Wierd Phobia- am i the only one?

I have this crazy thing where the collar part of my shirt absolutely CANNOT touch my neck or i will freak out. So constantly throughout the day i have to hold my shirt away from my neck, so its like i am living my life with one hand. I can take it away for a while if im not really thinking but the second i remember it like completely freaks me out and i cant go on without pulling it away. Its hard for me because i hide this from my parents because when they used to know about it they sent me straight to therapy, which totally made it worse because then i felt like i was crazy or something, so i bought a bunch of polos that didnt bother the part of the neck that "cant be touched" (its like that little indention between your collar bones where you can push it in) and i "got over it" which got me out of therapy and put my parents under the impression that i was all better. So for the last year everything has worked out fine because i just do it at school and stuff when they arent around, but now that i am starting to drive and my mom makes me drive with two hands it makes me crazy because i feel it then like worse than ever so i am completley having like these mini panic attacks behind the wheel, which is most likely pretty dangerous. I am desperate and have dealt with this problem for at least 4 years so please if you know anything help me out.

sareybarey919 said:

I have this crazy thing where the collar part of my shirt absolutely CANNOT touch my neck or i will freak out. So constantly throughout the day i have to hold my shirt away from my neck, so its like i am living my life with one hand. I can take it away for a while if im not really thinking but the second i remember it like completely freaks me out and i cant go on without pulling it away. Its hard for me because i hide this from my parents because when they used to know about it they sent me straight to therapy, which totally made it worse because then i felt like i was crazy or something, so i bought a bunch of polos that didnt bother the part of the neck that "cant be touched" (its like that little indention between your collar bones where you can push it in) and i "got over it" which got me out of therapy and put my parents under the impression that i was all better. So for the last year everything has worked out fine because i just do it at school and stuff when they arent around, but now that i am starting to drive and my mom makes me drive with two hands it makes me crazy because i feel it then like worse than ever so i am completley having like these mini panic attacks behind the wheel, which is most likely pretty dangerous. I am desperate and have dealt with this problem for at least 4 years so please if you know anything help me out.

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Get over it...learn to like you shirt touching your neck.
Love Dat COTTON!

re:sara...

You have described a tactlie aversion which is common amongst people with other disorders. It sounds as if it is the material which has the fear effect on you. Can you talk to someone else about it ither than your parents who don't seem to understand. This lack of understanding reagrding family members is also common. I used to suffer from agoraphobia and despite the love of my family they had not comprehension of what I was experiencing and therefore were not the best supporters.

You are NOT the only one with a weird phobia. I have many. Probably the one I get the most crap over is my phobia of gas pumps.. yeah.. There are only two I've been able to cope with using ever..

Luckily I don't drive (or go out) anymore so I don't have to deal with them. And since I'm moving to the ever-so-pedestrian-friendly UK it's not something I HAVE to worry about ever again!

in response to yetisbabe's statement that she cannot stand eyes lookin at her....
what exactly do u feel then because i have somewhat a similar problem.....
also.1 more thing......... we all discuss our problems here n tell 1 another that it is ok.....u r not alone...im sure that helps..... but howmuch???
thtas the question....cant somethin be done that we become perfectly healthy human beings and so that we can also enjoy life like others?

ps:also some1 plz tell me how to use these emoticons..!!

Hey SareyBarey,
Eversince I was a small child I have hated collars or jumpers being tight around my neck. The difference being that I never considered this a phobia, but just that my neck was very sensitive to material and needed to be kept free. I really don't consider that a phobia. I don't know the difference between you and me with that. Perhaps you just have a sensitive neck like I do, and perhaps it became a phobia after this. ...I don't know.

However, as far as fears of strange things are concerned.... I've had fears of various social situations for a long time; and each of these seemed to change according to what I was used to feeling more nervous about. And when I recently last had a job, I was able to calm my self around others to some extent; but fell apart when they played music (often really loudly) in the room. ...My 'phobia' or fear was that I would emotionally connect/feel too much the mood and lyrics in the song and that I would 'personalise' it, and that people would sense how strongly reactive I was (impressionable, emotional, self-centred as well) and think me strange, emotionally retarded or whatever. ...which ofcourse, being afraid of all this, is exactly what happened. ...That was extremely embarrassing, because nobody seemed to be able to fathom why I felt the way I did and I knew that it was ridiculous but could not stop my emotions anyhow. Quite awful how most people simply don't understand at all (some are actually remarkably cruel in fact).

