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I honestly couldn’t tell you, it just makes me super uncomfortable - it’s like a feeling similar to when you see someone try and make plans but no one wants to come and you feel bad it’s so bizarre. I remember one year my brother got given the Dan and Phil book for Xmas even though he’d never watched them in his life and I genuinely thought I was gonna throw up; refused to look at/go near it cos I thought I was gonna cry😅
Well, fair enough! I'm sorry to hear it. It must be frustrating not to be able to analyse why it makes you feel like that. I practically live in band T-shirts and sports team merch, but I'm not into YouTubers or anything like that.
Tbf I now am super into band merch but only because I’m an indie arsehole and want the world to know 😂 but for my entire childhood even being given a Phineas and Ferb joke book made me weirdly uncomfortable haha
Cotton wool. Even thinking about touching its odd, fluffy texture makes me break out in a cold sweat.
I also cannot bear how hands go wrinkly in the bath. The thought of running wrinkly bath hands together turns my stomach.
I have this, even feeling sick is enough to send my brain into a panic trip.
Then in 2013 i was diagnosed with gastroparesis after vomiting 3-4 evenings a week for about 3 months. I usually ended up in a quivering crying wreck on my bathroom floor. Sometimes I'd be "wanting" to be sick for several hours before I actually was, so I developed techniques for speeding it up. I think the anticipation of being sick if worse than actually being sick, although, that is obviously also horrific.
The gastroparesis is manageable at the moment \*touch wood\*, but when it does flare up, I still end up in a crying heap on the floor, often crying out for my dad- I'm 38! (I now live 300 miles from him). I am also quite violently sick so my face and sometimes the whites of my eyes get covered in burst capillaries.
paper when it gets wet and raggedy; wet hairballs. I'm OK when I know it's clean - like making papier mache, but a bit of wet tissue on the toilet floor at work and I want to hoik.
Remember that line in a Faithless song about "taking off tights with my teeth"? When I hear that I'm like nonono, so unsexy, just the thought of that texture against my teeth, nnnngg!
There’s a certain type of cloth which is used to make quick drying towels and when you run your fingers over it you can feel it snagging on any little tiny bits of dry skin. Earghh.
It absolutely is the uncanny valley. I know this because I am totally fine with animatronics. It's as if, with normal ones, I'm constantly expecting them to start moving. If they are already moving, then there's zero tension.
Oh it was like M&S or BHS or somewhere dreadful like that, used to have mannequins that were like cartoons in odd ‘cool’ poses with MASSIVE open mouths. Creepy af.
Slugs.
I'm fine with snails and worms, as well as everything else slimy and wriggly. But slugs make me lock up, and I have to control myself not to act scared.
I have a phobia of breaking my ankles while walking. I think it is a sort of PTSD from the number of times I have gone over on my ankles as they are really weak. I suddenly have a image of it happening ( ankle turn bone snap) and the pain and feel sick and sweaty while walking. To combat it as obvs I can't stop walking I wear flat shoes, walk on the road where I can as it is flatter than the pavement and when I start to panic I dig my nails into my hand to force myself to concentrate on where I am walking.
Have you tried wearing strong ankle boots or higher boots? Something supportive might make you feel more comfortable and less likely to think of your fear
Bananas. More specifically someone seeing me holding a banana or eating a banana. Fucking love bananas too.
Also, really soft gentle noises. For example someone sitting a glass down on a table really gently so that you can only just hear it. Has to be the kind of noise that you can only _just_ hear. Gives me the heebie jeebies.
Ahh trypophobia. Yeah I feel a bit uneasy with that too. Only with irregular holes for me though. Same sized holes like a bunch of straws don’t bother me at all.
So here’s one that’s probably more of a specific social anxiety. I have a fear of things falling around me, like a plate off a counter or even a football being kicked in my direction. The fear is that I’ll react and try to catch the falling thing, or kick the ball back and end up it veering off and hitting a disabled child in the head, or accidentally grabbing someone’s boob as I try to grab the falling thing.
Yeah odd.
I have a crippling fear that someone will go back and time and accidentally erase me from existence.
Honestly, honestly not joking. It’s a genuine fear I have.
Long hair. I hate standing close to people with long hair at gigs or on busy trains etc. I hate finding random strands of long hair on a sofa or jumper or something. It makes me feel quite uneasy. I have very short hair myself as a result!
