define "irrational fear" and is my fear of flying/heights irrational? I don't think it is.?
448671
It should be your choice.
281599
Becoming a pilot is the best solution - at least you're in control and understand what's happening; alternatively go on a course specially created for people with a fear of flying. They explain everything - how a plane flies, why it cannot just fall out of the sky, how a plane copes with bad weather and how it can glide for quite a long time without any engines at all etc.\nBeing apprehensive is quite normal actually, but it shouldn't spoil your enjoyment of the trip. Good luck.
81521
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683088
Out of curiousity, what kind of anxiety to do experience in these situations? The scenarios you mentioned all seem like ones in which help or escape is difficult: are you worried about being 'escape-less', or are you worried that you will have a panic attack or health problems in such situations and are limited in getting help or looking foolish?\n\nIf it is the former, it sounds like a form of classic phobia, perhaps a combo of claustrophobia or agoraphobia...\n\nAlternatively, if you are worried about panic symptoms, you may have panic disorder, with agoraphobia...\n\nIf your anxiety as associted with a stimulus (i.e. when driving a car, on an escalator', it is unlikely to be a generalised anxiety disorder, as this implies that anxiety develops without a known source.\n\n\nHere are the diagnostic criteria for phobias and panic disorders\n\nSpecific Phobias:\n\n.......Marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable, cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation\n\n.......Exposure to the phobic stimulus almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed Panic Attack\n\n.......The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable\n\n........The phobic situation(s) is avoided or else is endured with intense anxiety or distress\n\n.......The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared situation(s) interferes significantly with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia\n\n\nPanic disorder with agoraphobia\n\no         Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having an unexpected or situationally predisposed Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms.  Agoraphobic fears typically involved characteristic clusters of situations that include being outside the home alone; being in a crowd or standing in a line; being on a bridge; and traveling in a bus, train or automobile.\n          Note: consider the diagnosis of Specific Phobia if   the avoidance is limited to one or only a few specific situations, or Social Phobia if the avoidance is limited to social situations.\n\noThe situations are avoided (e.g., travel is restricted) or else are endured with marked distress or anxiety about having a Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms, or require the presence of a companion. \n\n\nPanic attack is:\n\noA discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four (or more) of the following symptoms developed abruptly and reached a peak within 10 minutes:\n\nPalpitations, pounding heart, accelerated heart rate\nSweating\nTrembling or shaking\nSensations of shortness of breath or smothering\nFeeling of choking\nChest pain or discomfort\nNausea or abdominal distress\nDizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, faint\nDerealisations (unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)\nFear or losing control or going crazy\nFear of dying\nparesthesias (numbing or tingling sensations)\nchills or hot flushes\n\nDistinguishing between panic and anxiety: panic attack symptoms develop abruptly and reach peak intensity within 10 minutes, rarely last more than an hour. Periods of anxiety, by contrast, are not as abrupt, intense, and are more long-lasting. \n\n\n\nHope that helps!
1045510
False premise.  Not 'everyone' is scared ...'.  Come back when you have a real question.\n\nand have a nice day.
1080076
First of all I know this sounds crazy but be grateful that your fear is so close to the surface -- most people have just as much fear as you do but keep it totally locked up in their subconscious minds. Your fear -- which could also be called your 'ego' --  is actually conscious in you and that is a BIG sign that you're closer than you think to being completely liberated from it. Once your fears are conscious then they can be consciously 'unraveled' and 'die' (egodeath) ---- so that only what is TRUE in you is left. \n\nI was exactly like you. My fear was so intense that I had no peace whatsoever...and being a new mother this was just horrible for me. On top of my debilitating fear was a secondary one: that my fear was causing my daughter damage. I have been blessed beyond belief; I've recieved the healing power of divine grace and have been completely liberated from all my unnecessary psychological fears. All the Joy and Peace that I've always longed for is my constant default position now. I am so truly free!! And you can be too -- the fact that you are consciously aware of your fears is such a strong start. \n\nAll that is needed from you is your conscious intention and complete willingness to let go and surrender. Fear dissolves in the Light of awareness. It will literally unravel from your psyche and leave you completely centered in Peace and Love and Joy. This is what Enlightenment is. The human psyche detached from psychological fear and reattached to SOURCE is ENLIGHTENMENT. \n\nMy unraveling has led me to Christ within, but with a whole new understanding of what it really means to embody Christ. It means that we are one with our Source instead of being one with our fears (ego). You unhook from one, and are replugged into Truth within your heart. \n\nGo within your heart and ask Divine, by whatever name you prefer, to shine Light onto your fears -- all the way into the deepest corners of your being. If you ask  -- trust me your request will be answered. Peace is our true state of being and all the angels of the kosmos will be singing in joy for your liberation. \n\nThe fear ego is completely worthless, and you are right on the verge of making this discovery for yourself. Your suffering will only continue to grow until you release all fears to Source and BE the Light that you were born to be. \n\nFear only has power over you when you agree to it by having faith in it -- instead of having faith in the LOVE that is your true nature. \n\nFeel free to email me if you'd like: tasagreen@yahoo.com\n\nBlessings of Light your Way!! :-)  (my sisters name is Paula btw :-))
421587
There are many possibilities but all in all flying dreams dispell the illusion of space and time and give us a look at what the other side may be like. Do you see roof tops? Do you see missing frisbees and other objects on the roofs? Do you see telephone lines and the tops of transformers? If you do, you might be having real Out of Body Experiences. Most of us have flying dreams when we are young and unpolluted but as our body becomes conatminated with toxins and our minds programmed to only live in the physical world, flying dreams cease or the frequency of flying dreams slows down.  \n\nIf you are having flying dreams to resolve issues in your life and you are not having an OBE, flying may just be a means to change scenes in your dreams... to escape death...to avoid having to confront that which you most need to discover...right behind what you could be flying away from...could be the answer. Of course, if you are flying to other dimensions where your alternate body may be residing...you may be trying to help your other dimensional body...then go back to your flying dreams being an OBE but in an interdimensional way.\n\nFlying could also be a means to rationalize why you skip from thought to thought scenes or dream sequences that are not logical. If you are flying from scenes that your mind realizes in space and time could not be done logically... this kind of flying helps the mind allow the the dream to continue. It could also mean that you are in the spirit realm where time and space does not exist and your mind is trying to make flying fit what you are seeing in timelessness.\n\nJust a little food for thought... flying dreams are wonderful...they allow you to escape the boundaries of physics and with your will...travel to wherever you desire... In any case... flying dreams are good... flying us back to the garden...
