Thank god i'm not alone!

Hey guys,
I've read through all these posts and pondered throughout about my own kinemortophobia. I'm not sure if I will get any replys to this but any would be grateful.
As we all know, young people of today are getting more obsessed with scary things as the years go on. They also seem to be playing games that are not for there age, this thoroughly annoys me because then I go round to hang with them and then (through a form of peer pressure) I end up playing that game. That was my first encounter with Zombies and I had nightmares for weeks afterwards. It didn't help that just as it was going away, the TV show, 'The Walking Dead' appeared on TV, the adverts freaked me out and I was again thrown into weeks of nightmares, mainly consisting of only waking up at the last second just as the zombie is about to kill me (I will write about a dream I had, later).
Because of this 'fear' I am mocked by my friends as they continue to talk about that game and other games. I don't know if this would have any relevance to my problem but my father died when I was about 3 years old and my mother never remarried, however I've had a good life with her and she is still going strong.
Now, whenever I think something is wrong I get like a (now this is going to sound silly) 'sense' or 'gut feeling'. This is probably just adrenaline kicking in, but it causes a different type of 'thumping in my chest'. For instance, I was at a friends house watching them play HALO: ODST (I think), They then exited to the title screen and said to me,"Why don't you have a go." I said sure not really knowing what to do but completely trusting them (As they were a good friend and I thought,'If they can do it, I can do it.') I was just about to start campaign when my friend left the room to go use the bathroom which was just across the hall. However the 'Pounding Sense' (As I will now call it) began, I felt scared to play it and was worried about playing it, however I had enjoyed watching him play it. I made an excuse to leave and went home as I didn't like this feeling. However I was fine after leaving his house. This same sense took over when I thought about watching on YouTube a play through of Portal 2, however this time I dismissed it and I turned out fine. A week after finishing the series I was invited to my friends house to play 'The Game' (For some reason even saying the name of the game freaks me out too much to even type it but it was the game before MW3). When he suggested playing the certain mode I got the Pounding Sense but thought (just like from when watching Portal 2), I'll be fine. As you can tell, I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG !!!
One of the dreams I had consisted of a couple of people (including me) as a lone group of survivors, it was like a large office with a giant circular window with a blind that could be draw to cover it. I would stare out of it and one time a group of small child zombies came up to the window looking innocent, one of the other survivors pulled me back just as a adult zombie stormed over. It was too late though and the zombie came around and smashed the door open we killed it instantly but the glass had cut the friend who had pulled me from the window. Everyone backed away from him and the blood and I apoligized profusely before he twisted and there was a rippling all over his body and I hard a crack of something snapping and he turned into a zombie. I turned away and closed my eyes hearing a gunshot and knowing he was dead. For some reason within these dreams if you touched wet or dry blood you would turn into a zombie and if you got cut you would turn into a zombie. The next thing I knew I had my pistol and stuck it beneath my chin and thrust it against my adam's apple and just as I pulled the trigger my eyes snapped open breathing heavily, my mother told me later that evening that I had been mumbling in my sleep.

Sorry for rambling on but I want to see if there is anyway to combat this as every time I tried to influence my dream, my sub/unconscious countered and made it useless. I've even tried making it that some sort of 'Force of Nature' would destroy them e.g. tidal waves, volcanic eruptions etc.

Sorry for the wall of text!

Thanks,
RC277227

i know what your talking about,i am also scared of the dark and also my room's lightbulb smashed a few days ago so i was super scared when i went to sleep.however the only game i can play is los zombies, you may like to try that and play until you get all of the weapons, from the machette to the minigun, i also try watching my brother play kino der toten on blackops:zombies and i am even scared when i see a zombie in wizards of waverly place or the south park theme song, beware of the episode pinkeye and the 3d south park theme song, so do not watch the one with techno music in the back ground, or the episode special of wizards of waverly place "wizards of apartment 13b" i hope a technique i've told you about today works.

Mr. Ian

I suffer from kinemortophobia (specifically the unmentionable Z word) I have tried to overcome this phobia by avoiding it entirely, trying to embrace it by forcing myself to deal with the Z word in movies, video games, etc and nothing has worked. The thing about the Z word that absolutely terrifies me is the thought of losing who I am as an individual, I have made life long decisions because of this fear including career, location as to where I live, the construction of the house I live in, what I do in my spare time, and much more. I have had this phobia for years and the thought of death doesn't scare me, even the thought of a painful death although there are a few ways I'd prefer not to go out in. What scares me is losing myself and who I am as an individual. I do not fear vampires or werewolves I'd actually like to become one if ever possible, but this fear of mine has lead me to biological and chemical research, to going to a range and practicing, to going into a profession so I can expand my medical and chemical knowledge as well as so I can afford to stock up on everything I may need this fear is getting way out of hand I need help.

P.S due to the movie Z word land I cannot use public restrooms (just so you may see how out of hand it's gotten) please help
JMBA

I was surprised to see so many people who have this similar issue. I'm so terrified of zombies (as irrational as it may be) I break down and cry sometimes. I can't sleep until I lock all the windows and doors - even my bedroom door! I always get laughed at and my friends will stumble towards me, moaning, thinking it's hilarious that it's so "easy" to scare me. But it's honestly starting to ruin my life. I was never afraid of anything until about 3 or 4 years ago and this phobia manifested itself. I'm even afraid to be alone in the dark, because I see the damn creatures coming towards me. This unfortunately is not my only mental health ...issue.... and I can't find good psychotherapy. I literally don't know what to do. Life is exhausting enough without being afraid all the time. Has anyone had any success overcoming this fear?

