25 Strange Phobias That You Could Have 

Hello Mike, I have a few very common phobias, but the one that really baffled me, was the one involving underwater, man-made objects, such as propellers, underwater pilings, from old wooden docks, etc. Anyway, as a teen, I discovered this weird fear of mine, while out boating with my dad. I was too embarrassed to discuss it with anyone, until I came across it on RU-vid recently, and realized I share this phobia, with many others. It's called submechanophobia, and, just like you mentioned, fears are a very real thing, to those who actually experience them. Much success to you on your extremely interesting videos! Greetings from N. Kentucky!

You guys are back on List 25?? Best part of the channel.

I had a fear of Mike from List 25 not coming back on RU-vid but not anymore.

It's great to see you all back. Also I knew a person who had a severe phobia of any and all bugs. They would start panicking if a fly landed near them.

I’m not scared of hitting that like button

Love seeing you back Mike! Perfectionism misspelled lol 😆

I have and always have had trypophobia, it gives me chills to look at anything with a clutter of small holes like bread,sponges even froth on beer

I just discovered you Mike, and am now addicted!!! For quite some time I suffered from gyphyrophobia, a fear of bridges. I could easily drive over them, but couldn't walk across even the smallest.

Mike, I've missed you so much!!! I've been watching daily since you've been back. Life feels right again. For me, I found out I have trypophobia, a fear of clusters of holes. Ones found in nature specifically trigger me (wasp nests, honeycomb, that weird brown plant thing that looks like a wasp nest, etc.) but not things like bread or sponges. Triggers make me feel itchy all over and overall extremely uncomfortable. Even in my nightmares I'm wake up throwing myself across my bed to get away from it. My therapist helped me trace the source, and it's because of an article my mother showed me when I was a tween (thanks for the added lifelong trauma, mommy dearest)

As a kid I didn't fear the bath I usually feared the drain as it was dirty nasty down there. DrainOphobia

I have a really weird one not on this list. As long as I can remember I've been intensely uncomfortable with anything but a wall or significant empty space to my left side. There is "Sinistraphobia" but I think its more like "Levophobia" because while I am very strongly right handed I don't have any particular aversion to left handedness or left handed people.

Ablutophobia is also common with Autistic children and adults. The bathtub environment can be overwhelming, bright, shiny, cold, and sound is odd in a bathrub too. I am an adult with Autism, and I ahve a terrible time showering. It's debilitating, honestly. From fearing I'll be interupted by my cousin/roommate, to fearing running out of hot water, to feeling the spray on my skin is irritating for me, and it IS, I have to carefully select times to shower, and put it off as long as possible. It is crippling and I feel silly, but it's so hard to just go for it. I also have trouble eating, another sadly commont trait for people with Autism. I should not even be alive, I eat so little. It's very hard to explain too. Sometimes I am able to eat daily for weeks then I simply stop for weeks. I'll snack, or force myself to make a sandwich, and eat once a day only even when I am able to cook and feed myself. It IS a fear, but one I cannot point out and say "This is why." This is made worse by being Bulimic in my teens, and then overfed by my former husband, who wanted me to be too fat for anyone to try and take from him. So, food, not my friend, in my own mind at least.

I suffer from agoraphobia and social phobia., and aquaphobia. I've had therapy for all of them.

Happy to see you back Mike. All the best to you after post COVID. And happy to hear your soothing voice.

Welcome back Mike, missed you. So I am an adult and I’m still afraid of the dark. This is probably the most embarrassing one and the one I don’t admit to most people. Once I am in bed, and I know the lights are all turned off in the house, I’m OK as long as I’m not near the edge of the bed. I thought it was very interesting about the fear of not being able to leave somewhere. I have this feeling when I ride an elevator, especially by myself. I usually attributed it to claustrophobia, which I also have, and has gotten worse since I’ve gotten older. One last comment: what about all the people that come home and need something on like the TV radio etc. Are they actually uncomfortable with silence?

You know there is one phobia that wasn't mentioned that deserved a spot. And that one is this. Masklophobia: A specific phobia used to classify a general and in some cases an irrational fear of masks, people in costumed clothing and mascots which is common among toddlers and young children. The common cause for masklophobia is not known.

Thank you for this list. I have apiphobia (stinging insects) and another zoophobia. When people you know don't take your phobia seriously and decide to tease you about it or put you in situation of your phobia for fun, can seriously terrify you. Please do not do this. You may not understand it but this is real for some people. Ablutophobia can be caused by watching "Phsycho". I know people who refuse to use a shower after that.

