# Fears/Phobias



## PeaLea (Sep 16, 2009)

So guys n gals, What phobias or fears do we all have? and how do we manage them? Since developing ibs i have a very strange fear of bread or anything chip/potato related







now this is where it gets strange...Bread.. i cannot stand to eat it during the day the whole puttin it in my mouth to chew and swollow i cannot seemto swallow without thinking im guna be sick, Now after dinner or during the evening bread doesnt bother me i can eat it quite happily!







chips/potato, i can eat chipshop chips..home made mash or oven baked chips same with the bread the thought of swallowing makes me wana be sick. yet i can eat a beef hot pot with potato slices in it fine. Ive taken to forcing bread on my self during the day to see if the fear goes away and always have water at bay to keep me calm. as for the potato i do similar i force my self hoping that the irrational fear of being sick will go away. it doesnt happen with anything else its NEVER happened before, and it kinda freaks me out! i feel such a weirdo! its like my friend who saidhe had a fear of plasticbags, and i thought that was weird! ive never suffered with any fears or phobias inmy whole 22 years on this planet uptil now.. anyone else in a similar boat..or have a strange fear or phobia? how do you deal with it? medical help, or self determination like my self. i want to tackle it my self, could do with some tips or advice, i dont have the money to see a hypnotist or anything like thatim jobless! and i feel much better if i do things my self, its a big boost!


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## Jeffrey Roberts (Apr 15, 1987)

I actually have a lot of phobias.







For one, I'm lactose intolerant so I'm quite paranoid about foods containing milk products. About 10 years ago I actually got up the nerve to try a piece of pizza with some lactaid tablets. I survived and had with very little discomfort!I think it's great that you are recognizing your fears and trying to overcome them. If you keep avoiding what you are afraid of, the fear tends to become bigger than what you are avoiding and it makes it that much harder to ever overcome the fear.I think it's pretty natural and normal for everyone to have a fear of something at some point. With IBS, we sometimes become fearful of different foods because we associate symptoms with a particular food. However, it's likely the act of eating in itself that is causing the symptoms because of the exaggerated sensitivity in our guts. If you are fearful of several foods, try dealing with them one at a time. Try and stick with it.Jeff


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## Harleystreet (Jan 9, 2010)

there are lots of phobias in the world







I am afraid of death.


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## TareBear (Jan 9, 2010)

I'm afraid of deep water, suffocation, vomiting... I used to be afraid of needles but I can cope with them now (without freaking out). There are a lot of things that make me cringe.


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## Yukie (Feb 13, 2009)

I'm afraid of death, faiting, being sick and heatwave. And i'm afraid of panick attacks, which causes me to have one.


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## 049 (Jul 14, 2010)

Hey everyone.I am a philosopher and have been for a number of years and have come to terms with my eventual death... I am not really afraid of that. However, I think when I started thinking these deep thoughts, I jumped off the deep end because I still fear the stupid little things that make up life!I could be having the best day of my life, but if I then find myself in a place or situation where I cannot use the washroom if needed, I immidiately have to go! Like, finding myself coming home from a great date only to hit a traffic jam - trouble! And when I finally get to a washroom, I usually don't have to go! It's a terrible thing to live in fear and I am finding fear more and more in my life. Like Yukie, I think myself into panic attacks. I've tried breathing techniques and other methods to deal with this but nothing is helping. What do you guys do?Oh, and I am afraid of hippos... and bugs with more than 6 legs. ewww... :S


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## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

I would agree with the post before. I basically have a phobia now about going out anywhere that I don't know, in case I need to go to the toilet urgently. I also really don't like crowds of people now either, so tend to avoid situations like that as well. These kind of situations get me really stressed out now and make the ibs worse becaues I get so panicky, but before the ibs I was an extrovert person who didn't care about going anywhere and I never once thought about the toilet. Amazing what having IBS can do to your head.


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## thePIXEL (Nov 10, 2010)

I have a phobia of seeing a LOT break lights in front of me... traffic and traffic jams are the worst. I avoid motorways, I hate how you can't get off them easily and some stretches are really long before a Junction or service station. I try to avoid the rush hours at all cost. It was made worse since I had the barium follow through. An hour journey home with the doctors saying 'you'll be fine the drink won't do anything to you' such lies... I was really really unwell for the whole journey. Luckily I got to the loo in the nick of time each time, but the motorway was so slowly flowing.Also, the same as ClaireUK. I used to be an outdoorsy person, I was going to join the Army. Now venturing in places without a loo is a NO NO.


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