Let's Talk Phobias

My immediate elder sister is so afraid of insects, cockroaches in particular. I'm not talking about just some minimal fear, I'm talking about a fear that can make someone drop her phone and run of the room screaming. I find it very funny each time she sees a random cockroach anywhere and she acts exactly the same. She'll tell her little son who is just a year old to grow up fast so that he'll be the one to kill any cockroach that comes into the house.

Phobias are real and it doesn't necessarily have to be something so big to give someone anxiety. I've always battled with two phobias my whole life; fear of water(Aquaphobia) and fear of heights(Acrophobia). I think they are the most common type of phobias because I know I lot of people will definitely say the same about themselves. Prior to the time I knew I had a fear for heights, I naturally hated balconies of storey buildings. I impulsively avoid going near the edge of a balcony, first off I always get the feeling that I would fall from there and secondly, mere looking down from the balcony of a storey building just makes me so anxious and dizzy. It isn't just balconies, looking over when crossing bridges is just another trigger for me to panic.

The first time I did something quite extraordinary for someone who is scared of heights was when I rode a tower at an amusement park.

It was the boldest thing I've ever done, though I had my moment of regret when the Tower went up and dropped, my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach and I was shaking at some point. I had my eyes closed throughout the time I was supposed to be having fun. But nevertheless, I felt proud after the ride ended and the next thing on my mind now is flying in an airplane. When I finally get to do that, then I'll come back so we can continue this conversation.

Talking about my fear for water, I don't mean just any water, I mean large water bodies. The overwhelming feeling I get each time I go close to a large water body is out of this world. I see videos of people having vacations on the sea inside a yacht and I say it's either just superhumans or there's something they're not telling us. How do they get comfy on a high sea? Just the thought of seeing nothing but water all around me makes me shiver. The worst of it all is that I can't even swim, I avoid swim pools with everything in me.

Sometime 2022 I had to travel to Cameroon, you could imagine my shock when I was told I'll be travelling 3-4 hours on the sea. I just kept wishing there were other alternatives but there wasn't. I had to travel on sea eventually, with my heart in my hands. I wasn't so tense during the journey because there was a lot of people on the boat with me, we were having great conversations and it somehow too my mind off. So yeah, I've travelled twice on sea despite having a phobia for water. I feel like I can now relate more to the 'facing your fear' motivational talk. If I'm scared of doing something, I just give it a try first before concluding definitely. I don't know if it applies to everything including phobias, but I realize that things I used to be afraid of isn't so scary after all.
Cover Image
Anyways, you can talk about your phobias, your pet peeves or anything relating to mental health in today's Inleo's monthly prompt.