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| No way am I going in there! Image courtesy of Robert Linder, rgbstock.com |
One day I wanted a new place to read, so I looked around my bedroom and decided that I would read under my bed instead of in it. I crawled under and opened my book. After a while, I realized I was hungry, so I closed the book and attempted to slide out from under the bed. I say attempted because I couldn't move. My hair, which at that time was down to the middle of my back, had gotten stuck in the bed's exposed springs. I was trapped!
I remember screaming for my dad, and it seemed like an eternity before he got to the room. He found me in a state of absolute panic. The space that had felt so cozy and secure was suddenly tight and menacing. I was crying hysterically, my breath coming in panicked gasps. The floor was too close to me; the carpet would surely smother me. I knew that I would die. Finally, though, my dad managed to untangle my hair from the springs and pull me from beneath the bed. I could breathe! I never went under that bed again—not even to rescue books or toys. I sent my younger sister in for those.
Ever since that moment, I've been afraid of small, confined spaces. I even have a hard time reading about people who are in those situations, and seeing them is even worse. It's as if I'm the one in the enclosed space. I panic; I can't breathe.
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a TV show in which a man was lying on his back and using his feet to push himself into a tiny cave. The ceiling was so close to him—mere inches away—and he couldn't turn over. I panicked. My breathing grew shallow; I felt like I was running out of oxygen. I was in that cave with him, and all I wanted was to get out. My heart is racing even as I type this...
It's only the wide-open spaces for me.
What about you? Do you have any phobias you just can't shake?
Think drowning is my only Phobia but it has never put me off swimming.You did remind me about a caveing experiace I had when I was a youngster, I had to go througha hole called maggots crawl, you litteraly put your arms out in front and wriggled along then had to turn round on your back to go round a bend to come out. Great fun though at the time I had my reservations.
ReplyDeleteJust reading about your cave experience panics me!
DeleteI have a rather pronounced fear of heights that I am currently looking to conquer :)
ReplyDeleteMight not want to check this blog out then a few of the photos I took from high up on a roof.
Deletehttp://forgottenfairmile.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-oval.html
I'm not crazy about heights either. Good luck!
DeleteBill, those are some great pics. I love the sense of history!
DeleteFor me, it's getting lost. My boss used to find it weird that I was scared of getting lost, especially when I'm driving. I need a map and good directions if someone needs me to go anywhere new. I'm not sure where that fear came from but I hope to get over it soon if I plan on moving to a different state. That would be a mess.
ReplyDeleteMy former sister-in-law had a similar fear, so every time she moved somewhere new, she made herself get in her car and drive all around until she was at least somewhat familiar with the area. Sometimes she brought someone with her, but often she went alone, figuring, I guess, that she had her cell phone if she ended up lost and needed someone to help her find her way back.
DeleteGood luck!
:) Great story...even if a little tragic. You made me giggle. I could just picture you as a little girl stuck under your bed, screaming. Love that dad came to the rescue.
ReplyDeleteI have a horrible fear of being "stuck". But for me, it could be a huge space, too. It doesn't have to be a small and confined to freak me out.
Haha! Thanks. I guess it does seem a little funny now, but I still get that panicky feeling whenever I think of being stuck there.
DeleteI think I understand what you mean by being stuck in a huge space. I used to live in Nebraska, and the prairies there go on forever. Sometimes I felt like I'd never make it to wherever I was going.
That sounds a rather frightening experience, no wonder it has stayed with you. My irrational fear is of spiders, I can literally freeze on the spot until someone can remove the horrible creature.
ReplyDeleteI had to be rescued by a neighbour one day, I called them and the 6' burly fireman called his dimunitive, heavily pregnant wife to deal with it who promptly climbed on a chair and removed the spider with her bare hands!! I'm shivering in disgust even now.
That story of yours creeps me out, too! Bare hands—yuck!
DeleteMy sister is also very afraid of spiders. She calls for her young kids to get rid of them for her.
I share your fear of tight spaces, and even worse something tight around my neck like a turtleneck shirt or even a sheet snugged up too close. I can absolutely relate to the sensation of panic! I don't deal well with heights either, especially where they involve edges of mountain roads and such... again, pure terror. I will always wonder what causes such fears, as I have nothing in my memories that instigated either situaton.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not alone. My husband thinks my fear is a little out there...
DeleteI can't wear turtlenecks either.
So scary! And isn't it amazing how those long ago experiences can really help to shape who we are years later?!
ReplyDeleteIt really is amazing. :)
DeleteI can completely understand your phobia. For me it's heights. I can;t even watch films where the camera pans across Manhattan (there are several opening sequences that do this) or watch other people up ladders.
ReplyDeleteI'm slowly learning to handle certain situations, but there are some I'll never be able to.
I can't climb ladders; I'm always worried that they're going to fall, bringing me down with them.
