Jennifer Connelly / A Phobia Is Ruining My Life / Anderson's Spelling Bee
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly joins Anderson and reveals how she was able to transform into a schizophrenic for her new movie, "Virginia." The esteemed actress opens up about how she manages her career while simultaneously raising three kids.
Then, are you afraid of flying? What about balloons? Mannequins? Anderson investigates strange phobias, and with the help of Dr. Mike Dow, learns how irrational fears can become an overwhelming reality.
Plus, Anderson challenges a three-time New York City Spelling Bee champ to a spelling competition. Who will win?
Community Question
What's your irrational phobia?
Join the conversation.
Filed Under: Episodes
Comments
Hi, I am 18 and I have an irrational phobia of clowns. I don't know how it started but they freak me out. I cannot be around them, if I am, like recently I went to my partners 5 year old sisters birthday party where there was a clown. I saw it and panicked, I did not want to go on to the property until I was certain the clown was gone.
Clowns are the devils idea of what is funny. They just creep me out. I do not understand how some people enjoy being around them.
Both me and my mum share this fear.
I think my fear is amplified by the fact that clowns are in so many horror films.
I have an unusual and embarassing phobia and I've never met anyone who has shared this problem. I am terrified of commodes, particularly the commode tank contents. As a child, I remember waiting until the last possible moment to ask permission from my teacher to "be excused" because the potties were always disfunctional. Complete rolls of paper had been dropped into the bowl, causing water to overflow constantly onto the floor. Many of the tank lids had been dropped and broken, and the float ball terrified me. I remember as a first grader squatting over the floor drain to empty my bladder rather than closeting myself into these water-spouting monsters. You cannot imagine my fear when I see a Tidy Bowl commercial! I will not glance into the open tank, and have never used a convenience with a missing lid. . . in fact, I have never been within 6-8 ft. of an exposed tank. Once, my mom called me into the restroom and when I came through the door, she slipped past me and held the door closed. To my horror, she had removed the tank lid as a joke, not believing that I had a serious phobia. I tore the door off the hinges getting out. I was about 16 years old at the time! If anyone knows of another commode-phobic, I would love to hear from them. And by the way, I can tell you every non-functioning toilet within a 20 mile radius!! Thanks for letting me unburden!
I am 18 years old and I have a fear of garage doors when they open and close. We live out in the country and have wild animals, especially coyotes, near us, so I'm petrified that when I open the door, a wild animal will come and attack me. This fear started about seven years ago and it's getting a little bit better. I used to HAVE to push the button from the garage and walk back inside until the door is completely open or closed. I could NOT look at the door while it opened because I was so scared.
I was amazed to see that there are other people out there that have a fear of vomit. I dont feel all alone anymore. It started in first grade when a boy in my class threw up and they sent me home cause I was hysterical.I cant stay in motel rooms cause heard someone getting sick in the next room I hate to hear or see it, but the worst of all is when I put myself in a mental hospital because at the apartment I had just moved into someone threw up behind my car and that was that I wouldnt livr there ever again. I guess I think in my mind that I am not safe there because their are drug addicts and drunks there. I am so tired of living like this, just like the other women wrote that she could have been so much more then she is but this phobia has crippled her life.
I am petrified of vomit. I dont remember how it got started but in first grade a boy threw up in my class and they sent me home cause I freaked out. I hate even the thought of it to hear anyone or see it anywhere sends me into a complete panic. I moved out of an apartment because someone threw up behind my car and I for some reason associate vomit w/ drug addicts and drunks so I felt I was in danger. I avoid anywhere I think someone might get sick a bar, party,public transportation, I wont stay in motel rooms cause I heard someone getting sick in the room next door, so travel is out of the question. It has controlled my whole life and I signed myself into a mental health hospital and they did nothing for me. I just would love to be like normal people and enjoy my life to the fullest but this has gotten worse as i get older
I can say without a doubt that my irrational phobia is clowns. I have never liked them since I was little. My parents have several pictures of me at parades, carnivals, and fairs with my head burried in my hands to avoid looking at them. To this day, I still avoid them at all costs. I even go so far as to hide behind someone else if there is no other way to escape.
I have no doubt that I have an irrational phobia of clowns. I have been scared of them since I was very little and I still don't like them to this day. My parents have several pictures of me at parades, fairs, and carnivals crying and burying my face in my hands to avoid looking at them. I will do anything I can to get away from them. If I can't, I will hide behind the person in front of me.
THE WEEK OF MAY, 14- MON. NOT SURE WHAT DAY IT WAS, YOU HAD A YOUNG BLACK GUY ON YOUR SHOW TELLING HIS PREVIOUS SITUATION HE HAD WITH A CREDIT CARD COLLECTION AGENCY. HOW THE COLLECTION AGENCY INFORMED THIS GUY THAT HE OWED MONEY TO HIS CREDIT CARD COMPANY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT & FOR HIM TO PAY UP HIS BILL. HE DID EXACTLY THAT & THE MONEY WAS SENT IMMEDIATELY. A FEW DAYS WENT BY & HE STARTED GETTING PHONE CALLS FROM THE COLLECTION AGENY, WANTING TO KNOW WHY HAS HE IGNORED TO MAKE PAYMENT ON A PASS DUE BAL. THE MONEY WAS ALREADY SENT THE BILL WAS PAID. DESPITE EVIDENCE OR PROOF TO THE CONTRARY THAT THE BILL WAS PAID THE AGENCY CONTINUED THE HARASSMENT. HE FINALLY SUED THEM & WON X AMOUNT OF DOLLARS. I caught THE TAIL END OF THE SHOW WITH THIS GUY. BUT I BELIEVE HE SAID, IF PEOPLE NEED HELP WITH CREDIT CARD COMPANIES, TO WRITE TO HIM. IF THIS IS TRUE, PLEASE SEND ME THE NECESSARY INFO - TO HOOK-UP WITH HIM. HIS NAME, E-MAIL, PHONE # OR ADDRESS.
