Phobias || Mental Health Tips || Pet Peeves!!!

While growing up, I have always been afraid of two things; afraid of the dark and height. The first is known as nyctophobia which refers to an intense and irrational fear of the dark which causes distress or anxiety to such an individual. The second one is known as acrophobia which means fear of climbing high places or jumping from high places like mountains or a cliff.

These two have been part of me right from my childhood days. I don't like going to dark places, even inside the house. Whenever I am sent to bring or do something in the room and there is no light, it takes me a while to finally push myself inside or most times, lucky to have someone to escort me because I always assumed ghosts are everywhere. I used to think that when I went to dark places, a ghost or spirit was following me and would be hurt if I went alone except someone followed me. It took me years to finally realize that ghosts don't haunt an innocent being, and besides, we were told that it is only those who have killed or murdered someone who are always afraid of the dark.

It was later when I grew fond of horror movies and could watch even in the dark, that I was able to overcome the fear of the dark or at night because of the belief that I didn't kill anyone, so ghosts cannot haunt me. Also, I try to always mention the blood of Jesus in the dark as that name has always calmed me down, knowing that even Jesus cannot allow anyone to hurt me. Lol

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So is the fear of climbing high places or jumping down. Till today, I still haven't overcome that phobia and haven't heard of any logic to help me overcome it. The last time I went for a vacation with my sister to Idanre Hills, one with 690+ steps, you know how high it would be if one finally got up and tried to look down. As I kept climbing the steps, I couldn't look back because my eyes would start turning and might feel dizzy making me uncontrollable. It took the help of our tour guide to hold my hand all through climbing up and down the mountains and rocks around.

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Mental Health

For my mental health, it is important to keep it sane to remain healthy. I don't do things that will stress me and when I need to rest, I don't hesitate to leave whatever I am doing to give my mind the peace and calmness it needs. I try not to overthink or get worried because I have come to understand that problems will always come and go, none has ever been permanent. Aside from that, I can only solve the ones I am in control of and the ones beyond my ability, I leave to God.

When situations that overwhelm me show up, I try to calm down, and then think of a way out rather than pacing up and down, giving myself unnecessary stress and eventually developing a headache. In the end, this stuff won't solve our problems but to affect our mental health. So, I calm down, think of how to go about it, leave the ones I cannot control and allow nature to take its course.

Lastly, I exercise a heart of gratitude as this helps me not to think of what I do not have but to be grateful for the things I have while also being contented. This helps me stay focused and not get bothered which could affect my health negatively.

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What are my pet peeves?

Although we all cannot be perfect, there are still some things we ought to understand are not right, but since most of them have become a habit, we find it difficult to stop them. Like one of my uncles, he is fond of making sounds when he is eating. I am someone who gets easily irritated when things like this occur around me and I do not hesitate to caution you to control yourself. Some people are so easily carried away when eating that they don't remember being around other people, they just keep making sounds with their mouth when eating, even bones. Lol

Another pet peeve of mine is talking during a movie. Some people will narrate the whole scene when with you and this is something that annoys me. That is why I don't watch movies with someone, especially ones they have watched before. They will start making it uninteresting as they want to explain how it went. Even when they haven't watched the movie, you will see them talking about the characters and the movies they have featured in or have produced. This thing irritates and annoys me so much. But some people in this category won't want to listen even when you keep chasing them away because they want to rewatch the movie with you but they won't stop talking about it. Let me just watch my movie alone and in peace instead of someone turning spoilers.

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Here is one that annoys me so much. Just like @nkemakonam89 said in her post, I hate to see soap latte on the wall in a bathroom. There are times that when I enter the bathroom, there will be soap latte splashed everywhere in the bathroom and the one who took his or her bath won't think of washing them away with water. It's so annoying to see such because I don't do that. Once I am done bathing, I make sure to sprinkle water on every part of the wall where soaps are splashed.

Finally, spitting in public. Oh my! This is extremely annoying and gross. Like, are you pregnant? Why would you keep spitting in public, I mean on the road where people pass on? Even if one is pregnant, because we understand women in this state do this as most of them cannot control themselves, I don't still see why spitting in public is normal. The worst part of it is seeing people coughing out phlegm on the road. No no no, this is awful. Some people are just not considerate of other people but do their thing and walk away.

In my tribe, they believe that when you spit in public and someone crosses over it, it causes a sore throat for the one who spits, but many people won't listen. This is kind of letting people know it is not good to spit in public where everyone passes through as one could mistakenly step on it, now imagine stepping on someone else's phlegm — sticky spit. This is gross 😝

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