After....
GiphyThe fact that one day, everything is just going to go black. What happens after death? Is it just eternal darkness? If there is a heaven- hell of some sort, would I be happy spending eternity there? If reincarnation is true, the thought of living in different times without being conscious of your past lives scares me a little. To whoever is reading this, we all have a life, lets try to live it like everyday is our last. TheMythicalNeko
The Sea Storms....
I love the ocean but I have a lot of scary dreams about tsunamis. In real life when I see the ocean I'm so happy and at peace, but in my dreams I immediately feel dread cuz I know what's coming. natsugrayerza
I went swimming in the ocean for the first time when I was about 28. Jumped off a boat in Hawaii, looked outwards, and started having a very mild panic attack. It was so.... weird. skeeve87
It's Me.
Myself. I struggle with self-control and am prone to self-harm. I don't feel like one person and sometimes my mind even talks to me telling me to do bad things. Twice now I've tried to cut my hand open. Im seeing a therapist about it currently. And I know it isn't good, but I cant really stop it entirely. I just have to overpower my sub-conscious when episodes start. NotALifeFan
Alone.
I fear that in the end, I will truly be completely alone. No one to comfort me, no one to take care of me or me to care for them, no one to talk to.
Which is weird since I am in a very happy relationship, have a very great relationship with my mom and grandparents and have a good support system. SaraNaomi48
Reality Issues....
Locked in syndrome.
Or a strong case of schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. Basically everything that parts myself from the rest of the world irreversibly. Not able to communicate and/or connect to others and lose track of our shared reality. Amicelli11
I had a boss who once suffered from locked-in syndrome (as well as multiple comas), and this resulted in him developing PTSD from the fear and frustration he felt. He did his best to describe it to us, but it's such an unfathomable feeling to those of us who have never experienced it. Thankfully he did eventually recover, but unfortunately died last year due to a preexisting neurological condition.
I really miss the guy, and his stories about locked-in syndrome really make me grateful that I still have most of my motor control (I have MS and often complain about losing my fine motor control, but he really made me learn to stop taking what I had for granted). Karjo2000
H2O Scare....
GiphyBeing neck deep in water, I have aquaphobia (the fear of water) that shows up whenever I'm near very few people in high water. It's stupid but I always have a panic attack when I'm forced to swim and I despise water (I'll drink and shower often but hell no to baths and swimming). Reddit
It's about how you take it.
Being unsuccessful. applefanatix
There is nothing to fear about being unsuccessful. It's about how you take it. Rather than taking it as a failure look at it like a step closer to achieving success. It is like process of elimination. Once you have done everything wrong there is no chance in hell you can't do it right now. Feral_Ghoul69
just because of my laziness.....
I'm lazy. I have friends, we go out together, I have fun with them. But every time I have to go out it's almost a chore, even tho I know I will have fun. It's as if I live in the moment and don't want to leave what was entertaining me. Be it my PC or phone or whatever, I know it's better for me to go out, but the lazy part of me says "do we really have to go?" I hate this feeling. I hate being friends with someone I don't feel like going out with, just because of my laziness. sydneysixer
My Babies....
Something horrible happening to my kids. Honestly, I get scared when I'd send them off to school or when my son would go outside to play with the neighborhood kids. Im definitely bored and going stir crazy during this quarantine, but I feel a degree of relief knowing they're safe at home. AlysonWonderland7
Just Scared....
I am afraid of failure. Although panic attacks are now rare for me, I can still get one if I feed the anxiety. I am also afraid of my own mental illness. I was in a really bad place 7 years ago. I am much better thanks to a great support system, medication, and coaching... but I am terrified of relapsing because my anxiety views relapsing as failure.
I am also scared of heights and spiders. katinthekingdom
Besties....
Losing my best friend. We have been great friends for years but sometimes we get into arguments really really bad ones. Epsilon_One
Wasted Time.
If I die now then I've wasted the better half of my life on preparing for the rest of it for no reason. PhysicalRisee
I'm struggling with this right now too. I'm in uni right now and it seems like I'm wasting all this time trying to get a degree to get a job when I should be finding things that make me happy in life, however few things that may be. But, you have to have money to do most things in this world. TheOminousMoose
Time Lost.
The loss of my mind.
The thought of developing Alzheimer's or dementia terrifies me.
The thought that my family would have to endure my downward spiral until I become nothing but a hollow shell of who I once was terrifies me even more. mipu
Life.
The fact that, when I really sit down and think about it, I can't really see the point to life... not in a suicidal way, it just seems like in the grand scheme of things everything I do is insignificant and unremarkable and will be forgotten. Reddit
Pessimist: Nobody cares and nothing matters 😞
Optimist: Nobody cares and nothing matters 😀
It's remarkably freeing when you realize that no one really cares what you're doing. okzaa
The End.
GiphyPainful death. Death is fine, agony isn't. I want to just go to sleep and not wake up. Metruis
Empty Existence.
Living a life with no meaning. I don't know what that meaning or purpose is, but I think life is such a gift that I don't want to just idle by. Racing_in_the_street
I agree pretty completely. I'm pretty young and I feel like my biggest fear, or at least the one I think about the most is never managing to accomplish anything in life that makes me satisfied with my life.
