Arachnophobia. The fear of spiders. It’s one of the most common fears in the world, and well, it’s not just about tarantulas that can actually cause you serious harm. No, it’s about all eight-legged critters that can suddenly appear in your line of sight.

Some say it’s irrational, but I say it makes perfect sense. They’re creepy crawlies that can get anywhere on your body and look absolutely horrendous. But deep down, yes, it’s a little irrational. However, some people on r/AskReddit have shared irrational fears that turned out to be real and came true when they least expected them. So, if you want to feel vindicated, keep on reading.

#1

I had a serious phobia of driving on the highway, I hate being around other cars at high speeds. I would go on the highway but avoid it at all costs, although I had started to get a little better about it.

A few months ago I decided to suck it up and visit some friends across the state, about four hours away. The entire trip went really well and I was relaxed while driving on the highway for the first time.

About 20 minutes away from my destination some guy tried to merge into my lane without looking and sideswiped me. My car lost control and swerved into the other side of the highway, into oncoming traffic. Then an 18 wheeler took out the back half of my car. My phobia has since been back full force.

#2

Being watched through my windows at night. It was a panic-attack-inducing paranoia for years. About a month or so ago, it happened. I was sitting at my computer when I noticed movement outside my window through a crack in my curtains (which I always keep an eye on). I froze, waiting to see if the guy moved, which is what made me realize it was real, and when he did shift, I turned my head and looked him straight in the eyes, then he ran. It wasn't anyone I knew, he was a total stranger, but I will never forget his face.

#3

Choking while eating alone. No one was home one day while I was eating a peanut butter and jam sandwich and I choked while I was reading the paper. No fun. After I finally got the food out, I was still slightly panicked and I hurried to sip some Powerade and aspirated it. Took me 30 minutes to calm down and breathe normal again.

Some of these fears are quite specific, like the fear of moths or cheese graters. But these fears, and even phobias, are more common than we might think. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that roughly 12.5% of adults in the United States experience a specific phobia at some point in their lives.

In fact, specific phobias are among the most common anxiety disorders worldwide. They can include animal phobias, such as zoophobia (fear of animals in general) or more specific fears, like fear of dogs. There are also situational phobias, like the fear of driving on highways, as well as social anxiety-related fears.

#4

I've always feared boats. Not the water, I love the water, but boats just feel off to me.

So cut to me, 13, in a boat in the bay (presque isle,for reference). Everything was going fine until suddenly we see dark clouds off on the horizon. We decide to head back to our marina, but just our luck, we run out of fuel half way there (fuel gauge was off).

So now we are stuck in the water, nobody would pick us up ("storm is too close" said the towing company), and this absolutely black wall of clouds is coming toward us. We drop anchor and hope for the best.

The storm is the worst one my area has seen in decades, 5 foot waves in a 25 foot deep bay. Driving rain, no visibility, the whole 9 yards. When the storm ends 20 minutes later, we are less than 200 feet from a rocky industrial dockyard. The towing company had called the coast guard, and we were towed to safety.

To this day, I don't go on boats unless I know we have enough fuel to get back to a dock.

TD;DR: Ran out of fuel in a boat, huge storm, almost sank.

#5

Not me but my mom. She has always hated ants with a passion. Well one summer, she and I were about to leave for Disney World, and she and my dad were getting the suitcases out of the attic. They are nested, and we only needed one, so she opened them up while still holding them. Thousands of huge ants started pouring out, all over her arms, and she flipped out and chucked the suitcases out of the shed with superhuman strength. The ants continued evacuating, carrying their larvae and flowing out of the suitcases. My dad ended up emptying 3 cans of Raid on them and the suitcases were thrown away, while my poor mom took a shower and had a minor panic attack.

Disney World was awesome though:D.

#6

I've always been paranoid I'd catch some weird disease that might unalive me. Last month I got diagnosed with some rare Eye cancer that hardly anyone knows about, and it's fatal if not treated properly. Be careful what you wish for...

The good news is I have an awesome group of Doctors and we caught it in time, I'm expected to make a full recovery.

