Aye that. I've been acrophobic since the age of 14. I was fine with heights until I went to summer camp that year and we had to hike to the top of the Sierra Buttes to visit a fire tower and the flooring of the tower platform was this see-through metal mesh and you could just see this sheer drop below you. I was terrified. I got horrendous vertigo and had to be helped down. Ever since then, I've been afraid of heights. I cross a large, high bridge to and from work every day and I have to keep my eyes on the road because if I look off to the side, I get vertigo. As far as flying, I have never liked the idea, even before I began to fear heights. I'm OK once I'm in the air, funny enough, but it's the take-offs and landings that put me in a state of sheer panic and near terror. There isn't a take-off or landing that hasn't had me close to tears.

Oddly enough...it's when I'm flying that I'm NOT experiencing any sort of overwhelming fear of heights. I think it's because being the geology nut I am, I love to stare at the landscape below and identify geologic structures and guess the types of rocks I'm looking at. It's a distraction. The only time I get to feeling apprehensive is when we fly over water. Thankfully I've not flown to Hawaii or anyplace overseas. I'd be so screwed. They'd have to sedate me.

Oh, and I'm also claustrophobic. Which is why I started staring out plane windows in the first place...to try and take my mind off of the trapped feeling.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Flying for me as well--I've only done it once, to the fest in '06--well TWICE, since we went home. :)  Though I found myself looking out the window, too--watching the fields and mountains was soothing. Taking off and landing...not so soothing. The only time I had to look away was when we turned up or down at an angle--did nasty things to my stomach.

I'm also afraid of drowning. I'm not a terribly strong swimmer so don't venture out very far in the water.

Dying alone.

Apart from that, I'm not keen on travel in general; but I think that's more because the older I get I find I suffer from travel sickness no matter what form of transport I use.

Fire is another one. Being trapped in a fire.

My theory by A. Elk, brackets, Miss, brackets. This theory goes as follows and begins now. All brontosauruses are thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and it belongs to me, and I own it, and what it is, too.

Ange's Odyssey

I KNEW someone would say that!!!

There's likely a term for my phobia, but the idea of swimming in the ocean (or freshwater) and feeling anything slimy with my feet that I can't see makes my skin crawl.  I can't touch fish with my hands, either.

 That is well said..

I wish I didnt have fear,it makes my mind blocked sometimes,but obviously I have some.

I also have vertigo and this "physical"fear of heights-I hate ladders when I am painting at home for example.However,I have never had any fear about flying,I even wanted to be a stewardess!

But there are some more serious "psycological"fears like:What if one day I fall ill ? I have some very important people in my life totally depending on me..This thought drives me crazy..

Then I also have fear to get older,mostly because I am afraid of not "enjoying"life completely..

Thalassophobia - Fear of the ocean
Blennophobia- Fear of slime

So we could combine them into thalassoblennophobia - fear of slimy water.

 How would you like to come back to my tardis and take a look at my time vortex?   

Claustrophobia and fear of drowning (childhood trauma)

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

 How would you like to come back to my tardis and take a look at my time vortex?   

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

Fear of dancing

Fear of heights when outside on a tall building. (Nowhere else though ironically - I'm comfortable hundreds of feet up in all sorts of open-air situations...just not buildings.  Probably comes back to a childhood memory when I was climbing up the outside of a highrise, got about 3 stories up and fell...)

Fear of public speaking to large groups.  Up to 10 and I'm fine...beyond that I hate it.

Fear of the Labor govt getting power again in Australia (last time they ran our economy into the ground).

 Just make sure you never walk in there with Don Knotts, or you're just asking for trouble.

Logic Hat Online- logichat.org

LOL Awesome.

I have a friend who is afraid of midgets. Michael Anderson made her cry at the '99 fest (Angel, you might remember this one? Almost everyone knew about it by the end of the fest )

She's also afraid of fish, which is a perfectly normal fear. What ISN'T normal is that she's not just afraid of the fish themselves. She's afraid of anything even remotely fish-like. And by fish-like, I mean pictures of fish, t-shirts with fish on them, toy fish, fish-shaped potholders, gummi fish, fish tanks (empty ones), and my personal fave, Goldfish crackers.  I found that out when I pulled a bag out of my car and offered her some, only to be met with horrified squealing and big round animé eyes quivering with tears.

So yeah, I ate the bag of crackers in front of her and then proceeded to leave random crackers laying around where I knew she'd find them. OK, normally it's mean to play on one's fears. But COME ON. Goldfish crackers?! Someone HAD to be either faking it, or a complete nutter who should be institutionalized. Reminds me of the lady on Maury Povich who was afraid of pickles and he chased her around the audience with one while she shrieked and cried and tried to climb under chairs.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

I have a fear of open closet doors when it is dark.  I didn't realize it until afterwards, but the house I bought has no closets.  I think the fear was working on a subliminal level.

-cg

I went to primary school with a lad who was selenaphobic, which is a fear of the moon. That's the strangest fear i've ever encountered.

Personally, i'm not big on spiders, dentists, open water (levels on Ecco the Dolphin used to freak me out when i was younger, seriously), and people's feet. Ugh. Christ, the thought makes me wince.