Childhood fears

by beksbks 26 Replies latest jw friends

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  shopaholic

  I always thought the demons were out to get me. Even as an adult I was absolutely terrified. Every now and then since I was a kid, I would have these episodes of fighting someone in my sleep and it felt like someone was pinning me down and wouldn't let me move. When I was finally fully awake, I would pray and search my house (or room when I was a kid) for what might have attracted demons. Nothing. I know plenty of JWs that have been through the same experience. Then one time I was reading something (don't remember what it was) but learned that I was actually having a form of a night terror but its called something else for adults. True fact: I haven't had one episode since I've faded although I now have Yoga DVD's in the house.

  Oh yeah, as a teenager I was afraid to do Yoga because I might "catch a demon". So I always sat out that portion of gym class.
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  Gregor

  When I was 5 an older neighbor boy told me on good authority that if you stepped on a spider they could bite you right through the bottom of your shoe. Took me a long time to get over that.( spiders probably started that phobia).

  At 10, seeing the movie "Them" about VW sized ants who made a sound like a cricket on steroids left me afraid of the dark through a very bad period of my personal life.
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  breakingfree

  I was, and I'm telling you I would lay there in bed as still as I could be, sweating,

  Ditto. I also thought if I just had the courage to turn the light on they would dissapear (obliterated by light). I remember calling out to Jehovah a couple of times . I was a terrible night terror child. Followed me until I was quite a lot older to, I am still not a fan of the dark if I'm on my own....I was especially terrified of being raped by demons as there were stories going around about that too, I used to keep my legs together while I slept. I was especially afraid since I listened to the music of the band Incubus, and liked it, and susequently found out what the band name meant. I still can't sleep with my legs apart, how unhinged is that

  Ditto to becksbks on the human combustion thing. I used to read all those books on weird happenings and that really freaked me out . Funnily enough I was allowed to read a lot of ghost/magic/fantasy books (maybe my parents didn't know?) and this made me feel like I was more vunerable to demons.... I got to hear all the usual stories over the years about people being held down by the throat, etc. I think this has actually been explained by something phenomenon to do with waking up, the pressure on the chest, etc, forget what it is.
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  Maddie

  I always slept with the bed covers over my head because I was terrified of ghosts. I wasn't brought up in a JW family so didn't know about demons as such but believed that dead people haunted us.

  Maddie
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  worldtraveller

  When I was very young, I was scared of flushing toilets. They used to scare the crap out of me.
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  misanthropic

  I've gotten over all of my childhood fears except for the fear of the dark. I'm ashamed to say I sleep with night lights throughout my house still (and having my closet door closed at night is a must). But I've gotten over demons, scary movies don't frighten me and I really can't think of anything else from childhood that I'm still afraid of.
  
  * I've actually had nightmares that I awoke to a pitch dark house several times but I wake myself up from my nightmare and realize it's just a dream.
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  Drzhivago123

  The old 70's TV show Planet of the Apes!