my wife has a severe fear of the human body. it is unrelated to ocd or body dysmorphic disorder, and we have ruled those out entirely for her over time. she has an irrational fear of things like belly buttons, feet, internal organs, veins, eyes, tendons, muscles, skin itself, bodily fluids. Just a general overall extreme and irrational fear of the human body and all of its external and internal anatomy. We know there is a term specifically for internal organs, illnesses, deformities, but we cant seem to find a term for her phobia of the entire human body. Somatophobia is also not applicable as it's specifically a religious or cultural idea and not an actual phobia term from what we've read. Any help would be awesome

I just wanted to wish everyone good luck and to share my live with everyone who has a phobia of fireworks are who are living in the UK right now.

To all of my international friends, bonfire night Is on Tuesday and it's a night where everyone shoots off fireworks, though people always shoot them off early and so they've been going off round me for the past few days.

I have a huge phobia of loud noises such as fireworks, balloons popping, party poppers etc. So if anyone is feeling scared then just know that you're not alone and I know you can be strong, we can get through this together.

Best of luck to you all

Hi everyone,

This post is going to seem wild so I apologize in advance. I wanted to post this in the germaphobe sun but it was restricted to approved users.

I’m a 27M conservative Catholic in SoCal that was homeschooled and never left my hometown and I haven’t been in a relationship before.

Ever since I was little, I’ve been a germaphobe and it followed me into my adult life. I remember having severe emetophobia and still do to this day, that combined with having some gnarly flus and also being worried about other weird diseases (like hand, foot, and mouth) caused me to develop a fear of germs. Catching a cold is also just an inconvenience that I’d rather stay away from if I can.

I’m not so afraid of germs to where it’s crippling, but I do frequently wash my hands to the point where I need to put lotion on them a lot, I have a massive bottle of hand sanitizer in my car, and I can’t eat finger foods without sanitizing my hands or washing them. If anyone is sick too, I stay far away and if I’m sick, I basically “quarantine” myself in my room so that no one else gets it. Basically, that Covid era was nice in a way since everyone wore masks and hand sanitizer was everywhere.

The reason I would like to date another germaphobe is because it’d allow for me to feel like I can fully relax and “be at home” with the person if that makes sense. I come from a family that would eat a burger after pumping the gas or they’d say that getting sick was “healthy” and built immunity so I could never relax around them since they were the exact opposite of me. Finding someone else that had the same mindset (not sharing drinks, not kissing when sick (or at all if she doesn’t want to), being courteous when sick, etc.) would be such a relieving relationship. A lot of people just tell me to stay single and I wouldn’t mind being single but I’d really love to be with a woman I can share my life with. I have just had trouble finding someone with the same mindset that doesn’t get overly annoyed with me. I also have a fear of STDs so I haven’t ever kissed anyone which has also turned some women away. And I understand that sex can be dirty and I personally feel like I’d be very open to trying a lot of things in the bedroom (I haven’t ever had sex but I feel like I’d be down to try anything) so being with someone that would take cleanliness seriously would be cool too (like showering with antibacterial Dove soap so that the toilet germs aren’t all over our bottom halves, etc.).

So again, I understand that this post is a wild ride and might seem crazy but if anyone knows of a good place to meet other like minded germaphobes (like maybe a Facebook group or something) I’d really appreciate knowing. Thank you!

I have a very intense fear of burns, if I see a burn victim or even hear a story about somebody being burned I have panic attacks. I’m afraid to leave the house because I might get in a car accident and burn to death but I’m also afraid to stay in my house because what if the house catches on fire and my family burns to death.

Every time I try to talk about this fear to somebody they just say “oh nobody wants to burn to death” but it’s not just death, any burns and I don’t think most people think about it 24/7. Sometimes I’m afraid to sleep because of dreams or my house catching on fire.

I don’t know how to even manage this fear anymore. I just sit and panic all day.

It seemed to be originally a fear of sharp objects from being threaten as a kid, but now it seems more like I just don't like seeing say needles go into my arm and not tell how much or far in my arm. Idk if the same phobia and it changed since it's not a danger phobia but now an avoidance thing I can afford as an adult. Perhaps related 🤔 like on the same spectrum of fear of not seeing where said object goes. But I hate my belly button being approached. I have a very deep belly button and when younger it would get poked and it hurt but now it's like I don't want anything touching. It bothers me so much to clean it 😩 like I can see it's just my finger 👉 or the towel but it bothers me. When talking about tattoos I stated I only want tattoos I can see because having a needle gun somewhere unseen but also having a tattoo I can't tell how well it's healing gives me a paranoia feeling I'd rather have a wound on my arm where seen then say my back

I'm thinking it's all the same phobia and it's a psychological connection to not being able to see/comprehend the damage to my body but what would that be called?

