Genuinely phobic, or really not very keen on?

Vomit. It was at its height when I was a teenager.

Spiders and Crane Flies. When I was younger, if I even saw a spider in the room I was in, I needed to change all my clothes and have a bath or shower. I actually called my husband home from work, when our first baby was quite small as there was a spider in our small kitchen. I was terrified. Still cannot look at pictures of them, either in books or on tv.
However, I was so determined NOT to pass this on to my children, that I made myself control the feeling of total panic when I saw one. Although I still cannot stay in the room where there is a spider, I no longer scream. Use every sort of protection in the house I can find. None of my children are that worried about spiders, (my greatest piece of parenting).
Do wonder though, why if I am in a room with other people in it, it is always me who spots the spider there!!!

I'm fine with spiders, mice etc, but when a thunderstorm starts that's when I start to sweat and tremble and get a dreadful headache. It's the lightning really, not the noise of the thunder. If I'm indoors I can just about tolerate it, but if I'm out anywhere then I go into a real panic and just want to scream and my legs turn to jelly. It's really bad.
I don't think there is any cure for this phobia.

Fear of spiders, moths etc is usually learned behaviour . Babies are born with two fears. Loud noises and falling.

There are phobias which hit when someone is under stress, such as claustrophobia, agoraphobia. They can also hit out of the blue.

nina.. i have a phobia of dentists,a real phobia, I can't even call one on the phone, spiders I do not like and can't have one running in my home but like you I can gently catch a butterfly and put it outside but not a moth. I think the difference is butterflies flutter, moths have a much heavier body and they zoom,

Phobias are more extreme than just disliking or fearing something - www.nhs.uk/conditions/phobias/

I don't like spiders but they don't give me the screaming abdabs! There was quite a large one trotting round the sitting room last night but I had my feet up anyway and it disappeared though is probably there somewhere!

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL243732C3A1FA69E4 - Phill Jupitus on spiders!

I used to go hysterical at the sight of a cockroach but once I had babies to protect I got over my fear and would stamp on them and even catch them in my hands. My husband was amazed at the change.
(Incidentally we were living in the tropics, not in squalor )

For the easily offended I should warn Phill's video is a bit sweary!

DH's mother was scared of thunder storms and used to take him into a cupboard when they happened. He carried this fear into our marriage until he realised I wasn't scared, I love them, and he rationalised his fear and is fine now.

Like many others I was scared of spiders but when I had sons I knew I couldn't pass this on so got brave and put a mug over them until DH could remove them, now I remove them myself.

Scribbles I feel the same about crowds and am very, very uncomfortable and avoid whenever possible but I have always put that down to being short.

There is something I can't eat or smell without feeling sick but I know it is associated with an event many years ago. I should therefore be able to overcome it but I can't seem to.

Nonnie, I spoke about my phobia of snow on this forum a few years ago, was encouraged to seek help, I saw a psychologist who worked in the local mental hospital and also had a private practice. I saw him as a private patient , thank to family help) , talked things through , nothing came to mind, then he tried hypnosis, I became very distressed , he was sure of the cause of my phobia, but I still have it. The time it started fitted with his understanding of the cause, so I think he was right.

Dgd has a complete phobia about sickness/diarrhoea to the extent it has excluded her from some experiences....sleepovers (even with us) trips with family etc. She underwent CBT a couple of years ago and can now do all these things, however, when her mum was unwell a couple of weeks ago she had a total hysterical meltdown. We think we know some of the reasons behind the reaction to her mum but it’s very, very distressing for all concerned.

Merlotgran Me too! Urgh I have suffered for years and didn’t know the name of it, family say I am being ridiculous! But there you are ?

The same as DanniRae and Jana. I go cold at the thought. About 20 years ago I was in Blackpool with my husband and as we walked along the prom there was a man with one draped around his neck - I took my chances with an oncoming tram rather than stay on the same side of the road.