Hey Mike the weight loss looks good on you buddy. Glad to see The List again.

Mike! So glad you're back! I missed the videos and your witty remarks and jokes.

My phobia: wet paper. Not sure what it’s called but it’s real. People ask me why... I tell them I can’t rationalize an irrational fear. Also, glad to see you back!

I am 74 and I have that showering phobia. It is of being wet. Cold or hot. I noticed it after moving up north from Arizona and Florida. Not sure why? I loved swimming and bathing until my move back to Indiana in 2005. Also thanks for the Nomophobia, I believe it is an addiction cause and wondered how long it would take to be recognized. Now I hope to catch the 25 list of what you been doing. 🎉 glad you are back. Missed your videos and your wit.

So great to have you back!!! So the only phobia I deal with (and it's got to be one of the most irrational) is mottephobia. Yep, I'm terrified of moths and butterflies. They make my skin crawl. And oh my gosh if one happens to touch me. GAH....

I have an extreme fear of electricity. I have such a hard time plugging things in or unplugging them or turning on or off the light switches. I hope that someday, I can get over my fear of electricity because it definitely holds me back in life. I sympathize with anyone who has a crippling phobia like me because it's really no way to live. I'm currently seeing a therapist about other things and I'm hoping that she can help me get over my fear.

I’m so pumped you’re back!! Going back and catching up now ❤️

So pumped you're back!

First off, welcome back Mike. Ok so when I was first watching horror movies at 17,I got into watching East Asian horror. This also included watching the American remake of the Ju-on or Grudge series. I definitely developed a fear of being in a shower, long hairs and mirrors. I've matured and gotten over them but I can definitely see how some people might have those fears.

Glad to see the return of the youtube list king!

I am so freaking happy that y’all are back on list 25!!!!!!!!!! One of my favorite channels.

❤ So happy to see you back!

Great to have you back Estrin. You're looking great.

I have the pickle phobia. My friend got really drunk and ate a bunch of whole pickles and threw one up in my sink. No one would take it out and Draino wouldn't desolve it. That was 40 years ago. I'm still freaked out if I get one impaled to my burger.

These are awesome !

I am so happy you guys are back!!

So happy to have you guys back! You were the first channel I subscribed to. RU-vid feels complete now. Keep up the good work and Rock On! ❤✌🤘😁

I have Epilepsy. I had a horrible seizure at my local grocery store. I was taken away in an ambulance. Without looking at my medical alert they thought I must be on something. I was tested for everything... even given a spinal tap. Now I have an intense fear of grogery stores. The one down the street I have not been in in 6 years.

am so happy yall are back this was my favorite channel

I'm glad you handled this topic with a reasonable degree of sensitivity to the respective sufferers, which may be more than is commonly done. In reality, the whole language and paradigm of phobia as a social phenomenon, needs to be redone. Thanks for not adding to the existing stigma.

so glad to see you back on here, was a nice surprise

Glad RU-vid suggested this post. As I haven’t watched a List 25 post for quite some time. I didn’t know You Mike were back at the channel. I look forward to seeing more of these posts in the future…… ⚛️☮️🌏

Glad you’re back- you look like the break did ya good :) seem refreshed or something- just happy you’re back :)

YAY! welcome back!!

Glad to see this channel back! I don't if anyone has heard of it but I have Trypophobia the fear of clusters or hole patterns. Not officially diagnosed but I Googled it and I have all the symptoms or most when I see a cluster of holes.

Great to have you back, Mike ❤️

Yay, you’re back!!!! I’ve missed you!

Waz up Mike man glad to see you again thanks for the video

Im so happy you are back Mike you are a phenomenal host your list are always amazing

Great video! I have sleep paralysis and also sleep walk. It is very disturbing. Thanks for bringing these phobias to people's attention ✌️

There's also Aibohphobia, which is ironically the fear of palindromes.

Glad your back missed you

Love your series bro, quite informative and interesting. I'm not a perfectionist in any sense of the word, but your editor misspelled 'perfectionism'. That's all, and do keep this series up!!

I had zoophobia as a child. I was afraid of dogs and cats. If you owned one I refused to step foot in your house unless you put it away in a certain room. Fast forward to me as an adult now. I’m the owner of Great Danes. I also want to pet every dog I see and rescue every stray cat. I think it’s safe to say I grew out of it.