Grasshoppers and not the small green friendly kind of Grasshoppers, the big brown ones . Yup you heard it right . I feel ashamed that a 6ft2 guy who ate a cockroach for a dare is scared of these devils but yeah , i am, and I get reminded if it every fall. Rip to my dignity whenever i see one in public

i'm genuinely scared of ai videos. I know they've gotten better, but they still make me feel like theres bugs crawling on my skin and it makes me want to throw up. I don't understand how people watch those and not feel genuine fear. if anyone else knows more about this tell me

Any way to calm yourself?

Where i live there is a large population of these large black moths, they're about a coke can tall in wing tip to wing tip, and straight black.

Due to the dark areas around our old house and the current renovations occurring, and any one point in time there may be 3 or more in the house.

The thing is, im deathly afraid of them.

Just seeing one on the roof above my bedroom door is enough for me to decide to not go to asleep, seeing it makes my legs almost shake.

The worst part is killing them, they can survive a couple hits from shoe hit in the air and for somereason when they are attacked they chase the person trying to attack them, so killing them often involves me running around the house tripping over and feeling serious fear.

Its at a point where I feel light headed around them some time and feel a feeling that can only be described as a deep primal fear.

There is effectively no way to remove them from the outside of the house, and so I'm going to have to learn to live with them, does anyone have any ideas on how to get over this?

Im not sure if this counts as a phobia,but I (25m) have grown increasingly afraid of death.

I'm living in a studio apartment on my own for the first time while in veterinary school. While I love the quiet and independence, I keep having this terrible thought that if somthing bad where to happen to me, how long would it take for somone to find me? I typically get these thoughts at night when things are quiet, and I'm trying to get to sleep.

I keep thinking questions like: What if I choke on food and can't get it out myself? What if I slip in the shower and hit my head and don't get back up? What if there's some other medical emergency and no one is around to help?

It's making me paranoid. I keep having panic attacks at night thinking about it. I've always been scared if death, but now I keep getting this terrible feeling that I'm going to die soon. I have no reason to think this. I have no major health concerns or anything. But this terrible feeling won't go away.

I am religious, but the idea of death still scares me. as my faith is just that: faith. I'd like to think that there's an afterlife, but I just don't know, and that scares me more than anything.

I'm sure I can't be alone in this. Does anyone who's gone through this know how to deal woth it?

Does anyone else get physically sick when looking at concentric circles, like a honeycomb or a lotus flower? I looked it up and it’s a real thing called Trypophobia, but people still think I’m crazy. Any others out there?

They freak me out so bad. It’s hard to explain but like the oz head from wicked for example made 10 year old me start tweaking out while watching it. Raves with animatronics moving their mouthes strangely like the shrek rave and the robot one make me so uneasy 😭. It’s really only when they are big as well and it might just be the way they move their mouths but I’ve never heard anyone find it that unsettling.

Ever since I was around 5 years old, I have had a pretty odd feeling when it comes to doors. Not really all doors, more just double doors. For some reason I will get the feeling the door will not reach the door frame and won't close if that makes sense. Usually when I get this feeling, the idea of a situation where I need to lock the door in an emergency will come to me. With the double doors, it's usually the thought of them not coming together and there being a gap in-between them and allowing them to swing open. TLDR: I'm afraid of doors not closing correctly and not being able to lock during an emergency.

In botany, we were learning about plant cells and their plasmodesmata (holes between cells that let things through). The photo that was on screen was a black and white photomicrograph of a singular one of these, and like a super high quality one.

It seemed so eerie to me for some reason. The edges of the pit swirled downward with like grooves on the side, leading into a dark abyss. Seeing that picture weirder me out and I got the sense that I shouldn’t be seeing this. It was such a small scale thing blown up to a huge proportion, it looked like a weird world that humans weren’t meant to exist in, it’s like I was intruding into somewhere I shouldn’t be.

Is there a name for this feeling/phobia if it is one?

One thing is that people make fun of you for it and try to force you to confront your fear. And they’re always like ‘the bug is more scared of you! it literally can’t hurt you’ but that’s not the point.