#7

I had a fear of driving. It was getting close to being a phobia, but I got past that, telling myself I won't get into a car crash, and got my license last summer.

And then in September, I knocked off the sideview mirror of my car, and then a few days later, I was in a parking lot and accidentally hit the gas instead of the breaks and ended up driving up onto a ledge separating two parking lots, caving in the trunk. And then the next week (while I was in my mom's car) I fell asleep while driving in the far right lane and crashed into the center median of the highway (I was having severe insomnia from severe anxiety problems). I caused $5000 dollars worth of damage between the two cars, so maybe I was right to be afraid of driving. Or afraid of me driving, at least.

Curiously, some of these fears are considered irrational because they often involve things unlikely to harm us directly. Psychologist Martin Seligman explains that humans rarely develop phobias of modern hazards like cars or electrical outlets, yet we can easily develop fears of heights, water, and even enclosed spaces.

According to this theory, our brains are predisposed to fear threats that could have harmed our prehistoric ancestors, rather than necessarily focusing on modern dangers. So things like dark caves, sudden drops, and rustling bushes can be enough to scare our brains, even when there's no real threat.

#8

I've always had a fear that electronic devices I'm using will randomly catch fire. Nothing big that keeps me from using them, just always in the back of my mind.

So then a few months ago, I turn on my computer, and smoke just starts pouring out of it. And not just a little bit of smoke either - I mean "OMG ITS A FIRE" smoke.

Turns out the fan controller I'd installed over a month previously had decided to just catch fire. It wasn't overtaxed or anything (it was designed for five fans, I had three connected, all running at 60%). Just decided bursting in to flames would be awesome right then and there.

Running joke now, with me building a new system that's planned for a ton of fans and several fan controllers, is that I need to install a fire extinguisher in it, just so I always have one handy.

#9

ALWAYS paranoid the house was going to burn down, no matter how close a fire station is to where I live. It sometimes took my parents hours to convince me to go to sleep when I was little. Still flips me out now, but nothing like it use to be.

Tonight (this morning, whatever), I had just been asleep for less than an hour and woke up to my dad talking and figured he was on the phone (he gets a lot of calls in the middle of the night lately about my grandfather falling). Then I hear someone else talking, thought it was weird that he'd have speaker phone on in the middle of the night. Then I hear my mom talking. What?

For some reason I look in the front yard. THREE fire engines with lights flashing! Quickest I've gotten out of bed at three in the morning.

Someone had called 911 saying there was a fire in our backyard. Twice. They had already been here once 15 minutes before and I somehow slept through it. They checked all around our house and apparently deemed it safe.

I can't get back to sleep now. Fear back with a vengeance. I wonder what in the world the neighbors saw....

#10

From as early as I remember I was afraid my mom would lose her life in a car accident. Everytime she was late coming home or picking me up I would start crying thinking she had got in a car crash. The summer before 7th grade she was late coming home from a summer youth mission with her church. I had just got back from camp and didn't realize how late she was. Next thin I know the pastor is there telling us one of the church vehicles crashed and she was gone. Worst day of my life.

#11

I don't like moths I think they are butterfly abominations and scary to boot. While camping in the trail of tears state park my brother handed me an electric lantern, when I turned it on I was swarmed by moths and thought I was going to suffocate on their evil little bodies.

#12

Tornados. I have nightmares about them at least once a week, when it's going to be potential tornado weather, I just stay home. I mean even a 10 percent chance. All my life my parents have thrown statistics at me about how little of a chance I have from being injured my a tornado. Sure enough, while on the fourth floor of a glass building the sirens go off and a tornado forms outside the window. I was in my college math class, the teacher looks up, and simply says "go". I wasn't injured, but I just narrowly made it to the basement of my school library in the midst of complete chaos. Flying trees, screams, the works. Also I called my mom while running to the library and my phone ran out of battery mid conversation. You can imagine how that went when all she could hear was screams and "TORNADO" then... Click. For the next four hours I was stuck in a school basement with a silent phone. 42 voicemails.

TL;DR just... Tornados.

