Anyone else afraid of EVERYTHING?

[MyMiddleNameisHypo]

My whole life I always lead a rather sheltered life. My parents never allowed me to do anything that could result in an injury or harm. Sadly, in my adult life I find that I am afraid of EVERYTHING. It has gotten to the point where I have missed out on so much because I'm scaredy cat. 

For instance:
I've never climbed a tree.
Never been on a roller coaster or any carnival rides
Never been on a boat....or a go cart...or basically any type of motor vehicle (other than a car).
I don't allow other people to drive me in vehicles.
I'm scared of ALL reptiles.
I don't like climbing on ladders or even in the back of my truck.
I don't swim in any water unless it is in a swimming pool.
I don't touch anything that is rusty.
Any time I use cleaning products or chemicals or any sort I wear rubber gloves and a face mask.
Etc, etc. I could go on forever. It is literally rediculous.

Does anyone have any advice for getting over the fear of everything? I guess I'm just afraid of getting hurt, sick or being killed. I just want to be as "normal" as possible.

[kconnors]

Hello,

I don't think that you * are * a scaredy cat . . . I think that you have learned a behaviour from your parents. I think that you are quite brave, indeed, in wanting to change from who you were conditioned to be to the person that you are. This takes guts! Your parents succeeded in passing on their anxiety to you, but that does not mean that you have to live with it.

I don't know if you are working with a therapist or not, but perhaps one might be able to help. In the meantime, and this is from personal experience in overcoming my long list of fears, you might want to try the following. Take one thing from your list that you might like to resolve. It does not have to be a big thing; just something that * you * would like to be able to do. Then, break it down into small, small, chunks. Let's say you want to be able to get into the back of your truck. First, ask yourself why might this be an issue and make a list of all the reasons. This might include fear of having to be up higher than you like. Then, ask yourself why this is a fear. Did you fall from the back of a truck when you were young? Did your parents tell you that riding in the back of a truck was bad? Did someone you know have an accident? Then, ask yourself how much reality is there to these reasons. For example: if you fell from the back of a truck when you were young, well, accidents happen and you, as an adult, now know how to be use good judgement. If the fear comes from your parents, then they may have been passing on their fears and just because the fear belonged to them does not mean it has to be your fear, etc. Then, using the mini-chunks, plan to do just one little mini-chunk. For example, just sit on the back flap of the truck (I don't know what they call the rear of a truck when you want to load something). Tell yourself that you are going to sit on the back flap for 15 seconds every day and during those 15 seconds you are going to think of something that is positive. Do this for 1 week, 4 weeks, however long until you are comfortable and then do it again for 60 seconds, etc. until you build up a comfort zone. Then, repeat the process by sitting in the bed of the truck, and then repeat it by standing in the back of the truck, and then build up to where you can jump down off the back. This might take you 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, however . . . the point is to associate the action with positive and not with fear. I believe the term is desensitization.

If it helps any, I have had some pretty substantial fears including a fear of boats because when I was young, an elderly neighbour told me of a horrific accident on a river that killed children, etc. I never wanted to go on a boat or even near water. My parents worked with me and I learned how to swim which I love and I learned how to go in a boat which I am skittish at the beginning of the trip but fine after about an hour. Their approach was to build up gradually and let me develop a comfort zone and then, if you will, challenge me to the next step. They felt that if I could swim, then I would feel more comfortable on a boat, etc. It took a while. I really appreciated what they did because only as an adult did I find out that my Mom was deathly afraid of water because two young family members had drowned in an unrelated incident. Although she would not swim, she did wade so she did not pass her fear on to me.

Bottomline . . . .I don't think that you can get over your fear of everything in one motion. I do think that you can get over your fears bit by bit and, by the way, I use rubber gloves working with cleaning products and I am also careful of things that are rusty. I take precautions. This is not being afraid; this is being smart. But there is a difference between paralyzing fear and being cautious and someone trained can help you come to that realization and help you with management strategies.

Please come back here and let us know how you are doing . . .take care, kc

[Sefiran]

When my moments are at there worst, I am terrified of basically everything. I have a hard time even functioning.
I think if you just take baby steps though, things will gradually get easier. Don't just throw yourself into interacting with everything that scares you. That might end up overwhelming you and may bring you a few steps back rather than forward. I've mostly been forcing myself to do things but not anything too huge.

[opaqueblues]

I have a fear of everything and it is called Pantophobia. I am totally crippled by it and can do very little of anything. I have been in 6 hospitals, I've had 21 shock treatments, 30 TMS treatments and countless EMDR treatments and nothing has worked. they have also tried over 30 medications on me and nothing there has worked. I am so totally crippled by it that I feel insane. I am a Christian and the only way I get through minute to minute is to hang on to the Lord.

[KristineJ]

I wasn't normally a scaredy cat...but since i found out i have certain illnesses...my anxiety has become completely unmanageable.  My big fear is getting stomach sick. I won't go on a roller-coaster either. I've been on boats in the past but I've become extremely scared of motion sickness the past couple years. Went to to Disney World january of 2012 and went on the "star tours" ride. I was up front in the very middle which is suppose to be the area of the ride that moves the least and i really thought i was going to throw up after. I had to sit in the hall after the ride and felt queasy. I was so long out there that the next group who went in after us came out and had left before i could get  up and even then i was still ill.  Some of your fears are completely understandable. At least to me. As for rubber gloves and face masks? Me and my husband have felt the same way since discovering we have gluten issues as well as the norovirus going around right now....we have become a tad obsessive compulsive in protecting ourselves