posted on August 4, 2004 06:07:55 PM new
I had an employee that was terrified of midgets. She had been baby sat by a family of midgets as a kid and they locked her in the closet. She would totally freak out if she saw a midget.
After I aspirated in a cat scan I was terrified of having another. My heart stoped for around 4 minutes until the Doctors/Nurses got it started again. For a couple of months whenever I had to have a procedure I would have a panic attack. I got over it with time and some helpful nurses/doctors.
posted on August 4, 2004 06:36:18 PM new
Bunni!! LOL... thanks, I think.. I will probably dream birds tonight!
Twelve.. I don't know.. I am quite sure I would pass out before I could hold a bird..
Even thinking about it makes gives me terrors..
Dave, you have a legitimate reason for your fear of the cat scan! It can be explained.. but my irrational fear of birds.. can't be explained..
Oh and about the midgets.. I would tend to believe that one..
My brother has a fear of big headed people.. I am not kidding.. ever since we went camping at Cape Cod when we were kids and a fellow with Downs syndrome, peeked his head over the bathroom stall door and said to him "Hey, kid whatcha doin"? LOL.. my brother was only 5 years old at the time and he ran screaming from that bathroom and to this day has problems with anyone with a big head.. LOL...
posted on August 4, 2004 06:48:50 PM new
Maggie, have you tried to maybe just watch a bird in a cage where it can't get to you? I've heard of others with that same fear and once on TV I saw a guy "cure" people by teaching them to accept tarantulas walking on them or by holding snakes.
I recently mentioned my fear of spiders but I'm trying to overcome it. I haven't been able to pick one up yet as I wouldn't want to get bitten but the other day I allowed one to run across my bare foot out in the yard.
And I don't much care for clowns either. Once I was watching a parade and a big clown jumped off a float and grabbed me out of the crowd and started kissing me with huge big ugly red lips and he smelled sweaty. He tried to get me up on the float with him but I kicked at him with my heels and ran back into the crowd. Everyone was clapping and cheering and I was totally embarrassed. Now I look at all clowns with suspicion. It's been a few years and I'm in a different city now but I still think he's out there behind every clown face, just waiting.......
posted on August 4, 2004 08:36:42 PM new
There are a few people here that suffer from xenophobia xen·o·pho·bi·a
n.
A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.
True Americans do not exclude anybody. They recognize that everyone should have the same rights. Bigotry, intolerance and hatred are cancers of the mind.
Are you afraid of wild birds, pet birds or all birds? You needn't be scared of the pets... They're completely domesticated.
There are about a dozen pet birds in my immediate family. Ranging from giant Hyacinth Macaws down to the smallish Redlored Amazons.
My bird (whose name is Hey Bird, What's your BIG FAT STORY?) is an Indian Ring-Necked Parakeet. Sitting on my shoulder preening my hair as I type. He weighs maybe three or four ounces. Mostly tail and a big red beak. He doesn't like fingers. You can go right up close to him and he will kiss your nose but if you put your finger in his face he'll run away. He's more afraid of you than you are of him, I guarantee it.
If you truly do want to overcome your fear of birds, I'd suggest you go to a pet shop or, better yet, an avian vet and get to know a few. They really are pretty neat - each birdie has it's own personality and charm.
Just put your hand up next to the bird, against it's legs, and say Perch! The bird will climb on your finger and you go from there.
Edited to add some pics of birdies in my family...
Lucy
[ edited by OhMsLucy on Aug 5, 2004 07:53 PM ]
posted on August 5, 2004 07:58:23 PM new
LOL.. thanks Lucy... somehow.. I don't think my finger would stay up in the air long enough for it to perch.. as I am slipping unconscious down the wall and onto the floor..
Seriously though.. I know that they are beautiful and harmless creatures...for the most part.. but the fear isn't something that can be dealt with using mind over matter.. I don't know if you have ever felt panicked to the point of actually not being able to move?
And I am sure they know my fear.. because without fail.. they will find me where ever I go.. LOL
posted on August 5, 2004 08:17:59 PM new
Maggie, you're right, they will sense your fear... But they'll still perch on your finger and that's the place to start. Begin with a cockatiel. I bet if you get used to pet birds by handling them your fear of wild ones will go away.
Really truly, you CAN put your finger up to a cockatiel and say Perch! A cockatiel is a very small birdie. Sweet and gentle. It might just talk to you! Try it, you may end up with an aviary in your dining room, just like me!