Fears and phobias are never rational and its way too easy for friends or family to laugh it off.......the sad part being that it really is a very serious issue.

You need to seek help so visit your local GP and ask for a referral to someone that can help you. Dont delay.....the sooner this is done the better you can move on and get out of life what you deserve.

Good luck and please keep us informed

i know this thread is REALLY old but im not sure what to do. ive been getting night terrors of zombies and cant sleep after. thr fear of zombies arent NEW or after the nigh terrors. ive had this fear since 13. i have narrowed down my dreams that most of the time im either * at my parents house and a couple of times in buildings * always my parents are with me but arent very afraid of the going ons outside and i fear for thier lives and start to panic. weirdly enough my husband has only occurd once or twice. it has become a huge part of my life since i have remodeld my parents house to be convinte if something were to happen. i know all the exits and our walls are big and made of hard break and cement. people dont understand this fear of mine but i find it rational. it is a han that died was experimented and made a drug to cure him but onpy brought his body back and travels to another by being bite or scratched. i have this fear id wake up one day to find it real and sometimes i would check the street from my window to see if theres any zombies. i think im scared one day an idiot is going to actully try and bring the dead back and it scares me that it could possibly happen

hi wolfgirl you are not alone with this fear I am 23 years old and I am absolutely terrified of them to the point that about 10 years ago friends jokingly told me that there was a zombie in a bush at the park near me I didn't go back to that park until last year after the bushes were cut down and I could see nothing was there ... whenever I see one or hear one or hear the word my heart races I get shaky and sweaty I also end up with a lot of sleepless nights as everytime I close my eyes I see it again and dream of them which ends up with me screaming the house down when I wake from it. I do not know how my fear came about, it has been like this or as long as I know and it is quite frustrating as a lot of people laugh it off when you tell them or will try to trick you into looking at picture of them

I realize this is a really old response to "wolfgirl". but lets say you really look back and suddenly remembered where all that fear came from. and it was your abusive alchoholic uncle that used to act like a zombie coming after you at the age of 4yrs old and complete and utter fear and panic comes over you. how do someone begin to resolve this...??? oh yeah the the uncle ended up dying (no fear of him coming back to life though). still cant get over the anxiaty of the thought of zombies.

(03-27-2008 09:28 AM)Mr Ian Wrote:  Hi Vicki,

Many thanks for your reply. You write very eloquently and a pleasure to see nowadays when I'm so used to persons of your age writing in txt shrthnd or in sum 4m ov nu age code with the obligatory and emphatic grammatical expressions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I digress.

Quote:To put my childhood in a nutshell,...

..and we are all but shells for the nut within.

Usually it is preferential to discuss more about the issues before jumping to conclusions. However, in this instance I will avoid that and go straight for the "Dr Phil" direct approach and for 2 reasons:
1) I think you will be able to work out the relevant from the irrelevant of my comments.
2) We gotta start somewhere.

You're fears are representational. It is not the zombies per se you fear but what they signify. I reason this by your affinity to the werewolves - so it's not 'scary things' - and how you describe them both.

Your fears may well benefit more from 'dream analysis' than from CBT:
zombies signify death and despair. This is what you fear. Becoming, as you describe it:

Quote:"A degeneration into death and paradox... how scary would it be to see death up close? To see your loved ones soulless? To wait for death as it slowly lumbers towards you in its hundreds, thousands or even millions?"

You fear the death of your own soul and life. You have a sense of feeling powerless within your life and, at such an early age, are fearful it may become nothing more than a wakeful death.

On the other hand, you describe the mutation of werewolves and how:

Quote:They represent a transformation and evolution for me, not fear and mindless savaging

You describe them as becoming powerful and encouraging, fearless and purposeful.

In essence, I think you are setting these two as your role models in life; your aspiration to be like a werewolf and mutate into an elegant powerful and astute creature against the antipathy; the zombie who wanders aimless, thoughtless and lives a 'life' of death.

Uncomfortable child hood experiences may have voided you of the 'normal;' role models of children ie parents. This may be perhaps, and in an unqualified guess, because where Dad should be showing you strength in character, he showed you strength in abuse. Where Mum should have shown you strength in resilience, she showed strength in passive tolerance.

Ergo, you have sought to find replacement role models. Unusually, you have sought these good/bad roles from the world of horror fiction. To have used another person might have felt disrespectful or even treacherous to your parents. This is the dichotomy of children and bad parents. They cannot help but love them; regardless and unconditionally. They form within our connection to the universe.

Now the age is upon you to begin thinking of standing independently. You have no measure by which to compare yourself other than the two extremes of werewolf and zombie. I would suggest, from your writing alone that I would consider you more werewolf already than anything close to zombie.

Take your time to consider this response, and reflect on it. You may disagree with it in parts or entirely and that's ok. Dr Phil ain't all that anyhow.

Ian

PS I LOVE your avatar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <-- I mean every one of those.