The language of the psychological and psychiatric communities is fantastic. A “Simple Phobia” is in fact no such thing, it can complicate a life beyond belief. Of course what they mean is a phobia related to one object or situation, as opposed to a more general phobia such as agoraphobia where both the causes and treatment may be more complicated.
I saw a video of a woman who had a phobia of feathers (it was on a BBC programme about phobias some time ago). Although it might seem like an easy phobia to deal with in fact it was life crushing. She feared birds of all shapes and sizes and they are pretty hard to escape. Once she left her two year old on a beach in Tenerife because a Seagull looked at her. It sounds almost comic but in fact it severely disabled her, like so many phobias do.
The cure came from a very mainstream source. Firstly she tried hypnotic regression and did indeed recall a time when a bird had become trapped in her grandmothers kitchen and had scared her as a child. The recollection of this event did not appear to change her phobia, for when she went outside the site of a pigeon affected her just as before.
Eventually she went to a clinical psychologist who pointed out to her that she had become scared of her fear, of the physical symptoms and it was that association with the feathers that was causing the response of a panic attack. He asked her what she thought would happen if she were to go near a feather and she replied that she would faint or die.
They went through graded exposure during which re -assured her that whatever she felt would pass and was not a sign if imminent death. A few hours later she was happily holding the feather, and her phobia was permanently removed.
Did the regression help this at all? Make the exposure easier? We will never know. But obviously you are not over a phobia or a fear until you face the situation and do it. Panic Attacks don’t kill.
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I too suffer from this feather phobia. Just the sight of sharp looking feathers (esp. Wing feathers) gives me the chill. In fact just writting and mentioning sharp feathers give me the chill. I suffered from all most all my life and can not under stand it. I am not afraid of birds as long as they are far away, it’s just the sight of their wing feathers thats gives me the anxiety.
I have had a fear of feathers since I can remember. I am now 55 years “young” and I and am still deathly afraid of feathers. I work in a city and if I see a pigeon on the sidewalk, I would go 10 mintues out of my way to avoid it. I am not afraid of birds as long as they are far away. I can’t even “think” of a feather without getting chills. I even passed out one time because a feather touched me! If as see a feather on my patio, I will not go outside until someone removes it (then I need to know what they did with in just in case it may come back). I am a VERY reasonable, intelligent person otherwise, but I just can’t overcome this fear!
My mother is 61 and her sister is 76 years old and they have always suffered from this feather phobia. Im not sure why they both suffer from this but it is exactly as described by the others here. My mother looses control if someone takes a feather to her. She screams hysterically and will punch kick and at my school she choked an 11 year old. She says that she blacks out and remembers nothing after seeing the feather and feeling like she is about to die or faint. She then blacks out. Please, if anyone has any suggestions, please email me. She has tried many things and even was able to touch a feather at one time. (after 2 hours of crying and psyching herself out) but the fear has never left. Please help…
amysman24@hotmail.com
I am deathly afraid of feathers, and until I saw this blog, I was certain that no one else had this same fear. I have been avoiding feathers all my life, which is extremely difficult during molting season. I jumped out of a car going about 30 mph on a busy four lane highway when I spotted a feather tucked into the windshield molding above my head. Do any of you know what caused your feather phobias?
I cannot believe there are others who have the same phobia that i have. I am deathly afraid of the wing feathers… i work in the city and just behind my office building, there is a courtyard, always with loads of pigeons…
With the help of a very good friend and some of my colleagues, I am trying to fight my fear. Someone bought me a feather stick which i have had taped at the farthest end of my workstation… As long as i dont look at it, I am not too uncomfy but if i look at it or i talk about it, my hands and feet are frozen and I have this weird sensation that I am being suffocated by feathers.
How it all started….. when I was about 8 years old, someone scared me with a feather duster… i was hiding in a dark corner and the feather duster came to me like a gigantic demon… Ever since then, I have been like this…
I am glad I found this forum… I will ensure that I come here as often as I can…
samo se maloumni debili zentaju jebenog pera! 🙂
I am 17 now and since I could remember I was terrified of feathers, especially black feathers or goose feathers. When my sisters and brothers used to put them next to me I would panic. People used to think I was making it up because it sounds so irrational, however recently I’ve started feeling ok around them, and hardly feel anything around the artificial or colored ones.
I am 62 and have been scared of feathers since I was 4. We used to have a bowl of sugar lumps on the table and I used to keep taking them,one day my mum put a big white feather in the middle of them,and next time I went to take one it jumped onto my hand,I can remember this as though it was yesterday,my mum denies doing this,I think she feels guilty.Funnily enough my 3 children and 2 grandchildren are not scared of feather,which is good. Before I can go into the garden my husband has to go and pick all the feathers up (he thinks I am mad!) and he has to make sure he puts them where I can't see them,i.e. tucked away at the bottom of the bin) I have made an appointment to see my Dr on 30th June to see if I can get some help,better late than never I suppose.
I have been scared of feathers ever since i was very little ,as my mum chased my sister and i round a bed with a feather till we were screaming so so much that we were terrified and crying.when i got older it carried on being terrified as some children got to know so they scared me in other ways .Was so horrible .I am still terrified till this day of birds and feathers .I am 44yrs old now
I am 34 years old and I have been scared of feathers since I was a small child. I am mostly scared of broken feathers and fluffy feathers. I think that it started because we had a lot of cats when I was a child and they killed birds. I was disturbed by the torn up birds (and feathers scattered everywhere) and I became scared of feathers. My mom has a different theory about how I became scared of them. When I was 2 or 3 my grandmother gave me two big ostrich feathers which I would play with. But she would tell me to be careful and not break them. I didn’t know what would happen to me if I did break them (she just meant they wouldn’t be as pretty). I then became scared of broken feathers and then gradually I became scared of all feathers.
