I am not that scared of a lot of things, but I have three phobias that all surround the same object. Mirrors. But when I say phobia I don't mean I'm just scared of mirrors, no I have an irrational fear of them, so much so, I do just about everything I can to physically avoid them. With this odd thing to be so terrified of, comes the comments. If you have a legit phobia you might understand where I'm coming from when I say these are not our favorite things to hear when we are terrified of something and decide to tell you about it.

"Wow that's weird."

I am totally aware that my phobia seems odd to you, it isn't something I really enjoy having either, but please don't say that I'm weird or set me apart for something I can't control.

"OMG How do you survive?"

Um... just like anyone else. I personally just avoid it [mirrors specifically], meaning I don't use one to get ready in the morning because well, I can live without it, and you'll rarely find one in my room.

"Why would you be scared of that?"

Man, I don't know, but I definitely won't watch any movies that incorporate it in a negative way, but please don't ask this with such a judgey tone because I really can't control it.

"Seriously, it's harmless."

Ok, to you maybe it is, to me I'm legit going to die in less than two seconds, hence "irrational fear" being included in the definition. In our minds it's life threatening Linda.

"You really need to face your fear *inserts object in front of person with phobia*"

This one is really messed up. I've tried to face this fear so many times and it isn't going anywhere. DO NOT force someone to face their phobia because it makes it even more traumatizing to them than it was before and it definitely IS NOT funny, it may be to you, but I'll legit start crying.

"What if I face it with you?"

Also does not help. Your presence will not just suddenly make the fear any less real to me.

These are just a few things I can think of that I have been told that drive me crazy to hear when I decide to tell someone about my phobia. It isn't easy to tell anyone about in the first place because some phobias are real, but don't give someone a hard time for it. I can guarantee you we already beat ourselves up over it.