#13

That anyone involved with me, relationship or friendship, is just playing a prank on me and really wants nothing to do with me. Tends to happen after getting pranked by one of the mean girls in high school.

#14

I've always had an irrational fear of both underground parking garages (I've watched too many slasher movies) and homeless people (I was raised in the suburbs). Anyways when I went to university I moved into an apartment in the city and I didn't have a car so I thought I wouldn't have to go in the parking garage. However, the night after I moved in I discovered that the garbage disposal was in the parking garage. The next night I reluctantly ventured down the stairs into the underground parking garage, but I didn't know where the garbage disposal was so I just started opening random doors. I eventually came to a rusted door in the very back of the parking garage and when I opened it I found a homeless guy lying in a sleeping bag. I let out a shriek, and then he screamed and threw a beer bottle at me. I took off running and didn't stop until I was back in my apartment huddled under my bedsheets frantically trying to reach the Strata manager.

TL;DR Found a scary homeless guy living in my underground parking garage.

#15

When my aunt was a kid, she was really scared of moths and butterflies. One day, as she saw one approaching her, she screamed and it flew into her mouth.

#16

I used to be terrified of getting stung by a bee, I'd made it to 22 without getting stung. After moving in to a new apartment I soon discovered that a bee or two would make it into my apartment through the lighting fixture in my closet. No big deal, I would just swat them (not afraid of bees themselves, just being stung) So one day I see a bee flying around and whack it with my shoe, but I didn't see where it fell. I figured I must've hit it behind my desk or something.

Then, I feel it. A little tickle a little to the left of my lower spine. I knew what it was immediately. I quickly tried to take off my shirt, hoping that it was crawling on it instead of me, but it only served to push the bee against me and sting me. I SCREAMED like I had never screamed before and immediately went into a panic attack. Now, having never been stung by a bee I couldn't tell if I couldn't breathe because of the panic attack, athsma, or anaphylactic shock so I called 911.

The paramedics came in to find me shaking and in tears, but assured me that I was not allergic to bees. We had a good laugh about my freaking out and calling 911 as they removed the stinger and told me that they were glad that it didn't end up being a serious situation after all and assured me that the laugh was worth the trip over

TL;DR- Was afraid of getting a bee sting, got stung, got scared called 911, had a good laugh with the paramedics.

#17

Alright, so for some reason I am terrified of iguanas. Like I know they are slow moving, non-violent creatures I could easily outrun and/or overpower, but I can't think around them. I stop breathing, I can't move.

So I go on this kayaking trip in Puerto Rico run by 12 year old kids, who tell us to watch out for the iguanas and wild life. We're traveling through the mangroves, it's dark, and iguanas start literally falling out of the trees into the water. I start hyperventilating and yelling at my kayak partner, and an iguana falls into the boat in front of us. Almost flips the boat into who knows what's beneath the water. Worst boat trip ever.

#18

I always feared that when I'm at the gas station the automatic shutoff wouldn't go off and gasoline go spraying everywhere in true slapstick fashion. Then it did happen. The gas kinda just dribbled down the side of my car. I told the guy working there and he just nodded, grabbed a jug of water and dumped it down the side of my car and on the ground. Then he tipped his hat and walked off.

#19

I have always been terrified of aneurysms, which have a very low possibility of happening to some one. My mother had one, she survived with minimal damage but increased my fear ten fold.

#20

I used to be scared of earthworms. I thought they'd attack me or whatever, I don't even know. But one time, I was outside with my best friend (obviously not best friends anymore) and she put some down my shirt. I was crying for hours, and now I have a serious phobia of worms. I can't even go outside when it's raining, and will sometimes cry if I see them. I know, it's completely ridiculous.

#21

I used to have an irrational fear of something biting my feet when I swam in the ocean, and my dad (who grew up on the coast) would always tell me it was nbd and just don't think about it. Well one family vacation, as I dog-paddled around in the waves, some sea creature (possibly a crab) pinched/bit my big toe so hard it bled. Also, the next day I got stung by a jellyfish in literally shin-deep water. Stupid ocean.

