Coulrophobia, aichmophobia among many phobias in life

Libby Moore

Everyone has some kind of phobia, yet no one has fears as irrational and unyielding as mine.

The problem is, I seem to be retaining the fears I thought I would grow out of. Fears of clowns, thunderstorms, the dark, and diving off the diving board were supposed to subside and be replaced with adult fears of lack of money, being alone, and general failure in life.

Unfortunately my childhood fears still exist and my adult fears have set in earlier than expected.

Some of my fears are so out of control I obsess over them. Like getting shots for example. The last time I had blood drawn I fainted. I hate going to the doctor because there is always some new vaccine I need to receive.

I’m so afraid of needles I’m already thinking about potential injections I will have to avoid. I guess I will never donate blood. And I will more than likely have to give birth naturally because the thought of receiving epidural terrifies me. My mother was quick to refute this argument:

“Honey, when you go in to labor you will be begging for epidural,” She said. “No I won’t! Have you seen that needle?” I asked. “Have you seen the baby?” she replied.

My fears extend in to the world of pill swallowing. If I’m prescribed a pill that’s larger than an M&M, I ask for it in liquid. And if there is no liquid form, I have to place the pill in a sandwich and eat it that way. My roommate thinks this is hysterical.

“You’re like a cat. Why don’t you just cut the pill in half?” she asked. “Are you crazy?! Then it might not release its antibiotics properly!” I replied.

One may argue that many people suffer from the fears I’ve listed, and they are nothing to be concerned about.

How about this one: I am afraid of the Wal-Mart greeters. That’s right. Those seemingly friendly individuals make me cringe. I always walk in to Wal-Mart briskly, hoping they will be preoccupied with another customer.

They never are. They offer a simple hello and I whimper and hurry past them. What’s really terrible is the entire time I’m in Wal-Mart I dread leaving. I linger in the frozen food section preparing for the exit “good bye.”

The fact I have to calm myself down after an encounter with a greeter is quite humorous to my friends.

I know I probably need help, but I’m convinced that if I keep a sense of humor about these things, maybe I’ll be okay. Maybe…