With school coming to an end instead of thinking that's a problem for the future I worry more that I won't be able to find a way to feel like I did life right. But there's so many things to see and do that regardless of whether I never reach a standard I'm satisfied by its still incredible that I get to be here alive. A_lone_goose
Freedom.
False imprisonment, where no believes my innocence. flash3444
I am a whistleblower that was ignored by my government.
I believe your worst fear is my fate.
It is haunting. wwguru
Not my Son.
Watching my youngest son die of this virus. He survived cancer at 16 months and recently diagnosed with heart failure from the chemo. One kidney, heart failure and immuno-compromised has me terrified to bring home any part of this crap storm. We are taking huge measures to try and prevent it. ac1dre1gn77
Vehicles.
Drivers who routinely run red lights long after the light has changed, especially at busy intersections. Back2Bach
I once crossed at a crosswalk and it was our turn to cross but a guy ran the light really late. He almost hit 6 people, myself included. His car was within arms reach of me when he stopped. I'm not sure he would have ever lived a normal life after that had he not been able to stop in time (Not that he would deserve a normal life). bottles124
In the Time of Corona....
GiphyGetting sick and never feeling better.
Every time I get majorly sick, I always freak out thinking that I'm never going to get back to normal again. Terrifies me every time. SqulliamFancyson44
That fear is especially strong given the pandemic we're currently facing. I get rationally angry every time I consider my country's ineptness in preventing its spread. elee0228
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.
Maybe that's why nightmares have such a visceral response from us, despite the knowledge they aren't real.
Over on Reddit, user Woody4ever shares a story about what happens when you don't take nightmares seriously enough.
The story was shared to the "TIFU" subReddit. "TIFU" stands for "Today I [Messed] Up" and has users telling about how a small act or decision ended up going completely south.
And Woody4ever messed up by trying to console her husband while he was having a nightmare.
It's not a very long story, so they get right to the point.
"Woke up to him whimpering/ crying in his sleep. It was still dark out and I was so groggy that I lazily slung my hand over his face and tried shaking him awake while sleepily saying 'Babe, wake up'."
"I couldn't see so I just start feeling for his face to gently slap him awake."
However, they quickly realized this was the wrong move.
I've honestly never seen a situation escalate so quickly.
The simple act of trying to wake up your spouse can lead to a real bad reaction.
"In his nightmare haze, he screams and bites my hand. In my sleep haze, I was totally not expecting that shit and my brain immediately deduces my husband's been possessed so I start screaming."
"This caused him to start screaming more as he woke up. Lesson learned. Sleepy time means every man for himself apparently."
Screaming leading into other screaming. Recursive screaming. Just screams for days.
I'm honestly surprised they both came out okay. Seems like the husband was deep in something weird in that dream to make him bite the helping hand.
Speaking of, what was he dreaming about?
"He later told me his nightmare and it was truly f'd. He was dreaming he was having sex with me but then noticed it wasn't me, but some kind of creature."
"TL;DR: possible succubus scenario. Saved my husband's soul but got bit in the process. We're okay now."
Yikes.
If there's one thing we can count on it's the social dynamic between sleeping partners. And by "count on" I mean "cannot nail down at all."
Seriously, one moment you're praising them for saving you from a fiend, the next, you're complaining about their snoring.
"can't be letting those night demons steal your husband's man-water... sometimes you gotta take a bite on the hand." - Cracker77
"Lol, just doing my wifely duties nbd." - Woody4ever
"My ex-wife would punch me awake when I snored too loudly. I didn't blame her." - MaximumCameage
""Species" creature or "Predator" creature.... this is Reddit.. you gotta be specific." - rambler335
But sharing your stories on the internet leads to our favorite thing, and the thing that makes humanity better.
Commiserating.
Who knew so many people would have similar stories?
"One time my ex wife heard me groaning and gasping for air, so she tried to wake me up. She tells me she's never been so scared in her whole life because she thought I was dying. Truth is I was having a terrible nightmare were a grim reaper-esque creature was suffocating me. I, too, have never been so scared. The way she tells it from her end is quite frightening; even after violently shaking me to wake up I was unresponsive.
Nightmares are weird." - doubleohkevinnnn
"I did a thing like this. I awoke 100% sure a 18wheeler was going to obliterate us in bed. So I scooped up my wife and ran into the living room. Then, realizing it was a dream I took her back to bed and fell asleep. She told me of my antics the next day." - bobthepomato
"this reminds me of a dream where i got shot in the stomach and my guts were spilling out. GF sees me holding my stomach in my sleep and whimpering, and she starts to gently massage my stomach with her hand. meanwhile in my dream, a field medic has just walked up to me and begins to massage my guts, whispering"it's gonna be alright, baby."" - KidTrout
"I had a nightmare one night and my gf told me later that she had thought that holding on to me tightly was a good response. Wrong. It made me dream I was drowning in a sinking pool tarp. In my real life struggle to get free in the dream, I elbowed her in the eye." - Ghostdog2041
Luckily, Woody4ever's story ends with everyone okay. And honestly, a succubus trying to steal your soul kind of makes everything that happened afterward understandable.
There are less scary, but still frightening things that can happen in your dreams, especially when it's a recurring nightmare.
Just remember Woody4ever's advice.
"Sleepy time means every man for himself apparently."
