It can sometimes seem like the whole world speaks in hyperbole these days. We’re “dying,” we’re “totally freaked out,” or maybe “starving to death,” but no matter how you slice it, human beings love the drama.
These 18 people are giving totally honest and serious answers to the question “what truly scares you,” though, so prepare yourselves – by the end of this list you just might have a few new fears of your own.
18. It will happen to all of us.
I’m not mentally prepared to accept my friends and family members dying one day. I just have no idea how I’ll continue living with my loved ones who literally raised me, especially my mum and dad.
17. You never truly know anyone.
What human beings are able to do….
You never know if the person next to you could snap…
16. Losing a parent.
I can prepare you for the hardest part: when something cool, funny, or significant happens and you’re like “oh, I gotta tell mom about this!” followed by “oh yeah, I forgot…”
I lost my dad in 2009 and mom in 2014 and this happens to me at least once a week.
Also if there’s any family history you’re curious about, ask them now. I’ve come to realize that there are some things about my family I’ll never know because literally no one is around who could tell me.
15. It really sucks.
Cancer. Watched my dad die a slow painful death from that crap.
Scares the absolute hell out of me.
14. Our brains can be our worst enemy.
The knowing I am alone and I don’t have the courage to actually do something for my good, I don’t wanna, and it scares me to even try to figure out why.
13. You never know.
This is really silly, but being home alone and sitting watching or doing something at night when the curtains aren’t drawn. I can’t see anything out but something could see in.
I live in the middle of nowhere so the idea someone could just be watching me with such ease sacred the living s*%t out of me.
You never know what could be outside watching you. It’s a scary world. I feel the same way, I shut all of my curtains/blinds when it’s night.
I also keep my doors locked 24/7. My husband said as a kid his parents never locked the door. Even at night. Because they live in a smaller city and it’s supposed to be safe.
12. This is very specific.
Waking up in a padded cell one day, realizing that everything I knew was a figment of my own imagination.
Nothing I knew could be trusted, and my own mind is working against me.
11. I could never do it.
The unknown hiding in the darkness is just too overwhelming. I shut the curtains even though my window faces a closed backyard. The stories I’ve heard just give me the chills.
And don’t even get me started on the sounds from outside. People who live isolated inside deep woods are just mental.
10. I think this scares everyone.
Being paralyzed, having my movements restricted, being buried alive.
I have sever ADHD so I constantly have to fidget to remain cool and to calm me down. So the idea of not being able to use parts of my body kinda overloads my brain and sometimes sends me into small anxiety attacks.
The worse part of the idea of not being able to use my arms or control any of my movements, is that I couldn’t even have power to end my own life. And I would have to suffer with it for years.
9. Having no one.
Loneliness.
Not the “I have no partner” kind of loneliness, but the kind of loneliness where I’m old and have nobody to talk to, to rely on, to call, to see.
No family, no friends, no ancient colleagues.
And wondering at which point in my life it all went wrong so much that it lead me to this lonely hell.
8. Never give up.
I’ve had a dream for as long as i can remember. I’ve wanted the same thing for over 24 years.
No matter how much i struggle, or skimp, and save, i just can not catch a break and achieve it.
I want a small house with some land in a rural area. I worked hard to get the money saved up to get there, but i’ve been so hard countered by life and RNG bullshit that i’m close to giving up.
So my fear is that no matter what i do I’ll end up abandoning my dreams in raw desperation.
It is a special feeling when you’re so poor it costs too much to live month to month for you to save money.
7. Pretty depressing.
The concept of alzheimer’s: Forgetting everything you have ever experienced since you ever existed and not even knowing it
I highly recommend to anyone wanting to know more about alzheimer’s and dementia to listen to Everywhere at the end of time, it’s a 6-hour long album made with 1920s-40s music slowly degrading over 6 hours and it can get pretty depressing.
6. Can’t even think about it.
My son dying suddenly. He’s 10.
5. None of us do.
The future and not knowing if I’ll be able to make it.
4. It’s a powerful motivator.
Dying alone.
I’m constantly worried and I feel the pressure of meeting someone, getting married and starting a family.
I’m only 30 and single, but this thought scares the living hell out of me.
3. An existential crisis.
The passage of time, every second that goes by won’t ever come back and I’m slowly crumbling to dust as approximately half my life is gone and I’ve become unsympathetic to the dreams I had in the past while I sit waiting to be undone by forces beyond my control.
This is my worst fear, like once something happens it never happens again. Not once in the entire universe. Really spooky, keeps me up at night.
2. A dull ache.
The idea that my house will catch on fire while I’m not home and my dog will die alone in the fire.
This happened to me in 7th grade, My family lost everything we owned, 2 dogs, and I personally lost 6 beloved fish.
We had good insurance and family friends, but the fact of the matter is that it brings a dull ache with you for a long time.
1. The worst thing imaginable.
Losing one of my kids. I honestly don’t know what I would do if one of them got sick or was in an accident.
I can’t sleep/have nightmares about it all the time.
I can tell you that I thought I knew what fear was, but then I became a mom and realized I never had before.
What about you? Let us know down in the comments what makes your blood run cold.