#22

I have weak capillaries on my face - it's not a medical condition, just a harmless beauty defect. Not long ago, I got food intoxication, puked and retched very hard. At one moment, writhing on the floor over a bowl, I thought that the capillaries on my face would break from effort but I dismissed the idea as absurd.

When I felt better, I fell asleep and woke up after a couple of hours. I went to the bathroom, looked at the mirror and saw I had some kind of a strange rash. I took a closer look - it wasn't a rash. I had tiny petechiae all over my face.

tl;dr - I puked so hard my capillaries exploded.

#23

It's kind of an opposite situation for me. Something happened that has given me an irrational (or maybe now it's rational) fear.
In the fifth grade, on Halloween, I wore my costume to school. My costume included a large pole (was I fairy? An exotic dancer? I couldn't tell you) that I would have to carry up the stairs to my classroom. As I was walking up the stairs, I tripped over the pole and landed teeth-first. Yep, teeth... first. My two front teeth pierced my bottom lip, leaving a nice scar, as well as chipped and forever-fractured teeth.
Now, there are these odd looking lines that cross through my front teeth, and they have really sharp, jagged edges.
I remember walking into my classroom with blood running down my chin and neck, and one girl shouting "Look at Rigabear's costume! It looks so real, gross!" and me shouting "IT IS REAL WWAAAAARGLBARLGAAHHH HELP."
Today, I tuck my top lip over my front teeth when walking up stairs and I do it with extreme caution.

TL;DR: Be careful on stairs, you could fall teeth-first.

#24

I have this irrational fear of walking down the street at night and someone grabbing me and doing horrible things to me in the alleys I pass. Where I live it gets extremely lonely at night and I live in a city where there are a lot of alleys (Chicago) so every single time I pass an alley I kind of sprint a bit then slow down when I get to a building and see people inside, of course this is only at night....

#25

I ride motorcycles. I'm allergic to bees, like pretty allergic. Will Smith in Hitch when he had the allergic reaction. That was like me.

I've always been afraid that one day i'd get stung by a bee while riding. I always wear full gear as well.

Well one day i'm in the twisties and i'm going 70 and I get stung in the sternum. My entire upper body locked up for a few seconds.

I drove to the hospital as fast as I could. I nearly crashed into the side of the mountain multiple times and I was going 100-110 to get to the hospital in the streets.

#26

Terrified of floods and drowning, even though we're landlocked. My family and I go to Costa Rica to see friends and everyone persuades me to go on a ziplining trip. Half way through we stop to dip our feet in the stream. Standing on a rock in the middle a fair ways from the bank, and there's an actual flash flood. I had to be pulled to safety by a rope made from our climbing harnesses.
never leaving the house.

#27

In college years back, I lived in a basement apartmenrt that had a major problem with house centipedes. You should google that if youre not sure what it is.
I slept on a matress in my bedroom, nice and close to the floor. I was always petrified going to sleep because I would imagine the centipedes crawling on me. One night, in that beautiful, half-sleep, but still kinda conscious stage, I felt something crawl across my face.
Coulda been a dream, but I woke fully up right away, and in one swift movement grabbed at my face, threw a handful of something onto the bed, and reached over to flip on the lightswitch.

Yup, 2 house centipedes were crawling on my face, then I ripped them off, and saw them in all their leggy glory frittering on my white bedsheets.

#28

I've always had a fear of things living inside of me. Then one day, in 7th grade I believe, I was reading my book for an assignment. Peacefully laying on the floor of my room with my book when suddenly, I feel the need to fart. So I do what everyone else does, tries to fart. Nope. After realizing what happened, I waddle to the bathroom and try to figure out what to do with my panties after cleaning up. All cleaned up, looked down and to my horror, there were hundreds of little squirming worms. Struck with fear, I kick the panties away and run down the stairs bawling my head off and screaming, "There's worms inside me!"

I've had this happen to me about 3 times now. I've had hookworm twice and tape worm once. I'm not too sure about how my intestines are doing, but I'm sure it hates me.