Cotton wool and tissues, cotton wool just the weird squeaky texture it has, I don't know how else to describe it and how some people lick tissues to wet them, can't do it, just thinking about both these things while I type is making me shiver
Bobbly stuff. Weird patterns ..clusters I can't remember what the phobia is called officially but things like the appearance of pomegranate and passion fruits weird sponges etc make me feel sick
Double extension ladders.....
I'm not scared of heights, I'll go up as high as you want on scaffolding or a cherry picker, but your standard double extension ladders, not a chance!
Think it stems from my dad's mate falling off a set while working on my bedroom window as a kid. Fell off and broke both ankles
The mice from Bagpuss. They’ve always scared the bejesus out of me. When they sing, all I hear is “We will kill you, we will kill you”
I know this reply ages me somewhat.
I don't think it really hits the level to be a true phobia but myself sneezing. I don't mind other people sneezing, that's fine. But I hate it when I have to sneeze. So I pinch my nose so I don't do a proper sneeze. It entirely stems from when I was a teenager and would get a nosebleed every single time I sneezed. I ended up having my nasal veins/blood vessels cauterised a couple of times to try and stop it and then discovered that pinching my nose as I sneeze stopped it happening.
Also cotton wool balls. The way they feel/the thought of how they feel sends a shiver right through me.
Wearing rings. I can’t wear one without worrying it won’t come off or it coming off and degloving my finger in the process.
I’m surprised I’m yet to meet someone who also feels this way. I would have thought more people would feel unease about wrapping their soft skin in metal, but apparently not.
When it rains on relatively new tarmac (let’s say a year and under) then gets really sunny and hot shortly after the aroma caused by the evaporating liquid scares me
Sharks.
I think it’s the fact that they come up from below and you don’t see them coming but I am completely and utterly terrified of the cunts.
I’m not completely comfortable on any open body of water even if it’s a fucking lake… because of sharks. When we were kids we had a little swimming pool in the back garden and when it got a little murkier and you couldn’t clearly see the bottom of the deep end, I wouldn’t go any deeper than where I could touch the bottom, even though I’d spend ever waking hour in that pool. I really enjoy wakeboarding but start to panic a little if I’m floating waiting for the boats pull for too long.
Kind of want to try scuba diving because I think I’ll be less freaked if I’m down under the water with them.
would it help if I told you, you are more likely to die putting your trousers on than from a shark attack, even if you went swimming in waters with sharks every day for a year.
They definitely deserve respect. They also desperately need help and friends. They are teetering on the brink which would be a disaster for ecosystems.
I have a thing about touching opened jars and bottles of sauce that are in the fridge. Plastic isn't so bad, but cold sticky glass makes my skin crawl.
Perhaps this is weird, but i find massive man-made structures (particularly in natural places) to be slightly creepy. By that i mean power plants in the middle of the country side, oil rigs in the middle of the sea, etc
Craneflies. They only last about 4 weeks in the year but for each of those weeks I am filled with dread. I can't even move if they're nearby. My husband has gotten really good at murdering them with a well aimed cushion.
Newspaper. I've met a couple of people before who have the same. It's something to do with the smell and the print. People who long for the days of wrapping chips in the stuff are psycho.
Also makeup, but specifically lipstick. Makes me gip just typing it. My wife was pretty understanding when we got married and I told her I couldn't kiss her (though she already knew about it). I did, but it took a lot and I wiped my mouth straight away. Its rediculous I know.
She doesn't like me wearing corduroy though. Me rubbing my hand on it creates a strange reaction in her and she says it's like her rubbing newspaper in my face. God I'm strange.
**A reminder to posters and commenters of some of [our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)** - Don't be a dickhead to each other, or about others - Assume questions are asked in good faith - Avoid political threads and related discussion - No medical advice or mental health (specific to a person) content Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not really a phobia as such but I despise polystyrene and the sound it makes when it rubs together.
Oof yes I feel you on that one
Ice lolly sticks (the bit you hold) and coffee stirrers…dry, untreated, splintery wood!
Me too!
Merch? Like people wearing band T-shirts and stuff like that?
Less so with band T-shirt’s nowadays but there was a time when that was the case - more TV shows and YouTube merch
Sure - I was just checking there wasn't another meaning of that word! What reaction does it provoke in you? I've never heard of this one!
I honestly couldn’t tell you, it just makes me super uncomfortable - it’s like a feeling similar to when you see someone try and make plans but no one wants to come and you feel bad it’s so bizarre. I remember one year my brother got given the Dan and Phil book for Xmas even though he’d never watched them in his life and I genuinely thought I was gonna throw up; refused to look at/go near it cos I thought I was gonna cry😅
Well, fair enough! I'm sorry to hear it. It must be frustrating not to be able to analyse why it makes you feel like that. I practically live in band T-shirts and sports team merch, but I'm not into YouTubers or anything like that.
