2 Sure Fire Ways To Deal With Phobias
April 3, 2008 by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Anyone who knows me well (and even several people who don’t know me so well) know that I suffer from severe arachnophobia. (Well, I don’t really suffer, per se, until I’m faced with one of those eight-legged bastards. As long as the area I’m in is free of spiders, I’m pretty much free of suffering.)
I also have a phobia of:
- Toilets. Specifically, toilet tanks. (Once, a few years ago, I flushed my toilet by pouring buckets of water into the toilet bowl because the little plastic doo-dad – inside the tank – that is connected to the handle – outside the tank – became broken. I did this for three days – until someone could come by, open the tank, and fix the problem for me.) However, I’m not opposed to being scared of toilets that are not, for whatever reason, connected to the floor; old-fashioned toilets with the tanks high above; and overflowing toilets. Actually, old-fashioned toilets and overflowing toilets send me screaming – literally. Sweet Jesus, just typing this and looking at all those pictures has me a bit dizzy.
- Large plumbing/water system parts. Specifically, large pipes. Like this, this, and ESPECIALLY THIS. Of course, if I ever saw this in person, I would die.
- And, to wrap up this trifecta of really bizarre phobias, I also get the willies around large pieces of equipment/machinery, such as this, this, and definitely this. However, those willies would turn into flat-out panic if I were to run into any of these kinds of things alone.
So, why am I disclosing such embarrassing information? (I mean, honestly, do you know anyone else who’s afraid of toilets for Pete’s sake?! No, really, do you? Maybe we could form a support group.)
Well, initially it was because I was going to comment on poor Memphis basketball guard Derrick Rose and his public freak out last week when he was confronted with a needle to stitch up his gaping hole above his right eye. I was going to, you know, be all supportive and offer advice on how to handle phobias.
However, after hashing through my own phobias while trying to determine what some good pieces of advice for dealing with phobias would actually be, I came to only two conclusions:
- Stay away from the subject of your phobia.
- In the event you’re unavoidably confronted with the subject of your phobia, get the hell out of Dodge.
It seems as if Rose already has that down pat.
So, do you have any suggestions on how to deal with phobias? I’m all ears eyes!
Can’t say I can help you with your phobias, but I too am petrified of plumbing, including toilets, drains, and *shudder* water towers. Spiders, too, but I figure that’s just good sense. I’m so happy to know I’m not alone!
Ah! I can’t believe it. Never before have I met another person afraid of these things (aside from the spiders, haha). Pleased to meet you Emily, and thank you for sharing, AND for making me feel not so alone!
P.S. Yes, water towers tend to creep me out, too.
And in my quest to find others last night, I discovered http://www.unusualphobias.com/Toiletspage.html. There are SO many people who share the toilet thing. And “new to you” toilets bother them, too. I might still be odd, but I’m not the only one.
OMG, I’ve lived with a phobia of toilets my whole life! I hate all the old toilets, gas station toilets, and ESPECIALLY…automatic toilets!!! This really sucks cuz they’re EVERYWHERE now. Glad to see I’m not alone with this!
@ CayCay – Oooh, yeah, those automatic ones make me nervous, especially the really loud ones. I’ve gotten in the habit of looking to make sure if it’s automatic or not so I can prepare accordingly, lol. Thanks for stopping by!
wow, I never thought I’d find someone else who’s terrified of TOILET TANKS… I can’t even look into them. Right now, both my toilets are running water…jiggling the handle no longer works, and I feel powerless. I know it’s irrational, but it’s parazlyzing! I have someone coming today to look at my toilets but I can’t even be in the same room when the tanks are opened! thanks for having the courage to out yourself of such a potentially embarrassing phobia. there are more like you!
@ db – I hope someone shows up to fix your toilets soon
I feel your pain, hahaha!
I too have a severe phobia of water pipes, all plumbing especially old fashioned boilers and basements with exposed overhead pipes. I too could never take the lid off the toilet tank and look inside. It totally freaks me out. New toilets and new showers to me take me a long time to use. I could never ever ever use a shower with exposed pipes, that is the worst. Pipes in walk in coolers like restaurants have scare me as well, like the cooler water pipes that go to the fan. I have never heard of anyone else having these phobias and have been made fun of my entire life about it. I am now 42 and this is the first time I”ve known of this in others. Diane
This is so funny (or not). My phobia is only of overflowing toilets (although looking in the tank, and TOUCHING anything in the tank definitely grosses me out and gives me the heebie jeebies). I think it stems from when I was a kid and my parents weren’t home and the toilet started to overflow and I had NO IDEA how to stop it. It kept running and spilling all over the floor and I absolutely flipped out. Now, if it looks like the toilet is going to overflow I totally am paralized and break into a cold sweat! Is there a name for this phobia?
