benchley came to regret deeply the effect he had on the shark population before his death. 

[ViceofEstonia]

My worst fear is dying young. This seems to be a thing in male lineage of my family. My oldest brother died in a car crash in 1989, he was 24. in 1993 my middle brother was killed by someone at age 25, shot in the heart. In 2014 my middle brothers son commited suicide, also at age 25. I turned 23 years old few weeks back, so I feel sort of uneasy to be honest. Many in my family call it a death curse of some kind. 

It has also been a huge block at having deeper relationships with girls. Such a family history is hard to explain to say the least and I would not wanna risk leaving someone I love in misery. 

When I make it to my 26th birthday, i'll party hard for sure. 

[jpaul1]

you live in a difficult neightborhood maybe. don't feel forced to answer . and btw all these curse things are bull

[Remington]

I'm scared of heights and turbulence scares the shit out of me. I can be claustrophobic sometimes. That's about it.

[BunMVO]

ViceofEstonia, just keep your Bren Ten underneath your jacket at all times and you'll be good!

Don't mean to make light of the tragic deaths that have occurred in your family at all, but I'm just saying, superstition is nonsense. You'll be fine.

And who isn't afraid of heights?

[AzVice]

i've never flown. really never needed to , but now i can't imagine getting on a plane. i'm afraid i'd have a panic attack up there

[BunMVO]

3 hours ago, AzVice said:

i've never flown. really never needed to , but now i can't imagine getting on a plane. i'm afraid i'd have a panic attack up there

Really? Wow, it's not bad, in fact I think it's exciting, especially the feeling of taking off the ground. Different strokes...

[jpaul1]

whatever your fears, if someday you can jump into an helo, don't miss the opportunity. helicopter is super fun

[ViceofEstonia]

On ‎10‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 5:51 AM, pmconroy said:

ViceofEstonia, just keep your Bren Ten underneath your jacket at all times and you'll be good!

Don't mean to make light of the tragic deaths that have occurred in your family at all, but I'm just saying, superstition is nonsense. You'll be fine.

And who isn't afraid of heights?

I hear you pmconroy. Currently I have to manage with a butterfly knife , but rumor has it that from the good old days there is still a pistol or a sawn-off at the garage somewhere. If I find it, Ill keep it. 

[timm525]

"Fistophobia"

As in Jack Walsh in Midnight Run. 

Great DeNiro movie BTW.

Jack Walsh: I can't keep you cuffed on a commercial flight, and I gotta check my gun with my luggage, but you fuck with me once and I'm gonna break your neck. 

Jonathan Mardukas: I can't fly. 

Jack Walsh: What? 

Jonathan Mardukas: You heard me, I can't fly. 

Jack Walsh: No, no, no. You're going to have to do better than that, pal. 

Jonathan Mardukas: No, I don't have to do better than that, because it's the truth, I can't fly: I suffer from aviaphobia. 

Jack Walsh: What does that mean? 

Jonathan Mardukas: It means I can't fly. I also suffer from acrophobia and claustrophobia. 

Jack Walsh: I'll tell you what: if you don't cooperate, you're gonna suffer from "fistophobia". 

 

[jpaul1]

just seen in the french wiki, that up to 1/3 of the world population suffers from the fear of emptyness at different degrees, when they are in a tall position

[pahonu]

On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 7:51 PM, pmconroy said:

ViceofEstonia, just keep your Bren Ten underneath your jacket at all times and you'll be good!

Don't mean to make light of the tragic deaths that have occurred in your family at all, but I'm just saying, superstition is nonsense. You'll be fine.

And who isn't afraid of heights?

I've actually never been afraid of heights.  My wife jokes that I can't be.  I'm 6-7 so I would be afraid of life.  LOL!  Seriously though, I don't seem to have a fear of heights.  A friend of mine who I've sailed with for years used to be a glider pilot.  He told me a couple of years back that he was afraid of heights!  How is this possible, I thought.  He lived in a high rise here in Long Beach, and flew in a plane with no engine!  None the less, a few years ago, we were on an overlook on Catalina Island where we had hiked to after sailing to the island.  I walked out to the edge of the cliff and told him to come see the beautiful view, and he told me he was close enough!  I guess that's why phobias are, by definition, irrational fears.

 

[Matt5]

On 10/23/2018 at 7:11 PM, Remington said:

I'm scared of heights and turbulence scares the shit out of me. I can be claustrophobic sometimes. That's about it.

Being claustrophobic is not fun - I don’t suffer from it at all badly . But some years ago I was stuck in a lift for a matter of a minute in the Loews Hotel in Miami Beach then when it did move it stopped and the doors opened to just a wall - I remember feeling myself very anxious with loss of breath in that moment.

[Detective_Crockett]

Spiders and snakes.  My biggest fear though is is being trapped in a coffin or small space alive underground but cement being poured over it. Don't ask why, that is my nightmare way to die it just is. If ever I see something like that on TV or movies or games, I can't breathe. 

[Matt5]

2 hours ago, Detective_Crockett said:

Spiders and snakes.  My biggest fear though is is being trapped in a coffin or small space alive underground but cement being poured over it. Don't ask why, that is my nightmare way to die it just is. If ever I see something like that on TV or movies or games, I can't breathe. 

Snakes I really don’t like at all more than anything.