Phobias and Fears anyone?

I just wanted to know if any of you guys developed phobias or fears they NEVER had before until anxiety came in to your life and hit you like a ton of bricks.  For instance,  I have a gigantic fear of spiders now when I was never ever afraid of them before.  I use to make fun of my younger brother and uncle because they are afraid of them and I picked up a spider,  would throw it on them and laugh when they screamed like little girls and ran..lol.  I know it may seem mean but,  I was younger and thought it was funny.

=D

Anyway,  after I developed my anxiety disorder,  BAM:  suddenly this overwhelming fear of spiders.  The fear is so bad I throw myself in to panic attacks because I always think a Black Widow,  Brown Recluse or a Hobo has bitten me.  How about you all?

[mieny]

I am not fond of any crawling, flying, or hopping, critter.  I have allergic reactions to bug bites.  I think when you have anxiety issues you become overly sensitive to a variety of things. You should work thru this fear.  What if you did actually get bitten.  What would you do?  Make a list and follow thru the steps.  The more you prepare yourself against the bite the less threatening it will feel.      

[AyaShumori]

Ah,  I know.  But,  it's so much easier said than done.  It is a very hard thing to do.  I mean,  I do my best,  steel myself against such things but,  I always seem to fail.

=(

[MrGreen]

It is a common thing to develop newer fears. You may begin with just panic attacks. The whole thing been that you might have one greater fear at the start. That will trigger off your attacks. But over time that fear can leave you and something else can take its place. I have been down that road. So much so that panic doesn't even bother me at all these days. Yet panic was were it all began. Fear of leaving the house. Today I am an emetaphobic. Fear of throwing up. But over the years I have had many fears come and go. I always say it is bit like if you break a finger. You will feel the pain. But if you break your leg soon after the pain from the finger you won't feel. The leg break will carry the greatest pain. Blocking the smaller pain out. We all have that one big fear. Yes. It can change as time goes by. It does change. If we latch onto something new, that becomes our newer fear and we forget about the older fear.

[AyaShumori]

What you say sure makes a lot of sense MrGreen.  I appreciate the responses I've gotten so far.  It is always nice to hear other opinions or what they are going through as well.  

=)

I am hoping soon that I will be able to get rid of all of the fears and the anxiety as well.  It would be wonderful,  after 10 years to live a normal life again.

[MrGreen]

Well with the right kind of help it can be done. It may take time. So be patient. Just do your best. Nobody can ask for better than that. Good therapist to show you how to deal with your fears once they occur. Maybe some medication just to get you back on your feet. One thing to keep in mind. I say this a lot. The mood, the thought, the reaction and the symptoms are all linked as one. They have a knock on effect on the other. So is good to try and keep track of them. See a pattern. Then see can you make slight changes to the thought or the reaction. Small little exercise to attempt. But one that may give you a good understanding of how anxiety works.

[AyaShumori]

Mmm-hmm.  I agree with you.  The darndest thing though is I wind up bringing the anxiety on myself.  Like,  with this numbness and tingling in my face,  arms and legs.  I start to freak and swear I'm having a stroke.  It's just so disheartening.  I'd love to have a normal,  peaceful,  non-panicked day.

[SkeletonsRFun]

Hey there. Well I found out that Im deathly afraid of worms now....IDK why....But I am. Id like to be able to go to bed at 10pm like normal people that never happens. So I just try to deal with this the best way I can. I know youll be ok :-) we will all be ok. I just doesnt feel like it sometimes.

[AyaShumori]

Indeed.  It sure does take a lot out of you.  Living in fear each day and swearing something is seriously wrong.  I'm on my stroke and spider bite kick right now.

=(