I don’t fear being bitten or even poisoned or worse cuz meh what can you do ykwim? medical treatments exist and i do not go places with untreatable zoonotic diseases.

The real big problem is just, the unpredictability. They can literally be Anywhere because they are so small. I’m fine with larger bugs like beetles or tarantulas cuz you can see them so clearly. But flies and bees and mosquitoes and small spiders or even butterflies scare the living lights out of me. They move so randomly and are in random places. I see one moving and go into flight mode (have crashed my limbs into so many things due to panic reflex jerking) but if they’re just, sitting there I’m kinda chill (just anxious cuz they might move).

I can’t kill them either cuz usually there’s nothing close that i can hit them with and i don’t wanna let them out of my sight. (bare hands is a no go cuz even the thought of touching a bug, with all their wiggly tiny moving bits, knowing that there is a possibility they move on me, is genuinely horrific).

I literally refuse to go outside during summer and spring or even open the windows, and I can’t stand walking near grass/plants/trees either just for the sheer fear that a bug may emerge. have literally worked myself into panic attacks trying to hang up laundry.

and like what can you do about it yk? can’t stop bugs from bugging. literally nowhere that there is no bug. and people think you’re crazy or being so afraid over a lil thing that’s less than a centimeter large and that you can kill easily.

tl;dr - bugs are the bane of my existence and everyone who laughs at me about that is my enemy. the sheer unpredictability gives me fifteen consecutive heart attacks.

For some reason I hate stripes in specifically horizontal stripes. I can wear vertical stripes sometimes but I hate horizontal stripes with a burning passion and I don’t know why.

I’m sorry if this not the right subreddit to talk/ask about this, but is this something or am I just insane

It’s starting to ruin my life. I find difficulties in sleeping, eating, and functioning on my own as a now new adult (18). The fear is actually more so directed towards other people dying (rather than myself), but still both. I don’t know how I’m going to manage this in my further adult life, because I still live at home. I have to get up 2 times a night to check all members of my family are breathing, and if I cant hear them I will literally shake them and then pretend to be SLEEPWALKING to avoid embarrassment. I cannot have food cooked by other people in fear of poisoning, and my fear of germs is so insane I actually won’t go into it but it often prevents me from leaving the house (or if I do, i’ll wear a mask like one of those covid weirdos). I examine every family members meal in front of them and have to make sure I watch them eat incase they choke. I have Life360 with them all so I can track if anything happens. On top of that I have to send each of them a message at least 3 times daily to see if they’re okay and will spam call if I don’t get a response in less than 30 minutes. I have OCD and GAD, which is probably a big explanation for it all, but having a diagnosis doesn’t cure me. What will??? How do I get past this to be able to actually live like a normal person? I’m crippled with overthinking and anxiety 24/7, like a schitzo rocking back and forth in the corner.

I am at a loss. my fear of stinkbugs started when I was 11 maybe 12. There was one winter where they just infested my room, my curtains fell down, I pick them up and there's at least 15 all bunched up together hibernating. it was traumatic, after that my parents would grab them and chase me with them, cornering me until I cried. i am now 23. since then, the fear has been DEBILITATING. if they are on a flat surface, in my reach, I can kill them with a shoe no problem. if they are on curtains or a ceiling I freeze. my body feels paralyzed and I will not go in that room until it disappears or crawls to where I'm able to kill it fast. there was one on my bathroom curtain and I held my pee until I literally couldn't anymore and was in tears I ran into the bathroom and never peed so fast in my life. they are attracted to a tree outside of my mom's house, I couldn't even visit her. when I go up there I have to sit in my car. if I have anything in my hands or if anyone is in my way I will push and throw whatever I need to, to get out of the stinkbugs way. I have no problem with other insects. it's just stinkbugs. it's ruining my quality of life. I hate when people tell me they are just bugs, they don't bite, just grab them with a paper towel. I CANT. the thought of grabbing a live stinkbug with anything makes my skin crawl. after I see one, I can't calm down. I fidget, look over my shoulder constantly. I'm on edge constantly that one is going to pop out of no where(because they love to do that). please someone tell me they relate, I'm tired of bring called dramatic.

I live in a moldy house since I was born. Our food is also often rotten and/or has mold. Our old fridge didn't work so well and we didn't have Tupperwares (we used two plates one flipped on top of the other) so often when I tried to take something from the fridge I often found a "carpet" of mold instead of edible food.