Hey! It's great to see you again!

You're back!!!!!!

When I was a child, I had a fear of a stray hair. I would start gagging if I saw one. I finally overcame it tho.

Love watching List 25. I always learn something new. I myself am afraid of the ocean, open water. I've seen Jaws to many times.

The GOAT of List 25 is back in full effect

About time! LIST 25 in not the same without you.

Sidonglobophobia- Fear of cotton balls, especially the sound they make when squeezed or torn apart as well as how they feel. I actually know two people, my ex and my aunt, who have this phobia. I thought it was so weird that my (now ex) boyfriend was afraid of cotton balls, then years later I found out my aunt was afraid of them as well.

I’m a needlephobe, but more specific I fear the sensation of getting poked or stung. If I’m numbed somehow beforehand I don’t care. It’s amazing how many doctors and nurses don’t try to understand that :/

I was so happy to see omphalophobia on your list. I have been aware of my omphalophobia only since my late teens. I don't care about seeing them, but I am terrified of seeing people touching their own, touching other people's, touching mine, and I can't touch my own. When you pulled your shirt up I freaked out, just in case you touched yours on camera and had to listen rather than watch until you moved on. I have other phobias, but this is the only one I give into. As a result, my children all have deformed belly-buttons, because I couldn't take care of them properly when my babies were born. I disagree with your reasoning as to what we're afraid of. In my case, I'm not afraid of belly-buttons ravelling. It comes down to non-consensual penetration that I can't control, so more likely to do with trauma and PTSD. Two years ago, a student of mine found out about this phobia and rubbed his belly button on me in order to get what he wanted. I was clothed at the time, but my boss didn't care. He received three day suspension due to physical and sexual assault of a teacher.

Looking good MIKE!!!

I haven't seen your face in a while! Looking good!

I used to be needle-phobic, but once my endocrine system broke (I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), I had to have so much blood drawn as my endocrinologist figured out the number of micrograms of thyroid hormone to take, and then find one where the fillers used in a specific brand (there are so many brands and so many different fillers, including one that’s suspended in gel or oil or something) that would effectively interact with my thyroid. It took nearly a year and was a TFN!

Being scared of all animals would be sad 😕

I have a few phobias, but the one I get laughed at is driving. I’ve never had a license. I can operate a car, as long as there’s nobody else on the road, but if another car appears, I pull over until I disappear. I had an intense phobia of feathers and birds, later found out I’m allergic to feathers.

I used to be terrified of death and dying, i'm 51 and not frightened anymore. You laughing at the hippo one cracked me up lol

Our daughter has a terrible fear of the stomach virus. It puts her in a panic if she hears that someone close to her has had this problem or if she finds out she is in the presence of someone that has had any type of GI tract issue. She seriously goes into a panic and will be in a tailspin for three day, which is longer than the stomach bug usually lasts. She can't control it whatsoever. it's debilitating and I as her Dad, hate it for her!

I developed a new phobia later in life. I found myself in criminal legal trouble ad was arrested and taken into custody. Unfortunately I was also the victim of mistreatment while in custody. As a result I am now afraid of Law Enforcement Officers. Everytime I see a Squad Car or a Uniformed Officer I get a chill running down my spine. A real nice addition to my Claustrophobia.

Great vid man. I'm scared of big, heavy things dropping on my head. Well, not scared somuch as I try not to walk under anything heavy that might decide to impact my head.

Not even joking, when I was a kid, I had a friend whose little brother was deathly afraid of Dr. Claw from the Inspector Gadget cartoon. I found it absolutely ridiculous since we only ever saw Dr. Claw's arm, but this kid would run out of the room any time Dr. Claw spoke or his arm was shown on the TV. Fair enough he was like 5 or something, but still, it was weird.

your videos are very informative and entertaining. I started watching the 25 phobias segment knowing that I don't have any and at the end I had "em all... 😉. all kidding aside, I related to plutophobia (fear of money) and eisoptrophobia (fear of mirrors). when the Powerball lottery was nearing $2B I seriously thought about what I would do with what I considered a "disgusting amount of money" and despite the minute chances of winning, it actually caused me a little anxiety thinking about it. interestingly enough I worked in finance and accounting for most of my professional life so I am familiar with the effort and responsibility that comes with it which probably had a lot to do with the anxiety. I concluded that I would hire a reputable financial consultant and pay him or her to deal with it. But who? My phobia concerning mirrors is much easier to explain. when I look in the mirror it destroys my extremely positive self-image.