I dislike fish, both goldfish and others kept in aquaria, fish in the sea or a river, alive and well, and the dead ones in the fishmonger's.

I can cook and eat fish, as long as the don't have their heads! I can only cut the heads off fish, I am preparing for a meal, by wrapping paper round the head first.

It isn't a true phobia, as I don't turn shaky or sick and I have no idea why I feel like this about fish, nor when it started. My mother didn't know either, but said I had always been like that about fish.

I do know that when I was small I was allowed to see whatever was on the TV just before "Watch with Mother" and I have often wondered if something I saw scared me.

Anyone remember George Cansdale? I was given one of his books for my 8th birthday and have not been able to look at a snake of TV since. DH tells me when they have gone away.

Mine is not bad enough to be a phobia, but it is a pretty horrible fear reaction. Palpitations, feeling sick, legs wobbling, all the rest...
As a phobia it's called Batophobia or fear of tall buildings. I'm only spooked by lone standing ones that rise up out of the ground and can be seen from miles around. I also hate steep sided flat walls beside rivers and water such as locks in canals. The cooling towers at the power station are almost impossible for me to drive past. I managed it once but am feeling sick writing this.

I am extremely interested in your phobia merlotgran. I feel very sorry for you. It must be so horrible and difficult to explain.

I had a panic attack when in the underground between Kings Cross and St Pancras about 5 years ago, because so many people were flooding towards me very fast, it was in a wide bit, and I had to squeeze against the wall. They kept coming and coming and were so noisy and rough. I could not move and thought I was having a heart attack. I can't go there now.

I can't see anything to worry about in spiders of any size or mice but birds...now that's a different matter! I'm absolutely fine looking at them and we have a positive multitude of bird feeders, attracting many different varieties, but close proximity, especially if the poor thing is flapping, induces hysterics. One of my worst case scenarios is if one gets in the house. I've had to go out & shut it in & pray for assistance. I've also had the horrific experience of a seagull swooping down & stealing my ice cream, it was the stuff nightmares are made of. Apparently when I was very small, a neighbour used to let his budgie fly round the room and it landed on me which seems to've started it all off.

GrammaH Me too! Can admire some birds from afar but can't bear them anywhere close to me. When we've had feathered visitors in the house I've dashed for cover and shrieked for help. Fortunately there's usually been someone nearby to chase the bird out, but I did have to drag a neighbour out once to deal with a terrifying little blue tit. Visits to cities are very challenging as pigeons (and I can hardly bear to type the word...ugh!) seem to patrol every street. I couldn't walk across Trafalgar Square for £million.

Outdoor cafes are a no-no as they attract so many birds and it is embarrassing leaving or asking companions to move inside on a lovely sunny day. Bird phobia has such very wide-ranging implications, I could go on... and on and on, but I guess you've got the picture!

My father loved birds and was so sad that I had this problem, but blamed a woman on a bus dangling a freshly-killed Christmas goose under my nose when I was about nine years old.

DGS has a phobia about buttons. All the buttons on his school polo shirts have to be cut off. It is getting very difficult now that he is 7+ because trousers, apart from joggers, have zips with buttons at the top. Last year for school I bought him the next size up to use this year as they had an elasticated waist. Thank goodness because that same size this year, I can only find with zip and button. Any ideas how to solve this problem?

I'm often surprised by what I cope with if I have to.

Nandalot you could put press studs where the buttons would be.
I saw a woman on tv with a terrible fear of buttons; the ones with 4 holes in were the worst for her.
It made her virtually housebound, unable to go into her own garden in case there were any lost buttons lurking.

plugholes

Thank you Miss A. Good idea.

I don't like the word buttons, it makes me feel squeamish, although I don't have a phobia about the actual thing.

Jalima1108 I can't stand the word - the sound of it not the implications - "brexit" It sounds like someone being sick. I really thought nobody would use it when they began saying it! To me it sounds as bad as a really disgusting swear word, but now people will think my feelings are about what it actually is and not just the word itself, so I don't usually say anything.