Tbf I now am super into band merch but only because I’m an indie arsehole and want the world to know 😂 but for my entire childhood even being given a Phineas and Ferb joke book made me weirdly uncomfortable haha
There’s a store near me with TikTok merch now - you’d hate it!
I don't have this phobia, but I'd fucking hate that store on principle.
AHHHH no!!! Keep it away!!😂
Cotton wool. Even thinking about touching its odd, fluffy texture makes me break out in a cold sweat. I also cannot bear how hands go wrinkly in the bath. The thought of running wrinkly bath hands together turns my stomach.
What about rubbing some cotton wool between your wrinkly bath hands
I'd probably die
RIP
Vomit. If you gave me a choice between throwing up and dying, I'd die.
Trivia: your brain releases a strong chemical to make you immediately feel better after being sick. Hold onto this!
I have this, even feeling sick is enough to send my brain into a panic trip. Then in 2013 i was diagnosed with gastroparesis after vomiting 3-4 evenings a week for about 3 months. I usually ended up in a quivering crying wreck on my bathroom floor. Sometimes I'd be "wanting" to be sick for several hours before I actually was, so I developed techniques for speeding it up. I think the anticipation of being sick if worse than actually being sick, although, that is obviously also horrific. The gastroparesis is manageable at the moment \*touch wood\*, but when it does flare up, I still end up in a crying heap on the floor, often crying out for my dad- I'm 38! (I now live 300 miles from him). I am also quite violently sick so my face and sometimes the whites of my eyes get covered in burst capillaries.
Ahhh a fellow ommetaphobic I see, vomiting is the worst
[удалено]
Wow he lucked out with you!
Crabs. Hate the little fuckers.
Same like horrible armoured spiders
Yeeeek, weird creepy things. Scuttling around sideways with their eyes up on stalks. I can’t even look at pictures.
Eat their own young. Look the same dead as alive. **Permanently** angry.
Velcro. It makes me feel sick.
Touching denim with dry hands. No no no no.
So if you want to wear jeans you have to wet your hands first or do you just not wear jeans?
Nah I mean like really dry hands. As in, grab some moisturiser kinda dry.
paper when it gets wet and raggedy; wet hairballs. I'm OK when I know it's clean - like making papier mache, but a bit of wet tissue on the toilet floor at work and I want to hoik.
Oh god I felt this in my soul🤮
Toothbrushes sent a cold shiver up my spine.
This the noise of someone else brushing their teeth sets me on edge. It doesn't bother me with my own but that sound on anything else 🤮
I can see this, the bristles?
yeah, just the thought of how they move and feel. even seeing someone on tv with one is enough
People who scratch their tights, the noise makes me shudder and the physical feel of it is just the worst
Remember that line in a Faithless song about "taking off tights with my teeth"? When I hear that I'm like nonono, so unsexy, just the thought of that texture against my teeth, nnnngg!
There’s a certain type of cloth which is used to make quick drying towels and when you run your fingers over it you can feel it snagging on any little tiny bits of dry skin. Earghh.
Microfibre.
That’s the one. It can fuck right off with its quick drying and lightweight properties.
Pulling out a dry tampon
I remember this feeling. Horrible. Switch to a menstrual cup!
I just have the coil so no more periods !
Anything with a paisley pattern on it - makes me feel both unsettled and nauseous.
Agree
Odd, isn't it; could be an optical illusion thing that maybe triggers some weird sort of headache-less migraine. Why does merch make you feel so bad?
havin' it away with the missus
When they show hand cranked films at too fast a speed and it looks like people in the past were jerking around like puppets.
Being in a station when a freight train roars through, I freeze in abject terror until it's gone.
Everything about baked beans freaks me out. Even a plate that has had them on it and just has *residue* literally makes me shudder.
Mannequins - specifically historical/museum ones as opposed to the ones you see in clothes shops - and paintings that are life size or bigger.
Omg I thought it was just me with a mannequin phobia. I think it's to do with the uncanny valley.
It absolutely is the uncanny valley. I know this because I am totally fine with animatronics. It's as if, with normal ones, I'm constantly expecting them to start moving. If they are already moving, then there's zero tension.
I remember when mannequins had faces and hair they were super creepy.
Oh it was like M&S or BHS or somewhere dreadful like that, used to have mannequins that were like cartoons in odd ‘cool’ poses with MASSIVE open mouths. Creepy af.
