Phobia Support Group
A phobia (from the Greek "fear"), is a strong, persistent fear of situations, objects, activities, or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
I have a fear of touching metal and it's ruining my life. You know that nails on a chalkboard feeling? I feel that every single time I even think about touching something metal. I don't use plastic/bamboo utensils to eat instead of metal ones. I avoid touching anything I possibly can that's made of metal. The more textured it is, the worse it is. For example, I can touch my car because the metal is painted and VERY smooth, but things like outdoor furniture are usually made of brushed metal and just thinking about it makes me panic and clench my jaw. I didn't go to the dentist for over 10 years because I'd cry just thinking about metal being in my mouth. This has gotten worse and worse over the years and I don't even know why. I'm about to be 26 and it has just slowly progressed over my entire life. I pretty much don't like touching any hard, textured surfaces, but metal is it's own kind of monster. I get goosebumps all over my body, clench my jaw, and even sometimes have full panic attacks when I encounter metal. Anyone have any ideas on how I can conquer this? I can't live like this.
Have you tried therapy or do you have an idea of where this phobia could have come from? Like any traumatic experiences? Or is it something that's existed as long as you can remember? Have you tried touching the metal surfaces that have bothered you or do you completely avoid them? Do any friends/family members know about this?
The only strategy I can come up with is thinking of some metal surfaces that don't bother you (I'm assuming that texture is the biggest issue?), like your car, and give those a try and gradually move on to more textured ones. Or maybe look around for things made of metal that are "okay" for you and make a list of them, and make a list of the ones that stress you out and label those as "not okay" and continue looking around for metallic things and have the goal of making that "okay" side of the list bigger (if you want). And it'll be okay if you have more things on one the "not okay" side than the other, the list of things won't define you.
I'm no expert or psychologist - this is just my advice/ideas.
I wish you well, and I'm sure you can overcome this <3