Reader Stories

Hello folks I am a 39 year old married mother of six and caretaker for an ailing elderly father in law. My life is limited by several fears/phobias which I have tried several drastic measures to conquer yet still feel as though I am controlled by them. I have been happily married for 20 years and have six beautiful children and I fear that my anxiety and fears could be … [Read more...]

Hi. I'm a 19 year old girl. I've always been socially awkward with everyone. But mostly with men. Especially older men. Like if I'm walking down the street and I see a man in his 30s or older. I will for sure think about what they probably think of me, "he probably wants me" and I get super scared to only think about it. And I know that it's probably in my head. But I do … [Read more...]

Hi, I’m not really sure how to use this or anything and I would like my name to be anonymous. I am feeling very desperate and very tired so anything at all would help because I don’t know what to do. It’s been more than a year now since I’ve gone outside or seen another person, I have always had a problem with my weight and the way I look and right now I am overweight and … [Read more...]

Throughout my life I have seen men walk in and out of my life. I have seen how they screwed over and used my mom. Just trying to take every little thing she had no matter how hard she worked for it. For a couple of years I always tried to figure out why I was never able to last in relationships. I would meet a guy and they would like me and when it came to dating, I would … [Read more...]

I mostly get scared or afraid at the mention of the word "Earthquake". If it's happened anywhere, not in my region but anywhere I'm just scared and thinking about thousand different ways on how I can avoid these. It stresses me out. But every time it actually happens I just faint. There's me laying on the bed or doing work and sometimes screeches or a table is shaking … [Read more...]

I want to share this story because people in my life had been trying to convince me to get treatment for my phobia for fifteen years. I wanted to get better, but I just couldn't imagine how I could possibly be treated for my problem. In fact, I really couldn't imagine why everyone wasn't as terrified as I was. I have been phobic of snakes since I was four years old. Most … [Read more...]

I have a severe phobia of rodents (and bats a.k.a. ”rodents with wings”). I believe it stems from one very traumatic experience / encounter as a child, although I did also have family members terrified of them too, so likely there was some reciprocation of their behavior too. Right now, I’m currently going through an exhausting phobic episode. 6 days ago I had an … [Read more...]

How do I start? I’m asking myself. I feel like I only have me because I feel so alone in this scary, scary world - even though I have my incredibly caring children, grandkids, husband and selected friends around me. I have an immense fear of dying like how my mother died. I’m 49 years old and mum died when she was 52 of stomach cancer. All my life I have had intense fears … [Read more...]

This is difficult for me to say. There are some men whom I'm okay with talking to etc. I have not really had bad experiences with them. I have not been in a relationship. Online flirting is another story, and very short one. Mostly, some traumatic stories affected me greatly. I can get turned on and stuff but all in all, today my stomach twisted as this one person who I … [Read more...]

I don't know if I really have a phobia because I am terrified of people I'm not used to. It's really disturbing my daily life. Whenever I see someone, my mind will always wonder what are they thinking about me and I assume that it is negative comments about me. I get scared and nervous. Sometimes I'm shaking. That is one of the reasons why I got myself a mirror so I make … [Read more...]

Hello I am 41 years old now, and have been deathly afraid of the dark and what is in it since I can remember. I think I can recall back to age 54 or 5, being too scared to sleep at all. All throughout childhood I had to sleep in the light, or not at all, or buried under a ton of blankets, immobile and trying to breathe through a little hole between by baseboards because I … [Read more...]

To be honest I can barely even write down the words, but for as long as I remember I have been terrified and physically disgusted by bows. I think it started with them being on my vests and underwear when I was little, but I remember I used to rip and cut them out frantically, cutting the offending lace or fabric into little bits and hiding it at the bottom of my bin. … [Read more...]

Like a lot of people, I'm deathly afraid of spiders. I know, I know. It's an irrational fear. I do realize that. When people try and tell me that spiders don't pose a threat to me (or, you know, at least the ones where I live don't) I wholeheartedly agree. They're not dangerous to me. I just hate the little spawns of Satan and I always have. I have a personal theory that … [Read more...]

At first all the women in my life just said that I was sexiest and lashed out at me, I suppose that might have added to my fear. I started to notice it when I was in middle school but I've been told it had originated because of the emotional abuse my mother inflicted on me. I never really talked to anyone in my earlier years of schooling, especially not the girls. They … [Read more...]

Its been some time now. Ive slowly lost communication skills that build rapport and respect, and just holding my shit together internally has overall been wearing off. The kind and helpful smile is now forced on, and noticeable. Ive always been able to fake it, but it seems that I have allowed myself to ignore the problem causing me such discomfort instead of addressing it … [Read more...]