Childhood Fears

As a young child, I was afraid of dogs, heights, and the darkness. These fears controlled my life. Being afraid of dogs was one of my biggest fears. I was so scared of dogs because they were big, scary, and had big teeth. Every time a dog barked at me I got scared. When they came around me to smell me, I would get scared and my whole body would start shaking. If a dog was running behind me, I thought that it was running after me to bite me. When they licked me, it felt so nasty to me that I would not want to be around them. So, I made myself play with dogs and I slowly got over my fear. Another big fear of mine was a fear of heights. Being afraid of heights wasn’t just my worst fear as a child, but it was a fear that I could not control. Now, when I am somewhere very high up, and I look down, I am still afraid of falling. I just start to image myself falling down. I can’t go on any roller coaster rides because as it takes me higher, I look down and start to get scared and my heart starts beating faster and faster. I am still working on this fear by learning to climb something high and trying to get used to being up high. I am also afraid of the dark. I could not sleep in my room without leaving the light on. When I went to sleep in the dark, I started to imagine things like monsters and other things that would creep me out. I hated being all alone in the dark; it made me afraid to sleep in my room or sleep in my parent’s room. When I walked by myself in the dark, I started to think that someone might try to kill me or kidnap me. I made myself sleep without the light on, so I am not really afraid to sleep in the dark, but I am still cautious walking in the dark. The problems I had to face as a young child, and now as an adult helped me understand that I should not let fear take control of my life. Although I have not completely overcome my fear of heights, I know someday I will overcome it, and I will be able to deal with high