MR. Anderson Cooper, you're a good man you never stop, always helping people the little guy, keep up the good work.
I NEED HELP BAD, I NEED FOR THIS FELLOW TO HELP ME
THANK YOU SO MUCH
JOSE MELENDEZ
I have always had a fear of falling off a high place. Heights, I won't even challenge. But my worst is of extremely large things. My son, a Marine at the time, took us close to a ship, I really had to fight hard to advance to get closer to it. It was sooo big and tall. I was breathlessly scared of it. Grande Canyon, pictures aren't ok. Movies showing outer space flight out of a big ship combine both fears. In a regular pool, I can't open my eyes to see the deeper end, but I could swim in it without looking. That deep end looked sooo immense. Standing near a regular b757 is out of the question.
Tall buildings. My former Marine son is a welder. He sends us shots of the ground from on top of a 8 story building, straight down at the little cars below. I can't look at those pictures very long before I feel like I'm going to fall off. 2nd story at the Mall, can't walk close to banister, have to be near the wall. I feel like I am being pulled over to fall. Edge of a short cliff, I feel something pulling me over the edge by the ankles. Scared of heights and large things. Flying, can't look out the window and I am one with the seat.
I've hiden this pretty well for years but it is very real inside me. It's a panic that just takes ya over.
I felt these phobias were moderate. I have a severe phobia of cats. I would not have been on the show! I did not agree with the pyschotherapist that your fear is related to the harm the phobia may or can bring you. I am not scared of leopards, lions, tigers, etc. It's the domestic and wild cat that I am afraid of. I go to the zoo and I am not afraid of the lions, tigers, etc. I cannot walk out my own door in fear of a cat. I have not gone into a building where I work due to a cat, I cannot have certain jobs because of cats, I cannot go to events and peoples homes. I am truly a prisoner to this phobia. I was once told my phobia may not even be the cats but something associated with them. Wow! Now that truly scared me. I just didn't find that someone with a true phobia could be present on a stage where the one thing freightens them to death. I'm sure every phobia may have their own level of fear factor. Mine is extreme and I'm too scared to get help because I am not going into a room with a cat, I am not going to touch one, and I don't want to hear the purrring sound they make. I can't even watch a commerical with cats. When Anderson went to a commerical break and showed the cats I screamed to the top of my lungs. I hit the mute button, channel button and threw the remote. I was not ready for that surprise of the cats. I need serious psychotherapy. I don't believe I can be healed or my phobia lessened by a TV show.
Linda
As long as I can remember I have had panic attacks whenever police knocked on my door or when I was driving and they were in my vicinity. Even when I was driving the speed limit and had all my papers. I'm afraid of them even when I am doing nothing wrong. It gets so bad that I pull into a gas station or other things to avoid them.
This is my first time commenting, and I don't know if Anderson reads these--but I wonder if he knows that all of these phobias could have been healed completely and permanently in the time it took during the show to display them for us? An energy healing modality called Pranic Healing heals phobias by removing the trauma energy lodged in the body quickly and efficiently. I suggest Anderson invite Master Stephen Co on the show to demonstrate next time and give a real gift to the sufferers of these conditions. Pranic Healing has been endorsed by Dr. Oz, Deepak Chopra, and many more. See www.pranichealing.com for more info and call the U.S. Pranic Healing Center to invite Master Co on the show!
i really dont think its a phobia but i cant stand NOTHING in between my toes and if i do get something between my toes i totally start freaking out and try to get it out of my toes
I, like Anderson, am phobic when it comes to centipedes!!! I can squash a roach or squish an ant. I can swat a fly or a mosquito. But when it comes to centipedes I absolutely FREAK OUT! (My husband knows the sound of that scream, it's one I make ONLY for the squirmy monsters!) I once had one INSIDE my pantyhose on my leg! I screamed and my dad came into my room, ripped the hose from my frozen body, stomped the centipede and THEN (!!!) he made me leave it on my closet floor saying the mate would come looking for it! Fortunately I have two sisters who shared the room next to mine and whose clothes I could borrow for a week because I would NOT go into my room! Sure enough, the mate came and Dad squashed it too.
In my mind, it is not dead until it is no longer identifiable as a centipede! You can chop its head off but that is not dead enough for me. It has to become part of the ground, pulverized, obliterated, annihilated --GONE! But the "willies" remain.
i wrote earlier. i just wanted to let you know that i have never made over 30,000 a year so i am not talking about buying jewels or furs or fancy cars. or drugs just living and makeing sure i forfill my fathers words. i was the youngest and the favorite so i had to do what my dad said. Lana