[Spirit100]

Do you have a phobia???

I have no problems with heights or tight places or the dark or any of the normal phobias but I do have one. I have what is called astraphobia. When it comes a storm I just about shut down. Even worse is when they give a severe storm warning in my area. On the night of March 2nd 2012 when we had the tornado outbreak was probably the worst and longest night of my life. If my wife was not right beside me that night I would probably have lost it. If I ever did see a tornado up close and it was coming right at me I would probably just scream like a little girl or pass out one. I don't know where this came from or how it started because I never had this problem when I was younger. At one time I thought phobias were just silly. Do you have a phobia and if so what is yours...........and be honest.:insane:

Storms used to scare the heck out of me when I was in elementary school. I witnessed a small tornado and was cut but a flying piece of glass which thankfully just hit my knee and was remedied by some mathiolate ( merthiolate ) an orange liquid topical antiseptic like hydrogen peroxide and a dozen stitches.

I tell you that to tell you this. I grew out of my fear of storms and hope you are able to do the same as the years pass. I am however, afraid of mathiolate. Every injury I ever sustained as a kid to teenager which involved bleeding was cleaned/sanitized with the stuff and the pain was excruciating . After losing my brakes after a storm, on my ten speed bike at the time, on a wooden walking bridge I had to place my hand and forearm down on the wood rail top of the bridge which was an older 2X8 wood cap, to be able to slow down from hitting a friend head on at full speed. He was able to stop on his dirt bike. Wet ten speed brakes weren't worth a darn back in the day…..needless to say over 3 hours and dozens of splinters pulled out of my arm, wrist and hand later ( my Mother literally performed surgery with a scalpel and tweezers ), I learned to become ambidextrous as a result. Had to learn to write, eat, and play some sports with my left hand. I was bandaged and in a sling for two weeks. It sucked and is something I will never forget.

The only upside was no injury ever got infected nicker:. I can tolerate just about everything: heights, insects, reptiles, tight spaces.

But if you showed my a container of mathiolate I would probably punch you in the jaw and dispose of that bottle as quickly as possible. I believe it has since been banned since it contained mercury which is just great news considering my lengthy experience with the stuff. nicker:

What helped me with my fear of storms was learning more about weather: cloud types, low pressure systems, etc. By learning more about them the fear factor dwindled as my knowledge grew. It's pretty much like that anyway with just about anything. Hope that helps ddg!

:Thumbs: