Phobias

[ghostofagypsy]

Something few people know about me is that I have a driving phobia. Meaning, driving anywhere is a huge feat for me. I have to plan out my trips, put on music that calms me, repeat self mantras, and take frequent breaks if I start to panic. Driving, to me, feels like being lowered into a shark tank. It turns what could be a very peaceful experience

Comments

[old_cutter_john]

I'm iatrophobic to the degree that I've let a couple of broken bones mend on their own even though I had health insurance and money. (They weren't displaced.) I'm not doing anything about it: I don't have a primary care physician, and I go find whom I need when there's no alternative. Otherwise I avoid doctors and scrounge grey-market antibiotics.

[themistressmoon]

I'm not THAT bad (I don't think...I haven't had a serious enough illness to test me yet), but I haven't been to the doctor in over five and a half years because...I just hate them. I feel the same way about dentists, and I KNOW I need dental work done--my wisdom teeth are coming in, and because I clench my teeth in my sleep as well, I'm sure that's causing problems--but I just can't bring myself to do it

[old_cutter_john]

It's different for me - not needles nor dentistry. When it was available to me, I used to get free blood work done and interpret the results myself; and I get a flu shot at the pharmacy every year. I haven't been scared of the dentist since one of them figured out what kind of anesthetic works on me. I imagine more grisly possibilities than needles.

[themistressmoon]

On a side note, I don't have a phobia of driving, but I hate doing it. If the weather is nice, there isn't much traffic, I know where I'm going, and I'm not on a freeway, I'm fine. But obviously those exact circumstances don't apply too often and it's not uncommon for me to drive to wherever I'm going gripping the steering wheel so tight that by the time I get there my hands ache and I can't fully straighten my fingers. So I can kind of understand where you're coming from on that one.

[sandiabb]

My phobia of driving is so severe, I don't drive. I don't even have my driver's license. Every time someone tries to get me to drive, I completely freeze up and get anxious. Any time I try to drive, the minute I get behind the steering wheel, I'm thrown into a full-fledged panic attack.

I'd like to say that I'm dealing with it, but I'm not. I'm avoiding it like the plague. In an ideal world, I would never get my driver's license, and I would hire a chauffeur to drive me everywhere.

I also have a severe phobia of large trucks. If I see one, I get really tense. If I'm in a car and one passes by, my heart quickens and I feel sick to my stomach. One time, I was walking on the side of the road and a semi-truck passed me. It seemed like it was so close to me; and it was loud and it stunk and all I could think about is, what if it had hit me? It actually made me tear up a little bit.