DeleteI don't think I'll ever get over my fear of being trapped. Good luck to us both. :)
oh my- I'd be claustrophobic too after such a scary experience...and you described it so well ! Phobias I have....I'm thinking ...tick tock....hmmm little sounds in the middle of night can wake me and then my imagination is off and running....sometimes I'd like to just turn off that imagination while in the dark.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that our imaginations always seem to work overtime at night or when we're all alone in the house? I've always wondered about that...
DeleteHave a great week!
I only have one phobia ---- Spiders!!!! I'm a wee bit better than I was even ten years ago, but still can't stand them and always jump (& sometimes scream) if I see one. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI can understand your reaction to that caver - I feel exactly the same thing when I watch them in documentaries and movies. I couldn't do it - no matter how much you paid me.
DeleteSpiders make me feel itchy. Yikes!
DeleteI agree: There's no dollar amount that could convince me to go into a cave. No way!
I'm with the spider people. Yikes! I don't like being in enclosed spaces much either. I just can't imagine going down in a submarine with a mile of water above me.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of being in a submarine scares me, too. I'm getting panicky just thinking about it!
DeletePoor you! That would definitely be traumatic. I had to laugh when I read about you sending your younger sister under the bed to retrieve lost items, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm terrified of snakes. I can't stand to see even a picture of one, or see a toy one. I close my eyes and cover my ears if there's one on TV. My first memory of seeing one was when I was four, and my dad called me outside to see what had "followed Daddy home from work". He likes them, and thought I would too. I've been terrified of them since then.
Second place is strangers invading my personal space, especially in dark parking lots. I was grabbed (got away with just some bruises and being scared to half to death) when I was a teenager, and it left me with a lasting dislike of dark parking lots and strangers crowding me.
What a scary story, Danielle! I'm glad everything turned out okay and you weren't badly hurt.
DeleteI know someone who is terrified of snakes. He does the same as you do: closes his eyes or quickly changes the channel when one is on TV.
My sister is the brave one in this family! ;)
I have a fear of heights, even though I flew in the Navy. I guess it's more the standing on an exposed steel girder 1,000 feet above the ground variety. Luckily, those kinds of situations don't crop up much.
ReplyDeleteLuckily! Yikes...
DeleteI would never go into that type of space either. I still don't even like elevators, although I can ride them without panicking.
ReplyDeleteI'm okay in elevators unless I get shoved into the back. Then I need to get out—fast.
DeleteI am with you on the small spaces, for real. If I get on an elevator and a bunch of people get on and I get smooshed to the back, I'm outta there! My mom had to go into a closed MRI machine years ago when she got cancer and she had to make them stop it a few minutes in. I even hate riding in the 3rd seat of my suv with the windows next to me and the ceiling and back door closing me in!
ReplyDeleteI also hate heights and snakes.
Oh, I agree about elevators. If I get shoved to the back, I need to get out—and fast. And I can't even imagine having to get an MRI. My dad is also claustrophobic and had to have one a few years ago. The doctors had to drug him up pretty well to get him in the machine!
DeleteI could see that would have caused panic Dana that has stayed with you til this day! Good thing your dad was close by! My biggest phobia is heights and airplanes, thus I don't think I'll ever get to see Europe :)
ReplyDeletebetty
I'm glad he was, too. :)
DeleteI'm not a fan of airplanes, but I've been on them many times. Unfortunately, the nervousness just doesn't seem to go away.
Happy Tuesday!
I do not like small confined spaces either...wonder if I repressed some bad experience?!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have. I wish I would have repressed mine. ;)
DeleteI'm not clausterphobic, but I wouldn't go into a space where you only have inches on each side. I watched this movie and it was so dumb, cause these 6-7 women go caving. Okay, not so bad. But when the whole group all decide it's okay to go/army crawl through a 2' crack in the rock (I say crack, cause I wouldn't really call it a hole), I'm like yeah. Highly unlikely they're all that dumb. Of course it was a horror movie, so they have to make stupid mistakes for the movie to work! :)
ReplyDeleteI would have had to stop watching at that point. There's no way I could see that without panicking.
DeleteAnd I agree: pretty dumb of them!
Oh my goodness, I do understand your terror! Mine comes with driving in the darkness combined with snow or ice. (Especially on the country roads.) If I know I have to drive to work in it, I have a long drawn out panic attack for hours before, never mind the drive itself.
ReplyDeleteI understand your fear, too. Dark roads are scary, and coupled with snow and ice, they can be terrifying. I don't even like driving at night in normal conditions because the headlights of other cars bother my eyes. I try to be the passenger once the sun goes down. :)
DeleteI learned I was claustrophobic when I had my first MRI. It was horrible! The tech said it was an eye trick and if I could just keep my eyes closed, I would be fine. But, I couldn't! Once I knew the coffin-like space I was in..that was it! I hope I never need another MRI. they have to give me Zanex to tolerate it. Creepy!
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine having to get an MRI! Keeping my eyes closed wouldn't work for me either. I'm scared just thinking about that tiny space...
Delete