Irrational Fears

[Kendhni]

Someone raised the question of the difference between a rational and an irrational fear.

A rational fear would be one where there is a sound reason to be scared e.g. snakes, heights, flying because there is some risk involved.

Irrational fears are fears of something where there really is no sound reason (or at least not for the reasons usually cited) e.g. dark, the number 13 (or any other number), time etc.

[oldbluefox]

I am generally ok-ish with heights even atop the CN Tower in Toronto, until that is I saw the glass floor at which point I crawled very very slowly on my hands and knees to pop the camera over the lip to get a pic of the ' drop ' ... had I viewed the entire scene through the viewfinder of a camcorder there wouldn't have been a problem.

Your fear of heights is irrational Mob. Had you fallen it's only the last 12" that kill you................ and you can jump that can't you?
There you go, problem solved!!

[Frank Manning]

escalalaters, (sp?) I can go up, but never down them. I will do all I can to avoid them, seeking out all the lifts, or stairs. I don't know where it came from as I used to live in London and used the ones in the underground until I was 15 years old. but now I freeze and am a gibbering wreck when I try to use them.

Sue has similar feelings. Sue refuses to use them in John Lewis West Quay, and is fairly 'iffy' about all escalators and even stairs. The open stairs with glazed sides on the ships are a no no, and it took a while to get her into the outside lifts on Arcadia.

[lioness]

I don't like heights and can't look over the side of the ship. I also don't like walking round the stern of the ship at night for some reason! The thought of falling off perhaps.

[Manoverboard]

I am generally ok-ish with heights even atop the CN Tower in Toronto, until that is I saw the glass floor at which point I crawled very very slowly on my hands and knees to pop the camera over the lip to get a pic of the ' drop ' ... had I viewed the entire scene through the viewfinder of a camcorder there wouldn't have been a problem.

Your fear of heights is irrational Mob. Had you fallen it's only the last 12" that kill you................ and you can jump that can't you?
There you go, problem solved!!

Not really cos I get the same fear even on a slatted bridge that is only 12" above the water line, no fear of death by distance ... and you can also forget any idea of me crossing a canal via the locks.

: Holy sh*t :

[Jacknian]

I have a phobia of 'edges' ! It's not the height that worries me it's standing on the edge of something high. Sounds stupid I know but I panic if even one of my family are standing on the edge of something, - Bridges, mountains, a balcony, etc . Funnily enough the edge of the balcony on a ship doesn't bother me. It's a nightmare if I am on a coach tour which goes anywhere near the edge of the road with a drop at the side, I always try to ignore it but I can feel myself starting to shake and lean away from the window, much to my husbands amusement. Needless to say I don't go on a trip if it says anything about hairpin bends or heights ! I also hate it when the coach returns to the ship and sometimes turns around right next to the edge of the dock. I don't think this is an irrational fear as it could kill you if you fell from an edge !

[Kendhni]

Jacknian, you should definitiely avoid a trip to the Poaz volcano in Costa Rica.
We had to go over a bridge named the 'Oh my god' bridge .. the bus just and no more fits on the bridge and whenever you go across it and look out the window you will go 'oh my god'.

[Gill W]

I think my biggest phobia is lifts. It's not the fear of an enclosed space, but the fear of being stuck between floors

I can date it back to when I was about six.

There was a Clift lift at Cliftonville, near Margate that we'd use when we were on holiday. It was operated by an old boy lift attendant.

There was no problem at all when we used it, but a few months later there was an article in the paper, saying the the lift had got stuck and the old boy had had to climb up the lift shaft to get help.

That story really freaked me out and I didn't go in a lift for at least another 30 odd years.

It was only when i went to New York, and had no choice in the skyscrapers, that I set foot in a lift again.

To this day, I avoid lifts if possible, and would never go in one by myself.

[HK phooey]

I've just googled that Ken, Oh my God, no way in a million years would I go across that!

[Silver_Shiney]

Clowns, I'd run a mile if I saw one in real life!

so no mirrors in your house then......

[Silver_Shiney]

I can sympathise with those DQ. Having been through Eurotunnel a few times, and under the Severn by train, it isn't a nice experience. I hated the dentists drill, but it wasn't fear of pain, but fear that the drill bit would fly off and embed itself in me somewhere. A superb Aussie dentist showed me that it is highly unlikely and I have been fine ever since.

The bit may not detach from the drill, but the dentist's hand can slip and, believe me, drilling into the side of the cheek makes you want to say things like "gosh", "oh dear", "I say, that isn't very pleasant"..... or words to that effect!

[Jacknian]

Ken, I've just looked at that bridge on you tube, oh my god ! Is right, why would anyone risk going over that !? There was even a large gap in the boards which had been covered by some ramps but with holes still at each side, and the boards look like they wouldn't even stand a person walking over them never mind a car or coach. Have you actually gone over it ?