Still have panic attacks whenever I see worms. Spring is going to suck so hard.

TL;DR: Worms apparently love me.

#29

I spent months being terrified that I was developing some sort of illness or cancer, despite all the symptoms that I had being easily attributed to stress or just being 17 in general (losing weight, feeling down all the time, disturbed sleep pattern, fatigue etc.) I started taking anxiety medicine. I eventually went to the doctor after I was no longer able to deal with running for even short distances, (after my parents spent ages convincing me that the worst it could have been was and underactive thyroid.) He sent me to a chest x-ray, and I suddenly get diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

#30

Not me, but a guy I know...

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly. He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye. He waited his whole life to take that flight. And as the plane crashed, well, he lost his life.

Not. Ironic. At. All.

#31

Spider in the shoe. Throughout my childhood id have to religiously shake out my shoes before putting them on incase a spider had taken to hiding in there. At about 16 I realised this was ridiculous. Few years ago I put my bare feet in my shoes just to quickly take out the rubbish...BIGGEST, HAIRIEST SPIDER YOU HAVE EVER SEEN.

#32

Breaking my knee and getting stung by a stingray. I used to think it would be the knee breaking would be the most painful experience ever... it really didn't hurt as bad as I thought. Getting stung by a stingray hurt way more than breaking my knee. LFMF: Drag your feet.

#33

I always have a fear of me have a cheese grater cutting through my nail while grating cheese. One day, I was peeling a carrot with a veggie peeler when I let the peeler slip and feel a sharp sting. It turns out I stabbed the side of the peeler into the middle of my nail(only by a few miliimeters, but it HURT), which makes my nail constantly bleed for about fifteen minutes.

#34

Bridges and overpasses. Higher ones are worse. I've always kind of held my breath and kept a white-knuckled grip on something until the car made it over. Every time. Oh God, even the thought of an overpass over another overpass gives me shivers.

Then the bridge collapse in Minnesota happened. OMG. I wasn't directly involved, but that just completely validated my fear of bridges and overpasses - obviously, it can happen. This has not helped my state of mind while traveling.

#35

I am petrified of thunderstorms. It all started when I was a little kid, maybe 4, and I saw lightning strike the tree in our backyard during a bad storm. Ever since then, I have been horrified of storms...I mean even the threat of bad weather and I refuse to go anywhere. 15 years later, I witnessed lightning strike a tree in my grandparent's backyard. Even though this fear is totally irrational and I know the chances of getting hit by lightning are slim to none, I can't help but flip out when I see black clouds forming or hear a weather alert.

#36

Getting my fingernail ripped clean off. Good thing it has only happened to me TWO TIMES.:|.

#37

There were some people I was (and am) terrified will come after me eventually, though they mostly passed away and/or got very long prison sentences when I was a teenager. So I kept telling myself it was irrational to be afraid of them. The one I was most afraid of had gone, or so I thought, but then it turned out someone with that name maybe searched for me on Facebook, and some other people were released from prison early. So I deleted my Facebook and Myspace accounts. None of them have tried to contact me though, so maybe it was irrational.

#38

I'm so scared of wasps. Typically I can avoid them, and I do so sometimes by running and screaming like a little girl. One day about a year ago, I go to start getting my car fixed. We get it driven to the place to get a new battery in it alright. I go to get back in to drive it to the service place, and I see movement in between the doorway. I panic, because I just knew. I ran, telling my family. They laughed, told me I was being ridiculous. They poked around the door a bit to try and find the wasps I saw. Little old grandma finally gets in the car to drive it since I've made it clear I'm not going near the car again, and low and behold! Wasp nest in my car. Right next to the drivers side.

#39

I'm scared to be burned alive. When I was 8 my brother threw me face first into a fire.

#40

I never got my ears pierced as a kid/teen. My sister did like 5 holes in each of her ears & her belly button with a sewing needle, and never had any major issues. I was certain my ears would get massively infected. When my daughter turned 3, as a "going to preschool" gift we let her get hers done. I kept them clean and they were ok. I figured if she could do it, I could do it so I gave it a whirl. Of course, mine became massively infected (I suspect metal allergy). At one point I pressed the swollen area without an earring in and pus shot out of the hole and onto the bathroom mirror. It was awful.

