Irrational Fears/ Phobias

[Smowball]

Over the past year I've developed one which sounds so so stupid but it's real to me. Ages ago I was in an underground car park and it was a steep ramp/ road to exit and at the top was a main road. I was driving up the incline and there was car waiting in front of my so I went to put handbrake on and it didn't work(something had broken inside) and I started to roll backwards. I could see a car in my rear mirror and panic set in that I was going to hit it so I was desperately trying to find the biting point on the clutch. I did in the nick of time but my heart was absolutely hammering.

Since then I have a real fear of driving up any hill or incline incase I have to put the handbrake on. I've been known to drive out of my way to avoid certain roads and if I'm driving somewhere new and I spot a hill/incline no matter how slight I will turn off and find another way. If I get caught out then I will put the car in 1st gear and keep the clutch biting till I can move forward but I will never ever use the handbrake (only when I'm parking) .its ridiculous but I can't stop myself doing this.

Anybody else have a fear/phobia?

[SnookerPlayer]

A fear of burning out the clutch by using it as a handbrake, lol. Seriously though in a car park I wait till the car in front has cleared the ramp.

[Mamyalynne]

The only way to get over this is to gently train yourself to do the thing you fear most - after a few times when nothing goes wrong the fear will retreat.

[Canary42]

Phobias are irrational by nature Smowball, but that doesn't mean they're not real to the sufferer.

My phobia is flying. On my last flight I tried to get the plane to turn back. Never flown since.

[Jackdaw33]

Either get the handbrake repaired or buy a new car.

[Smowball]

I've a new car now but still can't use the handbrake u less the road is perfectly flat. And yes I know I'm wrecking the clutch- it's ridiculous.
Canary I can understand the flying phobia x

[Smowball]

Unless

[anaxcrosswords]

Arachnophobia is common, but I don't actually have a fear of spiders. I just hate cobwebs, even a single strand. Where I live there's a communal passageway that starts with an arched opening. During spring/summer especially I always check to see if a spider has left a thread crossing it. If so, I actually walk round the back of the building to avoid it!

[Smowball]

Oh I hate cobwebs too!

[ummmm]

I have a fear of stairs. Not the ones in most houses but ones in places like shopping centres. The worse ones are metal or concrete.

[Arksided]

Phobias, yes I have a irrational fear of snakes I don't why. When I was doing eletrix (Dogs body) I'd have all sorts of stuff crawling over me whilst shunting through old buildings and dragging cables etc... Voles rats, spiders.. etc but if someone even mentioned a snake... they have lived to tell the tail.

[Dazzleflash]

pause on a hill -footbrake/neutral then move off first gear footbrake off as you accelerate. I haven't used my handbrake for stopping since I passed my test! Go practice on the flat somewhere quiet.

[Smowball]

Ummmm what is it about stairs?

Shakes don't bother me at all - I could easily hold one, and have. But couldn't hold a spider lol

[Bazile]

Canary42
//My phobia is flying. On my last flight I tried to get the plane to turn back. Never flown since.//

What did you do ?

[Canary42]

Bazile: I told the Flight Attendant I had seen someone acting suspiciously at Rome airport. She got someone from the Flight Deck to reassure me. I then dulled my fears with alcohol until we landed at Heathrow when I felt very foolish filing past the crew lined up at the plane's exit.

[SnookerPlayer]

Avatar Image Dazzleflash


pause on a hill -footbrake/neutral then move off first gear footbrake off as you accelerate. I haven't used my handbrake for stopping since I passed my test! Go practice on the flat somewhere quiet.



15:49 Thu 09th Feb 2017


What is the point of flat ground where you can''t roll back ?

[Bazile]

Crikey mate - youv'e got it bad .

Why did you make the outward journey ,then ?

[jennyjoan]

I have to go up a certain incline on Sunday night. I dread it too particularly if one has parked far too close behind me.

[grasscarp]

Canary you should try having a flying lesson. Some people try that to overcome a fear of flying and like it so much they go on to learn. After I had a "free" flying lesson 40 years ago I liked it so much I went on to get a private and then a commercial pilots licence.

[Dazzleflash]

smow what you have is not a phobia its a rational fear as you have had a bad experience.Only by practising correct use of the clutch and gears when stopping and moving off will help, and this can be started on a flat road where you know you will not roll back if you make a mistake.

[Bazile]

^^^^

Her fear is using the handbrake - not the gears and clutch