Finally able to take a day and catch up to your videos

You should make a video titled Mike is back! Try to draw in the old viewers who have made it a bad habit to glance right past the notifications since you guys left.

I missed this channel. It's good to hear I'm Mike from list 25 again

My mom was bitten by a rattlesnake as a child, back before antivenin was a thing. Luckily, it was just a glancing blow, but she was really sick and the experience left her with a severe snake phobia. Actually, salamanders, worms, my pet rat's tail, anything snakelike. But by her early 70s, she worked hard to overcome it and even once picked up a snake. (It was very cold and couldn't respond to her.) Sometimes I don't think she had a phobia, which is an irrational fear.I think she had PTSD from the experience of being bitten by a rattlesnake during an Era when there wasn't medical treatment available for such things.

I don't want to say what my phobia is, but I almost unalived myself multiple times this spring and summer over a phobia. When the phobia is really extreme it's completely disabling when you're exposed to the thing you're phobic of. Your life falls apart, it's just horrible.

I have somnophobia. It stems from a deep fear of having nightmares, caused by extreme PTSD, for me at least. I also have day-night reversal issues, which is a circadian rhythm disorder. I take two antidepressants and a large dose of melatonin to sleep. It is a struggle to convince myself to take said medication, because I know it leads to falling asleep. I have panic attacks knowing that it's time to sleep. I procrastinate until I'm exhausted and usually my "days" last more than 24 hours, which leads to a constantly rotating sleep schedule. Even after I take my meds, as I feel them start to work, I panic. I have to fall asleep with both light and noise around me, as a distraction.... like, listening to videos like this. XD Eventually, the meds just push me over the edge, and I wake up not even remembering how hard it was to go to sleep. I'm constantly tired, though. Like, 24 hours a day. I talk and move around in my sleep a lot. I just never rest well, and when I DO have bad nightmares, it's even worse. I don't think most people even understand how bad nightmares can be. Imagine being chased by something that you know is literally going to murder you, and you are supposed to be somewhere that you can't get, at the cost of severe punishment. So, not only are you running for your life, but you know that even if you survive, your life is OVER. Say, for example, you are in the military (a common theme in my nightmares, from my service in the Navy), and someone is chasing you to kill you, and you were supposed to check the watch bill as soon as you got on board your ship, and you could be missing a watch right now and you don't even know it, and you can't find your uniforms, and again, someone is trying to kill you, and you are running... and then you are trapped, and they are almost to you, and there's no way out, and you feel this for what feels like HOURS. You won't ever understand that terror until you've served...

I have emetophobia. Fear of vomit or vomiting... weird hey 😂😂

I have aquaphobia. Fear of pretty much all water, including showers and rain, for irrational reasons. But it's very difficult to live with

I suffer from ablutophobia. Mine stems from childhood abuse. I also have a fear of two fictional characters so I was surprised that was the fake phobia.

I have an insane fear of pipes. I cannot go in to crawl spaces, attics, even shopping centers that have exposed pipes or I will have a massive panic attack. I’ve never heard of anybody else having it and I don’t know exactly where it stems from but I know it developed when I lived in Germany.

even after i felt desensitized from horror movies and games. Ex. franchises RE, DS,SH(s), amnesia, etc. Subnautica made me realize i had thalasmaphobia. Not ocean persay, but the deep parts. Then there is iron lung.

I have automatonophobia: the fear of human-like figures, specifically pedophobia (the fear of dolls). My parents dropped me off at my aunt and uncle's for a night and I was forced to sleep in my cousins' room, with ALL 4 having porcelain dolls. I never felt SO anxious in my life: I was afraid the second I fell asleep, I was dead meat! I was SO GLAD when morning came!

Needles and Blood are my biggest phobias . Especially seeing my own blood. I get queezy and freak out just seeing blood in general. I also have a fear of heights. My mom has a fear of clowns which I'll never understand

I was hoping to see climacophobia mentioned. I always knew I had a terrible fear of ladders but didn't know it was a legit, diagnosable fear until a few years ago. It can also be a fear of stairs or really climbing anything but for me it's specifically ladders, although going up stairs without using a handrail is a terrifying prospect. I believe my fear to have developed when, as a toddler, I witnessed my mother fall off a ladder and break her arm. I have no memory of the incident but my family has told me about it. I have literally had to get help using a 2-step step stool before because of this fear. I will never be able to see the attic in my house first hand because I simply can't climb the ladder. I've had to forego amazing adventures like zip lining in the rainforests of Costa Rica because I couldn't climb the ladder to access the zip line.