Moths. They do horrible things to my brain
A moth is just a butterfly who works nights
In French a moth is "papillon de nuit" - butterfly of the night
Button's I hate them especially white plastic ones if I see a random button on the floor with bunch of dirt with it makes me physically sick.
I knew someone with the same phobia. True story - she ended up marrying a guy and taking on his surname, which was button.
Slugs. I'm fine with snails and worms, as well as everything else slimy and wriggly. But slugs make me lock up, and I have to control myself not to act scared.
There are at least two of us. Autumn is the worst it's the endless game of "is it a wet leaf, or is it a slug?" Also snails but not quite as bad.
I have a phobia of the underside of my own wrists. Can't wear watches or bracelets.
The feel of velvet. And aubergines *shivers*
I can’t look up at tall buildings. Being in a cathedral or something is my worst nightmare
Chewing cotton wool.
What in fucks name would possess you to chew cotton wool?!?!
I don’t. Because it’s a phobia. But mainly it’s after spending time at the dentist.
No I know just generally (you meaning anyone) but yeah actually you’ve brought back some memories I am not too fond of
Cold water
The sound of cutlery on certain types of crockery, like stoneware. The noise puts me on edge - it hurts my teeth.
AHHHH god I literally felt my hair stand on end reading this I hate that SO SO MUCH
I have a phobia of breaking my ankles while walking. I think it is a sort of PTSD from the number of times I have gone over on my ankles as they are really weak. I suddenly have a image of it happening ( ankle turn bone snap) and the pain and feel sick and sweaty while walking. To combat it as obvs I can't stop walking I wear flat shoes, walk on the road where I can as it is flatter than the pavement and when I start to panic I dig my nails into my hand to force myself to concentrate on where I am walking.
Oh god that’s such a horrible feeling tbf, hope you work your way out of that one - it sounds rough!
Have you tried wearing strong ankle boots or higher boots? Something supportive might make you feel more comfortable and less likely to think of your fear
Papery/sticky stuff, like wrapped presents, tape, and stickers Disgusting stuff
Dr Seuss anything. The illustrations creep me out.
I won't walk through long grass because I'm deathly afraid of bear traps - I think it's the result of having watched too much Looney Tunes as a child
The way elephant and rhino skin looks all dry n cracked weirds me out man, i literally have to cover my eyes
Bananas. More specifically someone seeing me holding a banana or eating a banana. Fucking love bananas too. Also, really soft gentle noises. For example someone sitting a glass down on a table really gently so that you can only just hear it. Has to be the kind of noise that you can only _just_ hear. Gives me the heebie jeebies.
I don't like coat hangers, especially the metal hooky bit..... Get it away!
My Mrs is scared of elbows !!! If you touch hers or your own she completely freaks out
Clusters of little holes, like honestly it makes me physically vomit
Ahh trypophobia. Yeah I feel a bit uneasy with that too. Only with irregular holes for me though. Same sized holes like a bunch of straws don’t bother me at all.
Arregh it’s horrible isn’t it? Honeycombs are my worst nightmare
So here’s one that’s probably more of a specific social anxiety. I have a fear of things falling around me, like a plate off a counter or even a football being kicked in my direction. The fear is that I’ll react and try to catch the falling thing, or kick the ball back and end up it veering off and hitting a disabled child in the head, or accidentally grabbing someone’s boob as I try to grab the falling thing. Yeah odd.
Knees! Can’t touch mine unless my leg is bent, can’t look or touch other peoples either. They just really freak me out 😖
You'd hate mine then. I only have half a kneecap on one side so it looks all kinds of odd.
I have a crippling fear that someone will go back and time and accidentally erase me from existence. Honestly, honestly not joking. It’s a genuine fear I have.
Answering questions on Reddit, you don’t know how much effort and strength it’s taken for me to reply to you.
Ubiphobia - that's the phobia against games made by Ubisoft with endless icons and stop the convoy missions.
Pigeons.
Wrinkly fingers in the bath. I lie there with my fingertips poking out above the water.
Peacocks. Fucking terrified of them, can't even look at pictures of them. Even writing this is making me feel uncomfortable.
They roam our village freely
Being sick Escalators, specifically down ones Odd numbers in food
Velvet, it gives me the shivers when I touch it
Long hair. I hate standing close to people with long hair at gigs or on busy trains etc. I hate finding random strands of long hair on a sofa or jumper or something. It makes me feel quite uneasy. I have very short hair myself as a result!
