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My odd phobia... a question?

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linalin

New Member
One of the biggest drives behind my interest in reincarnation is a very odd phobia I have...

I have never heard of anyone having the same problem as me, and I don't know how to fix it but I feel silly and embarrassed. I am totally and utterly terrified of the song "Fur Elise" by Beethoven. If it comes on, I have to cover my ears and sing over it so I can't hear it. Yes, I still do this at 28! I have no way to explain this fear. I hear it start and I just KNOW that I absolutely CANNOT hear the end of the song. I feel like hearing the entire song is signaling impending doom. I've told my mother that I think I'm going to die if I hear the song finish--- and I have absolutely no idea why. I've had people suggest that maybe I heard it when I was very young and it was just "creepy" to me, and others say that maybe when I was small I accidentally saw it used in a scary movie. But I just can't fathom those things instilling a life long debilitating phobia of a SONG. My heart races, I start to have a panic attack, I can't breathe, and I feel like I need to run away.

Has anyone heard of anything similar or maybe point me to a good resource that may talk about things like this?
 
linalin said:
Has anyone heard of anything similar or maybe point me to a good resource that may talk about things like this?
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Hi Linalin, and welcome to the Forum!


We have had a number of threads that have covered the problem of phobias, and one author to consider seriously is Dr. Brian Weiss who discovered Reincarnation through his therapy work with patients who had phobia issues.
 
Hi linalin,


You don't have to feel embarrassed about your phobia, and you're welcome to discuss it here. A phobia is an irrational fear, and many people have the most unusual fears that can appear absolutely ridiculous to everyone else, but is very real to the victim. I can understand your fear - and sympathize. Fortunately, it can't be too difficult to steer clear of that song in your life, but if it really bothers you, then you can tackle it with a bit of willpower.


It is very possible that your phobia is past life related, and there could be any number of reasons as to why. You may have been sentenced to death, and hearing the song was a 'last request'? It may have been used as a countdown to your 'execution'? You may be associating it with a terrible tragedy that happened in the past. There are many possibilities.


I believe the only way to tackle a phobia is to face it head on. I used to have a terrible phobia of thunder and lightning. It wasn't just the usual fear, I was absolutely terrified of it well into my adulthood. It wasn't until I was faced with living my life on my own, that I had to face my fear alone. One night there was a terrible storm, and where I would usually run and hide in the closet, this time I forced myself to open the curtains and stand there and face the storm head on. And I cured the phobia that night! I came to realize that a storm can be beautiful and not something to fear (in most cases). Now I just get a little buzz in my stomach whenever there's a storm, but they don't bother me at all now, and whenever there is a storm now, there is a certain amount of pride and satisfaction that I defeated my phobia. You can easily learn to rule IT, and not allow IT to rule you ;)


I think you just have to train your mind to know that this song can't harm you in any way, then try to listen to it, focus on your breathing, try to slow it down, tell yourself that no harm is going to come to you. It may take time, it may take several attempts, but you can do it.


Here is an older thread that you may find interesting: Irrational phobias.
 
Nightrain- thank you for the name suggestion! I couldn't find the search option earlier when I posted- found it now though! I will definitely be searching now


ChrisR- Ahh yes, facing it... I've tried and I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it. It's like part of me inside just knows that something horrible is going to happen if I hear the entire song. I do have some more typical phobias- being alone, heights, some bugs, fish... they're not terrible though and those are ones I am able to "work through" for the most part. I see a therapist for some other things, and I have told her about my fear of heights and bugs, but have definitely left Fur Elise off the list. My family and good friends know about it, but I've noticed that I usually get 1 of 2 reactions from people if I tell them: 1) they laugh it off as being "silly" or 2) they try to catch me off guard and play the song.


My mother doubted the seriousness of the phobia until I sat on the floor of Walmart covering my ears and crying because it was playing on one of those "CD preview" machines they used to have.