#41

I'm scared of cockroaches. Even though they can't hurt me. One night I had an itch on my arm and when I went to scratch I got a handful of one. As soon as it squirmed in my hand I threw it across the room and ran out as fast as I could. Wouldn't go back into my bed because I thought that it would go back there.

#42

I have this fear that while I'm taking a shower and close my eyes to wash my face that when i open them the first thing i see will be someones face or something scary or just anything that wasn't there before.

Well the other day my BF comes over and we worked out then i wanted to shower since i was sweaty. I had music playing loud while i showered and sure enough i closed my eyes to wash my face and when opened them back up my BF's head is peaking in from the curtain starring me straight in the eyes smiling:/ i got scared pretty bad!

#43

I found a crab on a toilet seat. A legit pubic louse. It was a hippie event...but still that was supposed to be a myth.

#44

Huge fear of the dark.. I just feel like something is watching me or crawling towards me... ugh. Also fear of not being heard.. for example when you are scared and you can't scream, like in a nightmare.

So a few years ago I worked at a camp and I was going to the game shed, where we kept most of the equipment. It wasn't very big just about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide, but jam-packed with cones and hula hoops and the like, so pretty cramped. This shed was located at the edge of the camp and far away from most of the activities. So around six I was putting away a cone when the door caugth the wind and slammed shut behind me. the latch was on the outside of the door, but connected to a string which fed through a hole on the other side. I pulled and the string snapped. OMG.

For almost two hours I stood in that shed screaming and hitting the door as I watched the sun slowly go down though a gap in the door. Darkness. Bugs. Roaches. Rats. And the whole time I could hear people outside, but everyone just thought they were hearing a kid yelling for fun.
Finally some six year old let me out and, at that point I was an absolute wreck and bawled all over him and told him he was a hero. Oh, God. It was awful.
TL;DR: Absolute darkness where no one can hear you scream.

#45

I've had a fear of getting hit by a car while crossing the street. It happened a few years ago. No permanent damage but injured my knee for a while. Now any car that even might comes close to me gets full pedestrian road rage treatment. Had a few close calls since then and dented a few hoods.

#46

I am scared of watching other people vomit, which mainly means I don't attend parties where people are ridiculously drunk and I don't watch movies (because seriously, the ratio of vomiting in movies to vomiting in real life is ridiculously unrealistically high).

I do watch animated shows though. Like South Park. Animated puke isn't scary. So last week I'm watching South Park, blissfully mindless, when all of a sudden out of nowhere the whole thing goes live action and real-live dudes are PUKING OFF THE SIDES OF BOATS. OMG.

#47

Im really terrified of wire coat hangers. Whenever I pull a shirt off I feel like they are going to poke me in the eye. Low and behold, pulling my fav shirt, I saw it coming at my eye. Luckily I closed my eye in time, but its plastic hangers for me from now on.

#48

Whenever I drive under an overpass or small bridge in the woods, I'm afraid a deer is going to be up there and fall on my windshield as I'm passing under. Then the other day I saw a reddit post with 3 unalive deer on a highway that had jumped from and overpass.

#49

Back in high school I was convinced that I had to hide the fact I liked a certain girl in order to throw off one of my friends, or else he would try to woo her. I started hanging out with another girl instead, and the friend hooked up with her! A little later I ended up telling him that I actually liked the first girl. Within a month he hooked up with her. Sometimes it's bad to be right.

#50

That I would breathe in an insect through my nose. I could feel it crawling in my nasal passage. I sneezed it out pretty quick, though. I kept blowing my nose every 5 minutes for like 2 hours.

#51

I've always been afraid of bathrooms. They're creepy, trippy, places of lurking evil where something dark and animalistic is going to leap out and drag me down to the darkest depths of hell--the level reserved for mutineers and people who spread herpes. I haven't had anything jump out at me yet, but I don't plan on letting my guard down any time soon. These posts have proven to me that I am right to be so steadfast. I hate bathrooms.