The other side of the coin is I'm sure some pet birds do have fear of humans. Maybe they've been mis-treated. A Moluccan cockatoo I know of was frightened to death, yes, it died, by a malicious malcontent who didn't like it. Which was really, truly RUDE! Moluccans are the gentlest birds on the planet.
posted on August 5, 2004 08:29:49 PM new
Lucy.. I would never hurt any animal.. I love them all.. even birds.. but at a distance.. People who mistreat animals are just evil. Having said that ... I don't mind picking on some of the old loons on this board when they need a good slap upside the head.. LOL..
posted on August 5, 2004 08:48:38 PM new
Maggie, after my dad died, I couldn't leave the house (agoraphobia) or answer the phone. It got so bad, I had to take pills. I'm not sure what happens to a person's brain but it can sure be debilitating! (I hope it's not caused from eating too much chocolate.)
posted on August 5, 2004 08:57:26 PM new
kraftdinner: I too have had a bout of agoraphobia. It was awful. For about 4 months I didn't want to leave the house, see friends, shop, and then I didn't want to get out of bed. I finally got some tranquilizers which seemed to help. This was in the late '70s, and I'll never forget how debilitating it was. (It came on after a job situation where my boss thought I wanted her job; when I said I didn't, she then said, "You want it but you don't know you want it."!!) I had to quit a job I'd loved, working for a woman I admired enormously, because the stress was too shocking and hard to bear.
I'll never forget the day I could drive to the nearest Safeway and shop for a few groceries. It was the beginning of my recovery and it felt so triumphant.
Every once in a while I'll have a period of time when I feel very comfortable and safe in my house and really don't want to go to the P.O. or grocery store but I fight it and go anyway. I wonder if agoraphobia leaves traces of itself that pop up from time to time?
___________________________________
My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called "opinionated," is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish. And my only hope is that, one day soon, women--who have all earned their right to their opinions--instead of being called opinionated, will be called smart and well-informed, just like men. ~Teresa Heinz Kerry (bless her)
[ edited by Roadsmith on Aug 5, 2004 08:58 PM ]
posted on August 5, 2004 08:58:40 PM new
Sorry to hear about that Kraft.. that is frightening. I hope you have it under control now. My fear of birds is inconsequential compared to that..
Thanks for the link.. I will give it a good read... just happened to catch my eye on this one though..LOL
Oneirogmophobia- Fear of wet dreams HA!
posted on August 5, 2004 09:10:34 PM new
You too Roadsmith? I feel for you because it's such a drag, isn't it? The only "positive" part (for me) was remembering all the ridiculous excuses I made to everyone to avoid leaving the house - it got pretty bad.
I think you're right. I've had it twice before - once in highschool (that was weird) and after I got married. The second time, I also had panic attacks where I couldn't move. Mr. Kraft though I was baked!
Social anxiety seems more related to depression than your basic phobia imo, so I think that was my problem. Has yours ever re-occured?
posted on August 5, 2004 10:26:53 PM new
Kraft: Luckily I was an at-home mom with three small children so had lots of excuses not to leave the house--no job to go to, for instance. I wouldn't let friends in the front door.
Right before the agoraphobia began, I was having panic attacks, mostly while driving on the Las Vegas freeway. I was suffering terrible headaches from TMJ syndrome (jaw/headache pain). Driving to the job I eventually had to quit, I would take back roads because I truly was afraid. I kept thinking, if I could just drive off this freeway, or into that wall, I could end this pain. But the knowledge that my husband and children would miss me kept me from that.
I haven't had agoraphobia, full-blown, since then but sometimes, as I've said here, I just want to hunker down and cocoon in my house, not go out. And just a few times over the years, while driving on freeways, I have a little twinge of that panic but it never came to anything.
Since my experiences, I've paid a lot of attention to friends' habits. If someone I know suddenly drops out of sight or declines all invitations, I make a point of checking with her to see if just perhaps she's suffering as I had.
Situational shyness hits lots of us in one degree or another. Situational depression is also common, and I do suspect I was depressed because of what had happened in my job situation.
Well. I'm okay, and it sounds as though you're okay, too, Kraftdinner. Stay well!
___________________________________
My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called "opinionated," is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish. And my only hope is that, one day soon, women--who have all earned their right to their opinions--instead of being called opinionated, will be called smart and well-informed, just like men. ~Teresa Heinz Kerry (bless her)
posted on August 6, 2004 02:51:31 AM new
I FINALLY figured out what I'm most afraid of, NEEDLES! (I had to ask my husband and my mother.) I cannot look at the needle when having blood drawn, or I pass out. I tell the nurse to keep going, cuz they won't get another chance. My body will actually shake! I have to focus on a spot and breathe deeply, like lamaze.
My mother said when I was in the 2nd grade, I passed out alot. I had to go have blood drawn twice a week for a couple months. I guess they had alot of trouble finding veins, so each trip I was poked countless times until they got one. Mom had to hold me, screaming, in her lap through the whole thing.
posted on August 10, 2004 04:47:28 PM new
twelve says,
I used to have a phobia about spiders and heights...I forced my self to pick up spiders any chance I got instead of killing them and placing them outside...
I was thinking about this comment. If he could force himself to pick up a spider and that cured his phobia on that, then there might be help for his hatred towards gays.
Twelve, you should force yourself to go to a gay bar and pick up a guy. That way would might just learn that you don't have anything to be afraid of and not hate them. Maybe you wouldn't say things like they should be thrown off ships at sea.
You never know it might work for you! Good luck.
Bigots are miserable people. Prevent Bigotry through Education.
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we! They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” ~ George W. Bush, 8/5/04
Prevent Bigotry through Education.