There is no doubt I have a phobia of eighteen wheelers. Over the years, it has been a long term inner battle with me and these massive pieces of machinery that barrel themselves down the highway. Trust me, I don't need a psychologist to diagnose me. My husband will attest that I should probably take some Valium before going on long road trips.
I know exactly where this fear comes from, as I have simply had too many close calls. On many occasions, I have had to swerve on the express-way in order to not be swept away by one of these big rigs. I would say in most cases, the driver of the truck didn't even know I was there. It's a good thing I am on guard when they are in my vicinity because I am not sure I would be sitting here today if I weren't. News stories get my attention, too. The nightly local news (which I try not to watch anyway-everything tends to be negative) profiles things like, "a family of five killed by reckless driver of an eighteen wheeler". And then if they show pictures, well that just screws my thinking up even more.
If you are wondering about me as a driver, I would label myself as a very careful and conscientious driver. I am not one to speed, and like I said, I am fully aware of my surroundings. It's not just when I am a driver though. Even being a passenger I can feel my heart rate start to go up the moment we are on the highway. If I am between two large trucks, I feel a near panic attack come on. I have learned to distract myself if I am a passenger by doing things like surfing the Internet on my Blackberry, sleeping, etc.
This phobia doesn't totally run my life, but no doubt, it exists. Actually they exist for lots of people. One year on the way to Florida, as a distraction, I pulled up a list of phobias from the Internet and read them to the family. We had a lot of fun trying to guess what phobia went with the name. There are some crazy phobias out there. How about Euphobia?....... Fear of hearing good news. That one has to really stink!Or what about Cathisophobia?.... fear of sitting. What the heck! If I had that one, I wouldn't even get in the car to begin with, therefore my fear of eighteen wheelers probably wouldn't exist. Okay, I am not sure I understand this one....Consecotaleophobia.... the fear of chopsticks. Is that for real? Check out the list. It's a lot of fun to read.
What about you? Do you have any phobias?
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2 comments:
Hi there. Now, a phobia is an 'irrational fear', yes? So to my mind, a fear of anything that could kill you without even noticing that you were a) under it's wheels (in your case) or b) it's lunch (in my case) (sharks, btw) is not actually a phobia but a perfectly normal and quite well adjusted survival mechanism.
Relax. You're normal :)
Hi there. Now, a phobia is an 'irrational fear', yes? So to my mind, a fear of anything that could kill you without even noticing that you were a) under it's wheels (in your case) or b) it's lunch (in my case) (sharks, btw) is not actually a phobia but a perfectly normal and quite well adjusted survival mechanism.
Relax. You're normal :)
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