#52

Ankle injuries. The thought of ankle injuries causes me to have a massive flinch. I can't even look at people wearing high heels because all I can think about is their ankles snapping.
Ended up watching a woman break her ankle while trying to walk downhill in San Francisco in high heels. Not. Good.

#53

While this isn't an irrational fear, I have a pretty over the top reaction. Spiders. Any spiders, on me, on the wall, close or far away I will flip my shirt. Once there was a hunsman (sorry if spelled incorrectly, don't want to google in case of spider pics!!) on the wall, I was reasonably calm and asked my mother to dispose of it.

She sprays it and it ends up on the floor, coming towards me at a speed it shouldn't. It ends up touching my foot and I get up, thrash around, get it off and run as far away as possible. I sat in a different room for like an hour, rocking in a ball and bawling my eyes out.

#54

Turning on electrical appliances scares me. I'm always afraid to get shocked. A few weeks ago I turned on my computer, got a shock (same intensity as doorknobs when you're static) and as a reflex I pull back my hand and topple a speaker. It remained on it's back for about a week.

#55

I have a terrible fear of needles and taking pills. I'm terrified that a pill will hurt me or make me lose control of myself. Recently I had to take antibiotics. The anxiety built as I tried to tell myself that it is just antibiotics and I'll be fine. Then I had an allergic reaction to them and my arms and legs went numb and had a seizure. Haven't been the same since.

#56

Flipping cars. Then for some mad reason, I got into human powered vehicle racing, like miniature car/trike things. I flipped it twice in one race, and ever since have been scared every single time I turn a corner in a car.

#57

Getting my teeth knocked out in some ridiculous, unexpected way... cut to my vacation in Vegas: wake up in the morning (hung over but sober), go out in the hallway to meet a friend, come back to my hotel room, run and jump into my hotel bed like a little girl, forget my laptop that's the same color as the bed is lying on it, hello snaggletooth for the rest of the vacation (broke a tooth, just one thank goodness, clear in half).

#58

I remember watching Kindergarten Cop at age 12 and being very uneasy with the line "it's not a tumor." 17 years later, it was a tumor.

#59

I have a completely irrational fear of calling an ambulance and not being understood. It's been in my nightmares for years. Cue one night in Germany, where my Taiwanese friend decided to drink along with us Europeans and I had to try calling an ambulance in very bad drunken German while he was passed out on the couch with Asian flush.

#60

I was always afraid to fly. Finally got the courage to get on a trip to Europe and the plane crashed in the middle of the Atlantic!

#61

I was always afraid to sleep in a sports bra because I felt like something might crawl on me in the night. Summer came along, and room was like a sauna so I decided "not a problem, sports bra it is" maybe five minutes after I got in bed a giant black spider crawled over my stomach. NEVER AGAIN.

#62

Stuff growing out of my skin and leaving holes behind. Then realized it was quite normal.

#63

In elementary school there was this kid named Ryan and I was TERRIFIED that the teacher would call on him and I would think she was calling on me. (My name is Maya.) Then one day it happened and it was just as bad as I had always imagined.

#64

I've always hated spiders and insects in general, and for a good while after my brother as a kid put a bunch of beetles in my bed right before I got in it as a prank, I was terrified of there being bugs in my bed... Well, as I grew up I sort of abandoned that fear, until one night about a year ago I completely randomly decided to lift my covers after I had already crawled in bed and check for bugs, truly not expecting anything. Right as I lifted them, lo and behold a spider starts dashing towards me. I got scared and started screaming and desperately clawed my way out of my bed and went and slept in the guest bedroom.

To this day I will frequently check under my covers before going to bed.

Also, two weeks ago I randomly checked the inside of my shoe for the first time in my life and there was a good sized beetle inside, and since I'm relatively certain I would have noticed any other time if there was a bug in my shoe (like after taking them off), I'm convinced it had to be purely and ridiculously coincidental... At least that's what I tell myself.

