www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall What are your phobias?

That's really funny Alexis, because I'm the same way. Can't stand having my blood pressure taken, makes me squirm uncontrollably, and I have to explain how it just creeps me out.

Aunt B.

Where do you live that you have 6 1/2 foot pythons wandering
about the countryside?

I don't much care for snakes myself, but here in Brooklyn
this is not a problem.

Edmac

Logos-Alexis:

The irony is that a good workout helps the heart get stronger and last longer.

I used to worry about the same thing until the doctors put me in therapy for my work injuries. Part of the re-building of my body was intense cardio workouts. I use the treadmill to get a half hour to an hour workout a couple times a week. My blood pressure is down and my heart rate is in the range of a 25 year-old. One doesn't have to run the treadmill--I get in 4.0 to 4.4 mph at a 4% incline and that takes me into cardio range and keeps me there rather quickly. Once you get used to it your heart rate will return to normal within 5 to 7 minutes after finishing.

So I highly recommend that you get in at least three 20 to 30 minute intense cardio exercise sessions each week to stay on top of your game. It's also supposed to help brain function because it gets the old blood flowing all around that area, too.

BOB

Alexis, I would be much more concerned if you DIDN'T hear your heartbeat! Now that IS something to fear!



Alexandr

It must have been someone's pet - anyway it ate a hole in the screened porch and crawled through the house and coiled under my bed. Sheriff's Department sent someone out, who was as scared as I was. A "volunteer snake catcher" came and took it away. Thank God my dog alerted me, running around the bed and wouldn't let me fall asleep (the thought still frightens me). It took me about three months to force myself to not look under the bed every night. I'm in the sunshine state of Florida.

Alice,

Actually, I distinguished it from acrophobia in my mind because of your pointed reference to 'edge' versus 'height' - Father Ruttle, of blessed memory, would be most disappointed to learn that his stellar Greek student didn't remember that acro meant edge.


Alexis,

Alice's Greek is much more current than mine - which is little-used these many decades past (and not exactly Modern - more Homeric), but I'd hazard cardiophobia - fear of the heart - or palmophobia - which is fear of pulsing (as in the "pulse", technically what your heartbeat is and how the Greeks described it - and as how Galen described it in a treatise).

Many years,

Neil

Not as long as he keeps my business card in his wallet next to his ID.

BOB

ALICE:

Aside from all the things posted--most of which I share--a single phobia comes to mind. My greatest fear is to slide into dementia and not remember Christ--going completely blank, oblivious to everything and everyone that has been a part of my present conscious life. So I have often prayed, "Never let me forget You."

BOB

Forgetting Christ due to dementia is a horrible thought!

But do not be afraid!

If we forget Christ due to dementia we can be assured that He will never forget us. That is all that matters. It is the greatest comfort in the world.

Actually I have pondered what it would be like to sit in this earthly shell in dementia but being in full knowledge of the Lord. Something like being in a completely quiet environment, oblivious to everything and everyone around me but able to pray without distraction--even if no one was aware of it but the Lord: like being in an enclosed space when uou're a child playing "hide and seek"--sitting quietly with a friend and laughing at the rest of the world not being able to discover the two of us.

But this scenario seems a bit like what the Desert Fathers contemplated when they described eternity as "the endless ages of quiet without end."

BOB

Dear Neil,

Thank you for the compliment, but I couldn't have guessed it better myself!

Regards,
Alice

I have a phobia of clowns and the 70's...







That is not meant to be a subtle joke about anyone with SJ in their title.

Do you mean living into one's seventies, or did you mean the decade of the nineteen seventies (1970's)?

If you meant the 1970's, I wonder 'why'? Did you live through them?

Personally, having been a teen then, I remember that they were simpler and more innocent times--we were in a recession so people were MUCH less materialistic and sexuality in music and pop culture was much more subtle than it is today. Computers did not exist for the masses. Cell phones did not exist. People were more 'in tune' and 'in touch' with each other. Disco music was 'cool' and dancing was fun...

(Though, being a New Yorker, I will admit that Manhattan wasn't that safe back then and the obvious lack of affluence in its public works as a city did not at all resemble the 'excitement' that was always associated with it in the decades before and after-- and that was kind of depressing for those who lived or worked there)

As for the youth of that decade, I am always astonished when watching those old videos of rock and disco music of the times in those infocommercials for CD's--the young singers' faces look so innocent and fresh faced..something which hasn't been seen in the faces of young people in quite the same way for decades.)

Also, I don't get the comment about 'SJ'. What does that mean?

Regards,
Alice

P.S. This thread was titled 'what are your phobias '. I just want to point out to all posters that there is a difference between 'fears' and 'phobias'.

From Dictionary.com:

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pho�bi�a Audio Help (fō'bē-ə) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
2. A strong fear, dislike, or aversion.

Clowns would fall under #1. The 1970's fall under #2.

By the 1970's I mean even clothing, architecture, T.V. programs, I have an irrational fear...

The SJ you'll have to figure out...it was a joke as this group was heavily influenced in this period (the 1970's) and something about clowns...

I have heard about clown phobias before.

As for the architecture of the 1970's, I would have to agree that it was terrible.

Still cannot figure out your riddle about SJ !!!

Alice