Now we have a new fridge that works well and Tupperwares but still I am scared to eat everything without making someone smell it/ taste it first, I'm scared of even going near food I'm not sure it's not rotten. (Stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated often became rotten too so it's not just a fridge problem). If I smell something weird or taste something that seems off I stop being hungry immediately and just become extremely anxious. This also happens with fish (I'm extrimely scared of finding bones everytime it's not sushi salmon or canned tuna ) but I'm not sure if it's the same phobia.

What do you guys think it is ?

I have always had this phobia for as long as I can remember and I’m not too sure what it stems from either. I’m also not exactly sure how to word this so it makes sense to everyone else, but I’ll try my best! Certain noises freak me out when on repeat. Like the sound of a drum being hit in a repeated pattern. The constant beat of it staying the same almost like someone walking up stairs and it never ends. The best example I can give is actually on Tyler the Creators Instagram lol, he posted a video of his new album and in this video (posted on October 16th- captioned “1. st chroma) if you wanted to look it up, and the repeated stomping noise that freaks me out. It’s not always a stomping noise that freaks me out either. Just the fact one sound is repeating at the same beat and frequency and never ends. Like a loop of it. I tried looking it up online and it came up with Misophonia which I don’t think really fits with my phobia since it’s not like clicking of a pen or chewing loud that bothers me. Idk the repeating sounds drives me crazy and puts my body into a shock of fear. The synchronicity in the tyler the creator video also makes me really really uneasy. The way all of them are in sync stomping together is so uncanny to me idk how to explain it. Please help me out if you can! And lmk too if any of you have this phobia as well! Feel free to ask anymore questions if needed! Thank you!

Literally under the chin. If I feel my own under chins I gag, my dog, I gag anybody's I gag. I fucking hate it. I'm fine with seeing it but hell naw feeling it. Is this like an actual thing?

So since I was a child I've always had this rediculous fear that somehow I'd get stuck to the top of a tall ceiling, because gravity would somehow reverse, making me fall towards the ceiling or sky.

And whenever I see upside down perspectives my stomach drops and I feel so uncomfortable and anxious. This happens a lot in my nightmares, and it's horrible being so high up and just hoping you don't fall and get unstuck and the perspective is so.. terrifying, and the dreams can last so long.

It's such an unrealistic fear that actually comes from me crawling around on the floor as a kid with my stomach facing towards the ceiling, with my hands and feet on the ground. I'd try to jump up, though the perspective would make me feel as if I was falling towards the ceiling and I'd shake a bunch out of fear but I knew it was illogical and that nothing would happen, but I never got over this fear. My deep down perspective of reality and possibilities seem to be, insanely unrealistic.

Anybody else have a similar phobia?

Hello, I have casadastraphobia as well as many other phobias. I have a part-time job and I go to school part-time. I was doing well for a few months before I slowly couldn't walk to the door of my workplace. Even thinking about the sky while sitting in my bed typing this freaks me out. I have to have coworkers walk me to and from my car. I have to hold onto them at this point. People help. Today I had to have my friend AND a Walmart employee walk me to my car. I can't do this anymore. Even the comfort of people is starting to not work. What should I do? I need an education, I can get that online. I need a job but I can't find one online. What should I do? I don't want to lose my job but everyday I feel closer to my breaking point. I've tried a few new medicines. I've tried therapy. I'm currently looking for a new therapist. I feel like I'm getting worse with each passing day. I don't want to live on disability but honestly I don't think that's even an option.

hello everyone, i really need my help with my fear of roaches. i moved into an old house last year and luck to me, i discovered that this house gets giant american sewer roaches every so often. i was cleaning my walk in closet and found the roach that has been making me sleep on the couch for the past 2 weeks because i couldnt find it the first time after i panicked and ran. i dont know what to do because im home alone, but im glad its dead now. but im terrified to squash them and clean them up even though theyre dead. just the thought of squishing them makes me nauseated. everyday, i feel like theres something crawling on me even though theres not. i want to get over this fear so bad but i cant, they terrify me. i hate that im so scared of something that wont hurt me. nothing else scares me. snakes, mice, most other bugs, scorpions, are all just meh to me but god forbid i see a single cockroach, it feels like the end of the world to me.

