My husband thinks I have a ladder phobia just because my muscles tense up and quiver, my stomach turns itself inside out, and I break out into a rather profuse sweat. But isn't a phobia an irrational fear of something. I'm thinking if all those physical side effrects happen to me, it might make me pass out, then I really would fall. Depending on the hieght of the ladder and where I am, it makes sense that I could actually break my neck =, so it's not all that irrational, right?
Ok, so maybe I have a problem. My hands are really shaking right now and I don't want to think about it any more. (although I do also suffer various nervous effects as listed above when I see others on ladders as well)
Later
It is fascinating that just thinking about ladders will set your hands shaking. I can see how a fear of something could cause this sort of reaction, but it is very hard for me to really understand it. I suffer a mild form of acrophobia (fear of heights) but I've never found it limiting. Everyone used to laugh at me for being a pilot who was afraid of heights, but somehow the flying never used to bother me. The worst bit about flying for me (particularly the big aircraft) was invariably climbing the ladder to get into the cockpit! I guess it was because the ladder connected me to the ground. Once in the air the height became so surreal that it no longer played on my mind.
This sounds stupid, but I can't learn to drive becasue I'm terrified of roundabouts... I'm convinced I'm going to die in an accident on a roundabout, and it makes no sense, really.
My mother's got a balloon phobia, ... Once she walked out of a church servicxe because the minister was using balloon modelling to demonstrate a point, and she was nearly sick before she left. If that's the kind of thing you're after?
Thank you, HappyHippo. Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing I'm after. The fact that your mother actually came close to vomiting through such a demonstration is again fascinating. My difficulty is understanding the emotions that someone with such a phobia goes through, and the physical manifestations that those emotions can cause. The body and mind are so complex that often people with similar phobias seem to experience quite different physical reactions, though the increase in anxiety levels is the common strand that holds the responses together.
I suffer from mild claustrophobia and hydrophobia, the main reason I never learned to swim, I can and do have a bath every day, but I'm terrified of showers. I have lived in my present flat for five years and have never used the shower.
Many phobias seem to centre about control of one's environment. I guess yours must be linked to this. You can control the amount of water in a bath, but it is much harder to control the waterflow over the body in a shower, which when combined with the confined space of the cubicle gives the illusion of nowhere to run. An interesting variation on a theme. All these little gems are stacking up in my mind.
I don't have a reliable source to cite on this (though you may have come across it in your reading already, Mark), but I've read that some people inherit a genetic predisposition to develop phobias. It's a chemical thing. If you have a stronger physical response to fear or anxiety, you're more likely to develop a phobia about situations that set it off.
Actually I'd not come across this yet, but the big pack from the National Phobic Society only arrived this morning, so I've no doubt I'll find something in there to corroborate this.
Teresa Edgerton said:
It makes sense to me. In my family, we have a long, proud tradition of claustrophobia... Now it rarely gets past the knot-in-the-stomach stage, but as I said, on those occasions when I feel it escalating I have the medicine. Since the pills don't have any side effects -- I don't feel drugged or sedated or anything like that -- I'm not tempted to take them when I don't need them.
Thanks for the detailed descriptions. These will be very useful. I was fortunate enough to interview someone who has suffered OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) yesterday and she gave me some great insights on how phobias like yours often bring on OCD. The behavioural response to something that one knows to be irrational is frequently to control it through ritual - a pattern that gives one a sense of control and safety in the face of their fear. For those who suffer certain phobias a common response is handwashing and obsessive tidiness. For claustrophobics, I imagine it would be something like setting the door at a certain angle, and checking the night light (possibly re-checking the night light) before turning out the main light etc. Routine is a control mechanism that seems to crop up a lot.
The anticipation you mentioned approaching evening was something I hadn't yet considered - again a most useful insight. Your distraction technique is interesting too.
Teresa Edgerton said:
If I'd been born in the 19th century, I would probably have turned to gin or laudanum just to get through the bad nights. Then I would have developed an addiction and come to a bad end.
That just doesn't bear thinking about!
As my character begins in a medieval setting, there are no labels for what she feels, and her colleagues have no understanding of her problems. My intention is to show her gradually managing to control her fears, though to do so she will also progress through OCD. It's going to be an interesting path to tread, and I know I shall have to walk it most carefully if it is to have anything of realism about it.
