Off Topic: Phobias

 Let's talk about fears and phobias.


 I know that having one phobia or another is not unusual, but what about multiple irrational fears?


 I have a big problem with being in the water. Wading is fine, but once the water gets to my chest, I start to get uncomfortable. It's not so bad in hot tubs and the like, where I know I can just stand up with no problem, but swimming pools are usually a no-go.

 I'm pretty sure I could swim if I had to, but just the idea of being in water where I can't touch bottom gives me butterflies.


 My other thing is heights. This one's not so bad; I don't even notice most of the time, but on occasion I'll be near a ledge (railing or not) and get the sudden urge to step away from the edge. It also comes up when I'm crossing bridges and the like (especially if I can see below me [don't look down]). The biggest part of this one is elevators. Unless I brace myself on the wall or railing, I start to freak out. In my head, I know that the odds of something happening are next to nothing, but I guess that's the idea of a phobia, right?


 I think that both of these fears can be explained by saying that I like to have sure footing. Near a ledge, in an elevator, or in the water, I can't rely on the ground for stability. Could that be it? 



 What about selective phobias?

 What I mean is, can a phobia have a set of circumstances to trigger it, instead of just one thing? When I was younger (not much younger, it stuck around almost until I had turned 18), I had a fear of the dark that would only trigger if I was alone. It didn't seem to matter who was with me, as long as there was someone. It also came and went; sometimes I could barely walk down a dark hallway to the bathroom, and sometimes I could be walking down a dark road at night and not have a problem.

 This is one I've grown out of, which is what happens, I guess. We leave our childhood fears behind, and replace them with newer, "better" adult fears. Fear of losing our jobs, fear of getting audited, fear of being rear-ended, or whatever else.


One more thing: Have you ever had a fear mutate into something else? A fascination, an obsession, or a hatred?

 My younger brother got bitten by spiders a few times when he was young, so naturally he was afraid of them. But since then, it's turned into a pathological hatred for all things arachnid. This fits with the idea that we leave our childhood fears (fear of spiders), and replace them with more socially acceptable versions (dislike of spiders).


 I've also heard of many icons of the horror genre who were inspired by nightmares, or by childhood fears or trauma. As a child, Stephen King saw a friend get hit by a train. James Cameron dreamed of a metal skull before he made Terminator.




 What about you? Do you have any phobias? Have you ever grown out of one? Has being afraid of something ever inspired your art or writing?