Okay I’m 22 years old. I’m actually so scared of the dentist it’s not even funny. Let me be more specific, I might just be a hypochondriac. I have let 3 teeth rot out so bad they actually broke in half long before I actually got them looked at. The first time I let it get to the point I was throwing up. I’m scared of getting it pulled. I’ve never failed to cancel the appointment 4 times before I finally actually walk in and even then I could be in the chair and refuse to let them do it. Help? I have an appointment in 3 days to pull a big ole half tooth in the back on my mouth and the only reason it’s not canceled yet is cuz the won’t answer the phones yet this morning

Okay so, I have this veeeery weird phobia of stickers, food stickers, bandaids, tape and everything in this direction. It’s very unusual and I have never met a second person with this phobia. I’m diagnosed with SPD, Autism spectrum, ADD and anxiety (+ Depression) and this weird phobia is getting very bad for me in daily life situations…

• When grocery shopping, I almost never buy fruits because of the stickers…

I literally have to check every fruit for a sticker, if I touch the sticker I immediately get a meltdown or have to wash my hands 3 times!

• If someone has a bandaid anywhere visible for me, on the finger for example and we are eating, I can’t eat without having some anxious thoughts for example: that the bandaid comes loose, falls into my food and my tongue of body touches the bandaid. My appetite is immediately gone when I see someone near me with a bandaid.

• If there’s stickers on public transportation or even school/uni/public toilets, I can’t for the love of god use them or be near them without feeling utterly disgusted.

• Or when someone has so fix something with tape, I can’t touch the thing with the tape on it, same with fruit stickers, if I touched it I have to wash my hands.

My therapist is so confused about this phobia because they too haven’t met anyone with this problem… I just wish someone could relate to some of these issues, or know how to help as no one seems to have any idea on what to do🥲

I have always been creeped out by identical twins (when they are together) and I never understood why. My brother and I were asked if we were twins when we were pretty young and it made us furious, but I always thought that being a twin and basically sharing an identity with someone sounds fucking horrible. It seems like you can't be your own person and I feel bad for them. But the twins who spend a lot of time with one another and kinda coordinate together are the ones who freak me out. I feel a little bad about it but I don't know why I feel any of this

So I've never seen a name for this phobia, even though it seems pretty common. Things it includes can range from simple and innocent things like Netflix saying "Are you still there?", to things that are specifically there to scare you.

I suggest we call it "Metaphobia", as it relates to self-awareness.

Here’s my issue. I’m constantly having one pest problem or another at the apartment where I live by myself. Over the last few weeks however I’ve been staying at my sisters small studio apartment because my phobia has gotten really severe and unmanageable with a recent lady beetle infestation. Im wondering if it’s possible to be medicated to the point where I can live in my apartment again, be able to relax and sleep there and deal with the bugs and be somewhat functional and happy? My opinion has been I don’t think it’s possible and so I’ve been looking into moving but that has not been going well and is very stressful. and as of right now ERP is not feasible/I haven’t been able to find a therapist I can afford.

I have a reoccurring and horrible fear of the afterlife. It’s caused me to become careless with my own life because I can’t ignore the fear. It started about a year ago, slowly faded as I was able to open up a little bit and ignore it by distracting myself, and now it’s back. Even before that, I had small panic attacks over it, but nothing too long-lasting up until now.

I consider myself a generally happy person. People perceive me as such and I feel confident in myself. It gets much more difficult to be this way when my fear overcomes me. I can’t think about anything else but the fact that I only get one try to do all of this and one mistake could take my chance away for the rest of eternity. That mortifies me.

I can always respond to every other worry I have with “worrying never solved anything, so just work through it” or “you fear what you don’t even know, just let the anxiety go and you’ll understand it when you get to that point”, but I can’t with this.

It’s difficult for me to sleep or do anything productive and I am submerged in despair because of it. I’m definitely on the younger side, I don’t know why i’m worrying about something that may not even occur for decades on. But the reminder of how short and fragile life is doesn’t alleviate the stress whatsoever. I’m wasting time worrying about it but I don’t know what else to do. I just want to be happier and focus on the things that make my life feel important again, but even those things i’m starting to lose touch with due to my phobia. I don’t fear death, while it is worrisome, I don’t think I can fathom it enough to be scared of it. I’m just scared because I don’t know what comes after.

If there is an afterlife, I will be stuck there forever without a time limit to it. If there’s nothing, i’m stuck in nothingness forever. It’s the aspect of doing the same thing forever. I don’t know what i’m hoping for because either option makes me incredibly anxious and upset. The random idea that your conscious will just be stuck on Earth forever is probably the worst.

If anyone knows how to cope with this, it would be much appreciated.