Hey Mike, where’ve you been? Glad to see you’re back.

Mike! So great to see you!

Mike!!! My friend you are back the original host of list 25. Man when you left I stopped listening. The new host for a while was not all that great and was not even funny like you man I am so glad that you returned!!! I will keep subscribed. So I wanted to say 2 things here about phobias. Wow. Very amazing. So when i was a child I had a fear of cuckoo clocks. I thought the bird was going to come down and eat me or something and it made a weird unfamiliar sound. Not like anything I had heard before. I would scream bloody murder like someone was killing me when it was just the sound of the cuckoo clock. Well, now an adult I listen to cuckoo clocks all the time at night and remember my child hood. I got over that fear when I was in 4th grade. I just automatically got over it and was realizing over time that their was really nothing to bee afriad of. It was just a clock that made a very funny sound. Yea…. Those were the days… alright the thing I wanted to mention. So beeing a working pianist and born with pianos hahaha my family was and still are musicans. Yes. I was the one to take the piano because everyone was intimidated by its greatness. Yes. It is a big and beautiful instrument but it also is intimidating at that. Proud to bee one of its players. So I looked up to see if their was such a phobia of pianos and their actually is…. I laughed at this and I think that it was before ou returned to list 25. The phobia of pianos is “Plano phobia.” I probably didn’t spell that correctly. The fear of pianos. Why would someone bee afraid of pianos well, I really think that people are afraid because of past experiences of teachers and having to bee at an extremely demanding instrument. Very bad experiences and some people don’t mix. If someone has a very bad experience with learning an instrumnt they will become afraid of it. I never knew that that was such a thing but it is. Some people will never touch a piano again and maybe even listening to it because it will just bring up bad memories of when they were taking up lessons. I mean the piano is such an intimidating instrument already and then bring on top of that a really bad teacher??? I could see why maybe their would bee a phobia for this. But yes. The fear of pianos is called. “Plano phobia.” Their is actually some phobias of flutes as well and the flute actually is one of the most relaxing instruments in the world. But i wanted to bring that up. I have been actually researching this to see if their is actually such thing as beeing afraid of pianos or if their actually is a phobia. I looked it up on line to see what the name of it was. Also. Their is a phobia for cuckoo clocks as well. It is a really long word but it is the phobia of cuckoo clocks. As far as the piano goes though I never knew their was a phobia for this. I mean the piano is the lead instrumnt and it is played in everything. You really can’t get around not hearing a piano on a day to day basis. Beings that the piano is my work I don’t listen to it before i go to bed because I play the thing every day but hahahahahahaha that doesn’t mean that I am afraid of my work hahahahaha. Actually listening to a piano before I go to bed just keeps me awake and thinking about work. That is the connection that i have with listening to it. When I hear a piano before I go to bed I connect with that instantly my brain is wired like a true pianist. I can’t just relax and listen to a piano. It just makes me think of work so I try and listen to other things before bed hahaha. Sometimes I will just look up piano things on line and torture myself with work before bed but not often. Great reminder of what i have to do though for the next day it basically says “you have work tomorrow!” That is the reminder that comes up in my brain.

What kind of case is on your phone? That sound is beyond satisfying. Love the Z flip 3. Love watching RU-vid on it.

Agoraphobia is real but was incorrectly defined. It is NOT the fear of being trapped because trapped is exactly what an agoraphobia is. It is fear of crowds or wide-open spaces. Generally, it is the fear of leaving the house. My agoraphobia actually came in handy during the lockdown, because I was able to commiserate and help people who felt trapped by being stuck at home deal with their issues. I also didn't have to explain why I never went out anymore.

DAMN BRO YOU LOST HELLA WEIGHT What's your secret?