#65

I used to have an irrational fear of tornados. It was really bad. almost every night from when i was five to when i was just about ten i would ask my mom to reassure me that a tornado could not happen where we live( NE Pennsylvania). just as i was starting to get over this fear my family moved to Ohio just outside tornado ally(still lots of twisters though). The worst part is the day before we moved in a tornado destroyed a barn in half in the town next to ours. I couldn't sleep for days and for the next year and a half i begged to sleep in the basement.

#66

I've been arachnaphobic since sixth grade after a few traumatizing events with spiders. And suffering from minor OCD-style habits caused me to check under the covers of my bed exactly 16 times every night for spiders. Exactly 16, no more and no less. My mother was highly concerned by my irrational behavior regarding spiders.
One night I lost count right as I hit 16. I was almost positive I had checked the 16th time but I did just ONE MORE TIME to be sure. Sure enough, a spider came crawling out. Cue me flipping out, crying, hyperventilating, screaming, waking up my parents, and general chaos.

#67

I was so scared that my best friend thought I was annoying and might just start ignoring me out of the blue... Yeah, he hasn't texted me back in over a week.

#68

i made the mistake of watching "Arachnophobia" at a youngish age, already quite fearful of spiders. so it ended right around my bed time at that age, and i crawled into bed with images of the movie in my head. i kept picturing the tiny spiders crawling all over me in bed and coming out my nose, like in the movie. i keep picturing that i feel them in my hair. so eventually i start to go to sleep, ignoring the fear, when i felt it. across my face, like tiny, stiff blades of grass. i clawed at my face, and sprung out of bed, turned on the light. and amazingly, there it was on my pillow, a fat little brown spider. i squashed it with a tissue. i know spiders statistically are all over you throughout the year, but this particular night was too much of a bad coincidence.

#69

I'm afraid one day i will drop something important in public. I dropped my resume on a bus going to an interview. Luckily, i never found it, and didn't save it on Word.

#70

I don't have anything to contribute, I'm just upset that no one has said Alien Abduction. Which, now that I think about it, would probably be my most irrational fear.

#71

I'm terrified of roaches. I guess it's rational to think I might encounter them, but my fear is so strong that it's probably irrational. One day in class, I looked down to find one ON MY LEG, having apparently dropped down from the table I was sitting at. My other irrational fear - not wanting to cause a scene due to social anxiety - actually won out, and I didn't cause a disturbance in front of my classmates. I brushed it off and calmly told the person next to me about it.

#72

I was always scared that when I was walking behind someone who swings their arms a lot they would swing one back and get me right in the nuts. It's only happened to me twice so far.

#73

That all my "friends" hated me and only used me for rides.

A year later, I haven't spoken to any of them. A year ago, another one of them got their car. Go figure.

#74

Tidal waves, huge monstrous hundred footers. I have nightmares at least one every two weeks. I live in the heart of Los Angeles, where a tidal wave wouldn't likely reach me. Hence, irrational. Also the small crack between the elevator car and the ground gets me scared an I run out of elevators when I'm alone, though I can hold it together if there are people around.

#75

I am terrified and have had a phobia of The Bumble since I can remember. What is The Bumble? It's that purplish, abobimable snowman beast from that claymation movie, Rudoulph the Red Nose Reindeer. I cannot look at it in any form without panicking. My sister thinks it's funny, so for several back-to-back Christmases she has filled up a card with pictures and even bought a stuffed version which she purposely saved as my final present one Christmas.

#76

Bugs falling on my head while I'm taking a shower.

One was a cockroach, the other was a slug. I guess they were just chillin' on the ceiling waiting to strike.

My jimmies were most certainly rustled.

#77

A frog and I once caught gaze of each other at a distance. Without care or warning, it charged in my direction. That was all kinds of NOPE.

#78

Every time I laugh at something inappropriate, I have to mentally "take back" my thought and say I'm sorry to whoever or knock on wood so it won't happen to me. Whenever bad stuff happens in my life, I blame my past self for laughing at something inappropriate.

People’s Worst-Case Scenarios Came True, And Now We’re All A Little Worried (78 Stories)

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