I don't know if this is an interesting bit of information or not: I cannot think of the song because if I do it will play in my mind. I believe I actually know the entire song, without ever having heard it fully through.


Luckily, as you mention, it's usually pretty easy to avoid! THANKFULLY!


I am planning to be regressed in the next few months and I'm hoping we can uncover some information about this song and why it bothers me so much.


I would love to not be scared of a song, but I'd also love to know WHY I have this irrational fear!
 
I think the regression will help if you don't feel that you can face it alone. The therapist will attempt to contact that part of you that knows something horrible will happen if you hear all of the song, and assure you that nothing bad will happen at all, and then once your subconscious self can acknowledge that fact, then you will feel liberated, it's a great feeling! ;)


Please keep us updated and let us know how you get on.
 
If there is one thing I tell people, it is that fear is not irrational and certainly not silly. Fear exists to ensure one’s survival and it is quite possible that when you heard the music, you felt as though you were in peril.


If, in a past life, you were indeed in peril when your heard the music, then it is quite likely that you were traumatically conditioned to respond to it. Such conditioning can be undone.


Have you thought about doing your own research and looking for additional triggers associated with this music? For example, have you examined the historical context?


If its any help, the original manuscript for the music was around 1810 and so extremely popular that in Taiwan and Iran, it is allegedly played by rubbish-trucks and in Brazil by gas cylinder merchants.


The music probably reached its greatest popularity during the Second World War when there was a significant surge in axis nationalism.


Hope you get to the bottom of it.:thumbsup:
 
Alexius said:
fear is not irrational and certainly not silly.
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I believe the point wasn't to demean one's phobia, but rather to help define the quality of a phobia...which is a fear founded beyond any rational basis, thus "irrational".


Please excuse my pedanticism.
 
Fear in itself is not irrational, but a phobia IS irrational fear, a fear of something that poses no threat, and has no reason to be feared. For example, Sciophobia - the fear of shadows, is an irrational fear, difficult for the majority of us to comprehend, but very real and debilitating for the victim.
 
Simply because a reason is not apparent, this does not mean the case is devoid of it. The ‘R’ complex, which is the primitive brain, is reactionary and not irrational. A fear of shadows is merely a hyper vigilance of the primitive self reacting to what is perceived as a sign of a potential predator. For example, we might say that “nine times out of ten”, the shadow may pose no apparent threat - but only nine times.


As far as I am aware, the only irrational thing in existence is numbers of this namesake.


Rather than wasting time arguing semantics, it was rather more my intention to achieve a sense of context with regards to the music mentioned by linalin.
 
Extreme fears/phobias that are often seen as irrational can definitely have roots in a traumatic event from a past life. If there is nothing that has occurred to you during this lifetime that could explain the phobia, then perhaps it is possible that the phobia lies in a past life. Perhaps something traumatic happened while listening to the music or there was some connection to the music.


I agree with Alexius in that listening to other types of classical music could be a interesting research endeavor. You may find other triggers that can provide more information as to what is causing this phobia.
 
I don't know if this guy experienced a phobia to this song, but your post immediately brought to mind this thread where a guy remembers committing suicide to REM's "Drive."
 
I've always associated the song to bittersweet memories, I had as a child of my life during WW2 in Germany. I can also understand why and how such a song too, can leave a traumatic imprint on you. I have had that happen with music and avoided them for a great while and finally one day said to myself that I wanted to get to the bottom of the matter and meditated to the song and figured out why. While I don't suggest that to you, until you are ready and of your own choice. Deal with your fears as they come and take it occurance by occurance.
 
As with other phobias it is probably related to a trauma in a past life. The song was played during one. I know that old songs can awaken memories.
 
I know what you are going trough...


i have a really weird phobia myself, i'm scared of rainbows...


people usually laugh when they hear it, or ask me, seriously?!!


I just can't stand it... and i can't really explain why, its the intensity i think, and the big curve in the sky ...


Big aura's, and many colours, do scare me...


makes me a bit upset, cause its beautiful at the same time.
 
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