Most of us are afraid of something , whether it’s some kind of massive catastrophe , or perhaps something that doesn’t make any sense at all .
In any event, there’s good news and bad news. Wait, let me rephrase that. There’s bad news and worse news. The bad news? Your worst fears could come true. The worse news? There’s a whole world full of other stuff that can mess you up.
If you want to add to your paranoia, this r/AskReddit thread has you covered.
Being cheated on.
“Infidelity is so much more than the cheating itself. It’s the lies, gaslighting, manipulation, and emotional abuse that often comes with it. People who cheat especially serially have no regards for their partners or families. I was married to one and it was awful. Thankfully I have been through a significant amount of therapy to help with healing and I am in a much better place.”
The sun.
“A surprising amount of people don’t realise how common skin cancer is as a consequence of exposure to the sun. Sunburn isn’t the worst thing the sun causes.
The amount of dark-skinned people neglecting sunscreen is way too large as well. No matter how dark your skin is, you are in the same risk of skin cancer as the pastiest white person. Wear ya sunscreen.”
– u/[user]
Household mold.
“Got asthma from the mold in my parents basement. They didn’t care because they never went down there but my room was there. Now I have to take a very expensive daily inhaler. I spent my childhood constantly sick with pneumonia from the mold.”
Doomscrolling.
“Social media, especially endlessly scrolling in the dark late into the night and then again when you wake up, scrolling and scrolling until noon when you realize you’re still in bed and you’ve gained absolutely nothing from staring at your phone.”
Too much Benadryl.
“I once took too much and while driving home from work, my phone fell on the passenger side floor, and I swore I could hear someone saying ‘Hey, pick up your phone!’ over and over. When I got home, I grabbed it and no calls, nothing. So I imagined it. I also could not get to sleep and was just lying in bed for several hours talking to the wall. Really bizarre drug-induced psychosis trip that night.”
Quitting alcohol cold turkey if you’re dependent on it.
“The acute stage of alcohol withdrawal (6-12 hours after last drink) with shakes, sweats, etc, is generally not fatal. It’s the delerium tremens involving hallucinations , CNS hyperactivity among other things that has a 10% mortality rate if untreated. The average onset of DTs is 55-60 hours after the last drink according to one study but there have been documented cases that onset was up to 7 days after the last drink.”
Someone else’s trauma.
“Shock and direct contact with the experience often (not always) helps with the coping of that trauma. But if you’re a close friend with even a hint of empathy, it still comes as a shock to the system.
And we think it’s silly, because how dare I feel shaken when it’s them who experienced it. I need to be strong for them. Don’t be fooled, you are an emotional being and can still feel deeply affected by other’s trauma.”
Anxiety.
“It’s like a vicious cycle, you get anxiety for X thing, you get all worked up, X thing happened and it frickin traumatized you, now every time you see something related to X thing you get more anxious. You don’t know how to get out, you seek help and can’t find it, so now you have a new thing to be more anxious about. Yeah. That.”
Not replacing furnace filters.
“Not replacing your gas furnace filters results in your heat exchanger to crack and then the furnace blows odorless carbon monoxide throughout your vents and you go to sleep forever. Change your gas furnace filters. You cannot smell carbon monoxide but it can and will kill your and your entire family.”
Sea snails.
“Cone snails can [mess] you up! I’ve seen a couple incidents where a lifeguards had to do CPR until a helicopter or ambulance arrived to take their sting victims away from the beach. If you ever think a stingray got you while you’re in the water then start feeling your vision blur and fade away you better get to shore asap cuz your respiratory systems about to shut down.”
Lack of sleep.
“Happened to me after having a baby. Had a traumatic birth experience that led to being bed ridden and suffered for months from the pain and from lack of sleep. It led to postpartum depression and I became a totally different person. I was very cheerful and optimistic before giving birth. A year and 3 months later, I’m glad to share I am recovering.”
Kangaroos.
“On my tour of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, the guide got on the microphone and announced to the group, ‘If you see a roo, stay away. They are dumb as [expletive], and will [expletive] you up”. Apparently they have a claw on their hind leg similar to a raptor that can slice your abdomen so deep that your guys fall right out.”
– u/[user]
Apathy.
“See, people see depression and they think ‘really, really sad’ mainly because that’s the only part the media shows them, but apathy, that’s what will get you in the end, the sadness is mostly a side-effect of the apathy.
It’s not that you CAN’T do something about your situation, it’s that you DON’T CARE enough to do something about it, which in turn makes you sad and angry that you don’t care, which in turn makes the apathy deeper.”
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Concussions.
“The single biggest turning point in my life. I was a junior in high school when I suffered one during football practice in October 2014. I dealt with PCS for nearly 2 years. I didn’t feel fully back to normal until literally 2 weeks before I left for college in August 2016. My life would be a lot different had it not been for that concussion.”
– u/wlkd
Fist fights.
“People believe hollywood slug fights too much. Remember vividly in the UK a case of 2 blokes arguing over a parking space, got heated, bloke punched the other guy once on the nose. Done. Dead. Killed him. Hit him at just the right angle it chipped a bit of cartalige or bone from his nose which cut something in the brain causing a brain bleed and killed him there and then.”
Pigs.
“One time when I was like 11 I went to my family friend’s farm with my dad and brother and went to the pig pen. I asked my dad if I could hold a piglet and he was like “yeah go ahead”. Well the piglet squealed loudly and suddenly it’s mom got up and chased me, so I tossed the piglet down and the mom chased me about 20 feet before realizing I dropped the piglet and stopped pursuing me. The farm’s owner said if I didn’t drop the piglet it’s mom likely would’ve caught up with me and killed me.”
Garage door springs.
“Heard a story from my father, he took part in a door installation course. Guy said ‘there are two reasons for why you should never install these springs alone as he raised his hand to gesture number two. However, there were only nubs in place of his pointer and middle finger. Seeing the shock it caused in the audience, he bursted out with laughter.”
Deer.
“My brother is a firefighter/EMT. He got a call a couple years ago for a guy who got attacked by a doe. He had been walking along a bike path, and unknowingly passed a fawn tucked in the tall grass just off the path. Apparently mama decided he was too close to her baby and knocked him over and started stomping on him. He kicked at the deer, and it backed up enough for him to get up and run away.
He ended up with some nasty bruises and a mild concussion, and I think he had to get a few stitches, too.”
Ignoring tooth problems.
“I’m in my early 30s. I have had dentures for 7+ years. Granted, the doctor told me I had a calcium deficiency and soft enamel, but that’s beside the point. The dentures and surgery all around cost over 12 grand. Now I have to get more teeth pulled and a new set of dentures. It sucks. I wish so badly I could go back in time and brush religiously. Que sera sera.”
Hiking at altitudes you’re unaccustomed to.
“I tried to climb a 5000m peak totally alone, without telling anyone but this nomad dude what my plans were. Got to 4800m or so and started to feel like I was going blind, followed by HAPE symptoms. I’ve climbed mountains my whole life, so I knew to get the hell outta there, but wow was it a stupid idea. I’m lucky to have made it out unscathed to eat some totally bangin’ nomad momos.”