I have a phobia of toilets too – in fact most plumbing. All the above sound terrifying. I hate overflowing toilets the most. I’m from England and we don’t really have automatic flush but they terrify me whenever I go on holiday to Florida. Which is a shame because it really ruins the holiday for me. Anyone got any hints on how to avoid them??
@ Diane, Bonnie, & Christine – You three are definitely not alone, haha.
And to Christine – I don’t know how to avoid them, I’m sorry
Unless you can some how maneuver yourself so that the sensor (usually on the wall behind the toilet) doesn’t pick up on your presence. Most of the automatic flush toilets I’ve encountered also have a manual flush (it’s usually a tiny button on the metal part of the toilet), and that’s what I use when the sensor doesn’t detect me.
Thanks! I’ve tried this – some are really sensitive and seem to detect you as soon as you go through the door, others are better and don’t actually flush until you leave the toilet. On the last holiday I braved one in Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios and it flushed whilst I was using it – you can imagine the shock!!
Is it true the disabled access toilets don’t use automatic flush for obvious reasons??
Thanks for your advice………feels like such an odd phobia!!
OMG! I have always feard old fashioned toilets, open pipes, old boilers, water tanks and funnels on ships! I thought i was just being irrational! But i am so glad, it is an actual thing to be afraid of, this is great, thankyou =), does anybody know why these things are feared or what this fear is called?
That is specifically what I am afraid of too, especially open pipes, especially when on the back of a toilet. I always tell people I am afraid of pipe toilets and they say: “What do you mean, pipe toilets?” and I tell them the pipe that is typically on the a man’s urinal, that is what I’m afraid of. It’s crazy because I barely use them unless I am desperate and even then, I hover and pee all over on the floor if I hear a nearby toilet flushing or ANY noises behind the wall. I am often hesitant to use a bathroom if no one else is in them near me. I know it is an irrational fear, but most phobias are. I can’t say what the pipe or toilet might do to me, but I’m terrifed of them. I NEVER use an automatic flushing toilet no matter what, I just can’t. They have “industrial toilets” everywhere now and automatic toilets. I’m okay in town because I know all the places that don’t have “pipe toilets” but when I’m traveling or unfamiliar with bathrooms, I get so anxious and my husband gets so frustrated with me!!!!! I’ve had this fear as long as I can remember. I am now 29 yrs. old. I am also afraid of overflowing toilets, and ship funnels, how funny you feel that way too. We did have a pull chain toilet growing up and I did toilet train in that bathroom. When you flushed it, it sounded like a raging river. For a while I stopped flushing it because it scared me soooo bad, but my dad, strict disciplarian that he was would make me flush it, so I would and would run out of the room. So very bizarre!!! I hate it though. Thank you for sharing, I wonder why we have these fears? It’s not that I’m afraid of using a public bathroom because of germs, it’s purely having to do with the toilet.!!!!
I feel a million times better reading what all of you have posted. I was just made fun of for the millions time for my fear of industrial…things…large piping, large fans, large vents, factories, etc. I also share the fear of the inside of the toilet tank. I’m also affraid of cameras…but only security cameras. Just today I walked into an elevator and my husband said, hey theres a camera in here, and I turned around and I was face to face with one of those cameras in the black dome…you know what I’m talking about. I had a panic attack and ran out of the elevator. What I am wondering is…if so many of us are affraid of the same things…how are these things linked? Alicia and I are both scared of large pipes, and industrial machinery and toilets…whats the deal? Do these phobias just go hand in hand? Everyone who is close to me wants me to “face my fears” but I would rather get punched in the face than get near any of this stuff.
Wow – stumbled across this thread.
I have strong fear of plumbing too. It’s only in the last couple of years (I’m 42) that I’ve managed to do things like lift the cistern lid and put in a new toilet block (before I couldn’t even be in the same room).
Water tanks – ARGH. They really terrify me. And pipes. Even the sounds they make.
So nice to realise I’m not too weird and this happens to other people too! Thank you!