Random phobias

When I was young I had a dream that the giant tree behind my house had fallen and a man sat up against it with a fire in front of him. He slowly turned his head to me but I could not see his face. He lifted his arm and a giant black dog came charging at me. I ran back to the house knowing that I had just seen the devil and he had sent the hound of hell after me. To this day I am scared to death of large black dogs.

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I have a phobia of being locked up in a small space, and one of being alone. And to top that I'm Clausterphobic. I freak out and panic. I always feel like I'm dieing at school I'm always sitting by the door

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I have a phobia of my veins bursting in my feet. Whenever im thinking about my feet or feet get brought up in conversation i almost always have to sit down so i dont start freaking out. Also when i see a vein buldging out. Ive cried before over that!

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I am very scared of straws. They scare me and I do not use them

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I'm terrified of doctors touching my arm. I've had a lot of blood work done so now I am horrified of doctors touching my arm because that's where I've had all the blood work done. Even if the doctor isn't hold a needle, I'm terrified that they will pull one out of nowhere and stick it in my arm!

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I can't stand the thought of being dragged. Any time I see someone in a movie or a cartoon being dragged across the ground, my stomach turns and all I can think about--even if it's a cartoon--is how painful the road rash would be.

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I have a phobia that people can watch me through the webcam built into my laptop.

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When I ride my bike and I take one hand off the handlebar to wave to a friend or something, I must then, after replacing the hand, briefly take the other hand off the handlebar, and then very briefly take both hands off. If I do not do this I feel extremely unbalanced and anxious.

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I get freaked out by pencils. They remind me of finger bones, like when someone taps their pencil it’s as if they have this skeletal finger clicking and tapping on the desk They make me shudder.

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I don't really have a phobia per sé. I have suffered from anxiety for years off and on and in fact, had PTSD to greater and lesser degrees from age 4 to about age 25 due to incidents of sexual abuse and violence coupled with a pair of utterly unsupportive, emotionally frozen parents. I'm 54.

My brain has no off switch and often has music playing, a particular song known or unknown, over and over and over. If I hate the song, at least I can change it to another one but I usually cannot stop it completely. The first song I composed in 2006, played complete in my head with all instruments and voices 24/7 until I got it committed to a CD.

I just finished A Brief History of Anxiety and found it to be funny, fascinating and reassuring in an ass-backwards way. Through all my difficulties; crippling anxiety and depression I intuitively knew I must not EVER take any psychotropic drugs and the reasons why I must never do this were perfectly articulated in this insightful book. I did not originate this expression, (can't remember where I heard it) but I have always referred to the use of those drugs as "The Unplugging the Alarm Instead of Putting Out the Fire Approach."

I was also reassured by the chapter in which the perils of being a creative person are spelled out. Of course I've always been considered a 'nut' by many family members and 'the black sheep,' eccentric, off-balance, driven, etc. I am a writer, and lately have been composing music. A friend says, 'channeling' it.

I think the mental illness of many of the writers, poets, musicians and other artists mentioned in the book may be that they never conformed, always had their own unique drum beat and were/are punished for it in their families, in their schools and in society at large hence their (normal under the circumstances) emotional difficulties. Perhaps of they'd been accepted and engaged they would still have been creative but without the pathology.

In 1980 I went 'off my toque' and had a complete emotional collapse, much like Ms. Pearson's melt-down in Chicago after being ditched by her boyfriend. With great effort and force of will, I recreated myself. My relief mainly came about by way of spiritual pathways and pursuits. Regular meditation was key as well as some shamanic practices.

At this moment I'm in another major transitional phase and have been suffering anxiety again as a result after being free of it for over 20 years. I will move through it and after lapsing somewhat in my spiritual practices, I have returned to them for relief. I'm finding they still help. It's also helpful to know that most if not all emotional distress is reasonable under the varied and stressful circumstances in our lives and histories.

I am working on my own memoir detailing my struggle and have had an excerpt published in gritty Ottawa literary magazine, Front and Centre.

I loved A Brief History of History of Anxiety and will recommend and give it to many friends.

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