370494
The journey is your life, whether up in the air or on ground.\nThe plane represents that which is out of your control, (it's the pilot who fecks up not you)\n\nAnd you feel that these hurdles or "hills" cannot be overcome as your situation currently presents itself.\n\nSo whatever it is in your life that you feel out of control in is killing you. You've got to take control and steer your own way through the rest of the journey.\n\nEither that or you ate too much cheese.
1145461
Fear is natural and necessary to keep your dumba$$ alive!\nWhy don't you just walk out onto a busy freeway? Because of the fear of getting run over.\nWhy don't you jump over the fence of the tiger exhibit at the zoo? Fear of being tasty!\nWhy do we tell our kids "Don't talk to strangers"? Fear our kids will get stolen, among other terrible things!\nIf our ancestors hadn't had fear...we wouldn't be here now!!! We would have been dino food!
777890
I'm not afraid.  I was once.  I was afraid of heights so I learned to fly.  I was afraid of water so I learned to water sky.  I face my fears.  I' m not afraid of death but I have so much going on that I'm not ready to leave this life.  If I'm afraid of anything it's that I may be wrong.
470686
I was unusually afraid of feet.  Anytime anyone put their feet close to me, I would start to have an anxiety attack.  I would shriek, breath rapidly, beads of sweat would form on my brow and nose.  I was also deathly afraid to let anyone touch my feet, socked or not.  It was so peculiar. \n\nI was determined to banish this foot phobia from my life.  It upset me that I catch snakes, touch spiders, jump out of airplanes, just about anything, but I was afraid of feet.  I forced myself to gradually allow people to touch my feet. I started to get pedicures, and I became more comfortable with my own feet.  Eventually, I SLOWLY began to touch other peoples feet. At first it was feet with socks only, I would shiver and shake--it was ridiculous.  I worked my way up to (clean) feet (I would only touch them or allow them to be near me if they had just come out of the shower or pool.  \n\nFor the most part, I am cured of my foot phobia.  Sometimes, I still jump if feet are unexpectedly near me.\nGod has a sense of Humor.  My husband has the grossest feet that I have ever witnessed.  They frighten me, but that has nothing to do with my phobia.  \n\nHowever, my daughter (10 months) has the cutest feet ever.  I actually nibble on them.  She thinks it is hilarious...so do I.
17177
In my opinion it is a response to a stimuli because it's (for the most part) uncontrollable.  If it was an emotion you would just be scared of nothing for no reason, right?
308698
I have feared swings since I was a little child. I'm not sure if there is a name for a "Fear of swings." I would have nightmares of swings and the potential of injuring another. I am probably the most fearless person and possibly the craziest (I have ate bugs + other unimaginable things). I also love heights and wouldn't mind a snake or spider crawling on my skin. There should be a phobia for swings. I kinda in the process of writing an autobiography of myself for my English class, and I talked about those horrific nightmares. I would also have nightmares of me being enclosed in a cube that would become smaller and smaller. I don't believe I have Claustrophobia. Who knows???
1174947
You can't apply reason to irrational beliefs  :-)
408908
You are born with two fears to some degree that you can never change. One is a loud or sudden noise and the second is a fear of heights. So if you fall, you probably will die of fright before you hit the ground. A heart attack could be included but there are other factors they have discovered from the bodies of airplane crash victims.
99679
That would be podophobia (although I'm not sure if the word actually exists).\nI actually knew a guy (he attended one of the courses I teach) who had fear of his own feet. Can you believe it? When we made the field trip that was part of the course (to a beautiful subtropical reservation, with lakes included) he could only go in the lake if the water was muddy enough that he could not see his feet. And he always wore socks (it was summer!!!).
75972
I've been robbed at gunpoint before, and - in my experience anyway - I went into an almost dream-like level of hypercontiousness.  It was like everything was moving in slow motion and I was totally aware of everything going on.  I don't remember feeling 'afraid', per se. The language fails an adequate description, thus there really is no way to answer this question unless you've been through it, and even then, it's hard to express.