Out of these, I have multiple forms of zoophobia (particularly spiders, wasps, bees, hornets and crane flies, and then some others to a smaller degree), as well as thanatophobia and coulrophobia to some degree. I had all of these fears way more when I was younger. My family has some weird fears. There's common ones like my dad's fear of heights and my mom's fear of mice, but almost everyone in my family has more unconventional ones. My mom is afraid of toads, and I've seen situations that make me suspect my oldest sister has a bit of a fear of birds. My other sister has a phobia of fruits and cannot touch, let alone cut or eat fruit... which was a major problem when she was training to be a teacher for young children. As for mine? Time to embarrass myself. I have a massive fear of thunderstorms, and being outside during one will absolutely make me panic. I also have a big fear of dolls. Not only is there a room in my grandparents' house dedicated to my late grandmother's doll collection, my sister makes and sells small dolls of her own that I struggle to look at. My grandma's dolls are definitely far creepier though. This doll phobia also played a role in me getting a phobia I have of witches in some occasions, specifically of witch dolls and statues. It happened when my family convinced me to shake the hand of a witch doll in my grandparents' house, and its eyes lit up in red and the doll started cackling. That moment scared me so much that I'd have dreams on an almost daily basis with the witch in it, most commonly one of it chasing me through my grandpa's house. My grandpa had to move it out of the living room when I came over for many years, and part of me wishes he'd still do it because I genuinely still cannot look at it. After an incident where I cut a gash in my pinky, I have a bit of a fear of opening cans (the ones you have to pull on and the whole top comes off) as well, and physically cannot bring up enough strength while pulling one open anymore. I also have a pretty big fear of fires. Even candles make me a bit uncomfortable. And to start the two most embarrassing fears I have, I suffer from a probably relatively mild case of koumpounophobia, which Steve Jobs apparently also suffered from. Now what is that? It is a fear of, or in my case more so a really bad discomfort around, buttons on clothes. For me personally, it doesn't occur with every single type, but most types do trigger it for me. I have no idea what gave it to me because I've had it for as long as I can remember, but it seems to be associated with autism, which I do have. It fills me with feelings of disgust, like the article of clothing is dirty. I really never mention it to anyone due to how embarrassed I am by it, but my family does know, which is cool because they pick out clothes with that in mind. And then my other one. Take sensitive ears; I hate loud noises and dread them all the time. Add to that an aversion to being startled, things that catch me off guard because they were sudden and unexpected. Combine those two and you get a perfect thing for me to be infamously afraid of: church bells. I cannot stand them. As a kid I was unable to walk past a church without covering my ears and even to this day I find it hard to do, even if I know the bells won't ring. It's gotten better over the years but the uncomfortable feeling is still there. This fear also makes it so that church towers feel significantly more imposing and tall than other tall structures. Am I aware that most of these are very irrational? Absolutely. Do I feel embarrassed? Most definitely. Do I expect people will judge me for these? Yes. But I have them nonetheless. Feel free to ask any questions about any of these, because I know a few of them are rare. I've never met anyone else who suffered from the last two.

I suffer from agoraphobia. It sucks. Lots of PTSD and trauma brought it on. Currently in therapy to work on it.

I have anxiety and an insect phobia, especially flying insects. I never knew there was a name for it until now. I thought it was my anxiety. Thanks for this video. 😊

Omg its back!!!

I have a fear of bleachers....It is a real struggle to go up and down them, especially open bleachers 🙃

I have submechanophobia. Wikipedia: Submechanophobia is a fear of submerged human-made objects, either partially or entirely underwater. These objects could be shipwrecks, statues, animatronics as seen in theme parks, or old buildings, but also more mundane items such as buoys and miscellaneous debris. If I’m swimming in water, I absolutely cannot touch anything such as the underside of boats, buoy chains, ropes or anything unnatural. I can’t swim next to things like piers/metal structures and I’m also afraid of swimming next to the wave machines in swimming pools 🥲

“PERFECRIONISM.” 😂😂😂 Good one! Fear of death: I guess they don’t do aversion therapy for this one. 😂

I have a fear of large dogs, not dogs in general (except I avoid long-haired dogs due to allergies). I'm always afraid of them jumping on me, even just in friendship. I also get nervous about not being in water I can't stand in, over five feet, most likely because I have a hard time floating or treading water (I only float naturally on my stomach). I also used to think of myself as "people claustrophobic", that too many people in too small a space ratcheted up my anxiety, and I also hate being singled out, like a spotlight is on me, it makes me so anxious. I realize now that it's due to being introverted and socially anxious, but I DON'T hate people, I just prefer smaller crowds or have more space apart from them. The space of one person standing between us helps immensely.

I developed a fear of dogs after being attacked by 2 full grown German shepherds that were trained to be vicious and happened to get loose. I was 5 and helping my mom bring in groceries when they came out of the alley. My mom in a panic ran inside and closed the door leaving me outside between the front door and our screen door that couldn't close all the way. It was in the evening and have been terrified of dogs ever since.