I have wondered how to 'control' such a thing because I already learnt (on my own even) the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy. ...Lately I have come across information whereby people with difficulty with control can learn to simply at will make themselves calm and recondition their mind to be able to actually do what they want when they want.

Another poster recommended this in another thread (so you can ask if you want).

Tom Measer, I think that your advice is very good. Meditation is one thing my therapist suggested, and I can better see now how the purpose was to develop the skill -of relaxing the self at will- that you mentioned helped to neutralise a phobia. ...Phobias are incidious: a lot of focus and control is needed to stop them from continuosly coming back to ruin a person's peace of mind.

hey i have the same thing. ive had it seince i was a lil. all my shirts have steched out colllars. my freinds alway mess with me and touch my neck just because it bugs me. but i have not found a way to fix it my bro tried a couple times by making me put tight things on my neck. but it dose not help. the weird thing is when i wrestle i dont normaly fell it. but there are time i do. but like u it only bothers me when i think about it. and i just got my licence to but it dosnt seem to bother me that much cus i drive with one hand and if it dose bother me i just fix it. if u do find a way to help it plz tell me im kinnda geting tird of it.

dream_j said:

sareybarey919 said:

I have this crazy thing where the collar part of my shirt absolutely CANNOT touch my neck or i will freak out. So constantly throughout the day i have to hold my shirt away from my neck, so its like i am living my life with one hand. I can take it away for a while if im not really thinking but the second i remember it like completely freaks me out and i cant go on without pulling it away. Its hard for me because i hide this from my parents because when they used to know about it they sent me straight to therapy, which totally made it worse because then i felt like i was crazy or something, so i bought a bunch of polos that didnt bother the part of the neck that "cant be touched" (its like that little indention between your collar bones where you can push it in) and i "got over it" which got me out of therapy and put my parents under the impression that i was all better. So for the last year everything has worked out fine because i just do it at school and stuff when they arent around, but now that i am starting to drive and my mom makes me drive with two hands it makes me crazy because i feel it then like worse than ever so i am completley having like these mini panic attacks behind the wheel, which is most likely pretty dangerous. I am desperate and have dealt with this problem for at least 4 years so please if you know anything help me out.

Click to expand...

Get over it...learn to like you shirt touching your neck.
Love Dat COTTON!

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Sorry, but I believe "Get over it" is BS advice that basically tells a person that you don't care enough to actually take their problems seriously. Most problems can't be solved in an instant. It takes a step-by-step process to actually resolve an issue. I mean, if you told a smoker to "get over" his smoking habit, do you really think he'll stop smoking? Next time, why don't you try to offer something thoughtful instead of a brushoff statement.

wear a 'turtle neck' underneath, that way you wont be able to feel the shirt. or a scarf..

Neck Phobia

So i have the same issue with my neck.. Ever since i can remember i haven't been able to wear t-shirts... i just wear tank tops year round.. sometimes i cant sleep at night because i feel tension on my neck.. or when im laying on the beach.. i feel wind on my neck.. just everything bothers me.. the cape at the salon.. i could go on.. but this is the first i've heard of anyone else having any issues..

Now i've been told that it is anxiety.. but i have no idea how to fix it.. i've been told to just get over it, and to even try to wear t-shirts.. and get used to it.. but i cant.. when something touches my neck.. i continue to feel it.. even after that object is no longer touching my neck.. it even bothers me to see other people wearing turtle necks.. and etc

So basically i just wanted to know if anyone has any answers yet...thanks!

LOL mine is weirder

Hey well i wanted to see my any1 has the same thing was what i have. ok i get freaked out so much when some1 touches my neck. i get so scard. but nothing happens when i touch my neck. lol but the thing is that i have to sleep touching my neck and like not talking about my neck it feels like sum1 is going to stab me in the neck so i have to touch my neck all the time . now that is weird.

so i get freaked out if sum1 touches my collar part of my neck
but most of the time i feel so like some1 is going to stab me so i have o hold my neck.