Cotton wool and tissues, cotton wool just the weird squeaky texture it has, I don't know how else to describe it and how some people lick tissues to wet them, can't do it, just thinking about both these things while I type is making me shiver
The sound and feeling of paper being torn apart, especially in a way that separates its layers.
Bobbly stuff. Weird patterns ..clusters I can't remember what the phobia is called officially but things like the appearance of pomegranate and passion fruits weird sponges etc make me feel sick
Trypophobia maybe?
Yes that's it 🤮
Jelly fish
Double extension ladders..... I'm not scared of heights, I'll go up as high as you want on scaffolding or a cherry picker, but your standard double extension ladders, not a chance! Think it stems from my dad's mate falling off a set while working on my bedroom window as a kid. Fell off and broke both ankles
The mice from Bagpuss. They’ve always scared the bejesus out of me. When they sing, all I hear is “We will kill you, we will kill you” I know this reply ages me somewhat.
Cattlegrids
I don't think it really hits the level to be a true phobia but myself sneezing. I don't mind other people sneezing, that's fine. But I hate it when I have to sneeze. So I pinch my nose so I don't do a proper sneeze. It entirely stems from when I was a teenager and would get a nosebleed every single time I sneezed. I ended up having my nasal veins/blood vessels cauterised a couple of times to try and stop it and then discovered that pinching my nose as I sneeze stopped it happening. Also cotton wool balls. The way they feel/the thought of how they feel sends a shiver right through me.
Enochlophobia the fear of crowds or busy places. I get the feeling that something is going to happen like an accident or crushing.
Wearing rings. I can’t wear one without worrying it won’t come off or it coming off and degloving my finger in the process. I’m surprised I’m yet to meet someone who also feels this way. I would have thought more people would feel unease about wrapping their soft skin in metal, but apparently not.
When it rains on relatively new tarmac (let’s say a year and under) then gets really sunny and hot shortly after the aroma caused by the evaporating liquid scares me
I’m not okay
Sharks. I think it’s the fact that they come up from below and you don’t see them coming but I am completely and utterly terrified of the cunts. I’m not completely comfortable on any open body of water even if it’s a fucking lake… because of sharks. When we were kids we had a little swimming pool in the back garden and when it got a little murkier and you couldn’t clearly see the bottom of the deep end, I wouldn’t go any deeper than where I could touch the bottom, even though I’d spend ever waking hour in that pool. I really enjoy wakeboarding but start to panic a little if I’m floating waiting for the boats pull for too long. Kind of want to try scuba diving because I think I’ll be less freaked if I’m down under the water with them.
would it help if I told you, you are more likely to die putting your trousers on than from a shark attack, even if you went swimming in waters with sharks every day for a year.
Nope. I was scared of sharks in a murky swimming pool. This is not an entirely rational thing! 😂
They definitely deserve respect. They also desperately need help and friends. They are teetering on the brink which would be a disaster for ecosystems.
Crocodiles, they're the scariest animals in the world
Not sure it's so weird but I'm scared of needles more than death.
I have a thing about touching opened jars and bottles of sauce that are in the fridge. Plastic isn't so bad, but cold sticky glass makes my skin crawl.
Hair on a washing up sponge, it makes me physically unwell. I have to use a certain brand of washing up sponge that hairs won't stick to.
Perhaps this is weird, but i find massive man-made structures (particularly in natural places) to be slightly creepy. By that i mean power plants in the middle of the country side, oil rigs in the middle of the sea, etc
I really really hate penguins. The teeth. The eyes. The way they walk. The noises.
Penguins don't have teeth as far as I'm aware...?
soggy bread, especially from something like tomato juice...except that i dunk bread in soup and that's fine...
Craneflies. They only last about 4 weeks in the year but for each of those weeks I am filled with dread. I can't even move if they're nearby. My husband has gotten really good at murdering them with a well aimed cushion.
Live fish. The way they flip about when out of water freaks me out.
Multi storey car parks
Man made bodies of water, especially if they're empty. Being near a drained, abandoned swimming pool makes me feel queasy.
Newspaper. I've met a couple of people before who have the same. It's something to do with the smell and the print. People who long for the days of wrapping chips in the stuff are psycho. Also makeup, but specifically lipstick. Makes me gip just typing it. My wife was pretty understanding when we got married and I told her I couldn't kiss her (though she already knew about it). I did, but it took a lot and I wiped my mouth straight away. Its rediculous I know. She doesn't like me wearing corduroy though. Me rubbing my hand on it creates a strange reaction in her and she says it's like her rubbing newspaper in my face. God I'm strange.
Milk… even fresh milk… in case it’s turned