I have the same thing but it's much less severe. It sounds to me like OCD. I'd go see a good psychiatrist and get some medication to help you with it. Unfortunately, the only real way to break yourself of this is will power. I'm not saying buy a turtleneck, but once you get some medicine for this I would try wearing regular t-shirts at all times including when you sleep. If it gets to be too much switch over to v-necks and polos. Try sitting on your hands that's what helped me quit pulling on my hair and stuff. Good luck.

sareybarey919 said:

I have this crazy thing where the collar part of my shirt absolutely CANNOT touch my neck or i will freak out. So constantly throughout the day i have to hold my shirt away from my neck, so its like i am living my life with one hand. I can take it away for a while if im not really thinking but the second i remember it like completely freaks me out and i cant go on without pulling it away. Its hard for me because i hide this from my parents because when they used to know about it they sent me straight to therapy, which totally made it worse because then i felt like i was crazy or something, so i bought a bunch of polos that didnt bother the part of the neck that "cant be touched" (its like that little indention between your collar bones where you can push it in) and i "got over it" which got me out of therapy and put my parents under the impression that i was all better. So for the last year everything has worked out fine because i just do it at school and stuff when they arent around, but now that i am starting to drive and my mom makes me drive with two hands it makes me crazy because i feel it then like worse than ever so i am completley having like these mini panic attacks behind the wheel, which is most likely pretty dangerous. I am desperate and have dealt with this problem for at least 4 years so please if you know anything help me out.

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Guy with same problem

I've been trying to explain this thing to people forever! I'm 21 now but it started when I was just a little kid and I hated wearing collared shirts or "spike shirts" as I called them. It has gotten worse for me over the years. Sleeping is really the main issue with it. Several years ago I was fine as long as there wasn't anything actually touching my neck while I was trying to sleep. But as time went by I started not being able to tolerate light air blowing on my neck or even the thought of air blowing on it! I sleep without a shirt on but still I have to have my hand over my neck somehow when I sleep, I guess so that I feel like I have control over the situation. I feel that if the neck problem wasn't there I would be able to sleep a lot better, and trust me, I can't sleep. Does anyone know if there's a name for this, and could you email me at [email protected] if so? I've been looking and I can't seem to find what it's called.

sareybarey919 said:

I have this crazy thing where the collar part of my shirt absolutely CANNOT touch my neck or i will freak out. So constantly throughout the day i have to hold my shirt away from my neck, so its like i am living my life with one hand. I can take it away for a while if im not really thinking but the second i remember it like completely freaks me out and i cant go on without pulling it away. Its hard for me because i hide this from my parents because when they used to know about it they sent me straight to therapy, which totally made it worse because then i felt like i was crazy or something, so i bought a bunch of polos that didnt bother the part of the neck that "cant be touched" (its like that little indention between your collar bones where you can push it in) and i "got over it" which got me out of therapy and put my parents under the impression that i was all better. So for the last year everything has worked out fine because i just do it at school and stuff when they arent around, but now that i am starting to drive and my mom makes me drive with two hands it makes me crazy because i feel it then like worse than ever so i am completley having like these mini panic attacks behind the wheel, which is most likely pretty dangerous. I am desperate and have dealt with this problem for at least 4 years so please if you know anything help me out.

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I am sortofish like that, but with my wrists. I can't have them exposed at all, because I am afraid of that area being touched by something sharp; it's not that I think I'll die or anything like that. It's wierd because the fear goes right away when I sweat!

Go to hypnotherapy. You probably find that you had been hanged in past life .

I'm like that with chains and metal, hence the reason why I freak out if I were to wear a necklace. But it's because it gets stuck in the neck hairs, which bothers me a lot.

I have a phobia of reading, and being asked to read.
I'm not joking, I have dyslexia, getting information from something that is written down is a slow arduous process for me, all i can do is watch movies and stuff like that.
It makes me feel sad and stupid because of the assosiation in the modern world that people who read books are more inteligent.

Hello.
I have the exact same problem. I hate anything touching my neck. If anybody else touches my neck i lash out at them.
Also if i see other people touching there neck i go all funny and start to panic i then have to cover my neck up as i then get a weird tighting feeling in it.
While reading through this i have my neck covered by my hand. Even the thought of necks makes me go all funny and panic.

Omg I thought I was the only one. I have this too and it is absolutely horrible. I constantly have my hand near my neck which I do not mind but anything else just terrifies me.
I cannot get over this phobia and it's driving me insane.
It stops me from doing things like wearing a wetsuit on holiday as it goes around your neck. I don't know what to do