Luckily my phobia isn’t as severe as others. I can be around feathers. Although looking at them does give me chills. But I cannot handle touching them and if other people try to touch me with them I run. It is still mostly broken and fluffy feathers that I am scared of. I am not that scared of the flat, patterned ones. They kind of just remind me of pretty leaves.
I too am terrified of feathers, especially the sharp ones (wing feathers, tail feathers etc). I am now 47 and have had this fear from when I was a tiny baby. I feel as though I am going to die if one comes near me.
Unlike many others, I have no fear of birds at all – I can quite happily stroke a bird or have a bird sit on my hand to feed but if it dropped a feather I would freak out.
I tell only those I totally trust about my phobia – people can be incredibly cruel sometimes and think it is fun to freak you out. When I was at school, some kids found out and put a feather down my blouse when we were on the school bus. I passed out and was off school for 3 months as a result. at that point I went to a therapist who tried aversion therapy – it didn’t work!!! She thought that if she could get to the bottom of why I had this phobia then she could work on a cure but after months of talking extensively to me and my mum she couldn’t pinpoint an incident that could have generated the fear. It is just one of those weird thing I suppose.
In my mid – teens I also developed a phobia of rainbows, again without reason (before that I had always found them beautiful). I just saw one one day and I freaked out. The strange thing is that I am normally a very logical person and calm by nature. I just don’t understand it but am glad to see that I am not alone.
I’m 20 years old and I’m terrified of feathers! I thought I’m the only one who was that phobia :O I’m afraid of all kind,colors of feathers & birds!! I try to not talk or tell anyone about it because it’s so embarrassing and I’m scared they will bring some to me as some kinda joke! When I was like 6 or 5 I used to collect feathers with my brother & one of them got stuck in my hand! so every time I try to touch one to beat this phobia I get all sweaty and light headed 🙁
I really wanna get rid of this phobia because it’s ruining my life!!
I guess this phobia is not limited to any particular race or nationality — I’m Chinese Singaporean and my earliest memory of feathers was when I was about 4 — and I made a huge detour to avoid it.
I am surprised to hear of so many people with this phobia. I am 57 and have had this fear since I can remember. I have never been afraid of snakes or spiders like so many people but put a feather within my sight and I could barely breath. I used to have nightmares about suffocating in a room full of feathers for at least the first half of my life. I am now able to look at feathers but keep them far away from me and birds… I have injured myself many times trying to avoid them. I am sure I will never wear a feather boa or sleep on a feather pillow but I have been able to wear a down coat in 30 below weather. My fear of feathers was debilitating, now it is only numbing.
I am so glad i found this site…was just looking around to find whether fear of feathers is at all listed as a phobia.
I thought i might be the only one with this irrational fear.
Every since i can remember (am 34 now), i have been terrified of feathers, they send me into a panic whenever i see them. Touching them or being touched by one is totally out of the question, I fear i might pass out.
The shape and the form freaks me out totally. Big or small it doesn’t matter, I just run!!!!
Till date i haven’t tried therapy, though at one point my parents tried to help (my family still thinks I am mad) and was kind of fine around feathers and holding them. But that was only for a very short time. Am back to square one. They too have no idea where I got this from.
It has crippled me in many ways. Cannot dare to tell anyone..for the fear that someone may find it funny to pull a prank.
I cannot sleep on a feather pillow….cannot walk in gardens with feathers strewn around. hate being near birds and specially pigeons, when the rustle and shed…it gives me the chills.
Wish there was some remedy.
woah…. i’m so glad i found this site… i really can’t see feathers.. even listening the words can give me goose bump i can’t remember when i started to be fear of this.. i never thought that there’s a lot people out there had a same phobia like me…i don’t know why but my tears come out easily if i see it.. it’s not because i’m sad or what but it is really undescriable.. people may give me a ignorance look when i nearly jump of a bird flying nearby.. they thought that i was making it for attention.. sometime i feel really ambarassed with it.. it’s hard to live since animal like birds are everywhere.. it became more harder when people know my weakness.. they kept teasing me…and they love to see me running away from them.. they thinks my freaks is funny… although i don’t know wether my phobia can be cure or not but i’m in a bitt relief cause i’m not the one whose facing this problem and fear of feathers is one of the phobia’s category..
Thanks God i m not the only one who had Pteronophobia i.e. Feather Phobia.. ;p
Now i m feeling much normal.. but i m not afraid of bird but of features..
I have been afraid of feathers all my life. I cannot recall an event or an occasion to contribute to this. I did not know others who shared this fear. In fact I never knew a name was associated with it. (Pteronophobia)…OMG! I have been chased my those who knew my fear and as a result of this, I only share this with people I trust entirely. I have jumped through a window running from a feather, I have been chased through a mall by someone who I thought was a friend. She chased me with a hat that was covered in feathers. I have almost had an accident driving with windows down and birds flying too near the car. I don’t think I can get help for this because I do not think I will ever be able to allow someone to get close to me with a feather or even look at a picture of one. Just thinking of what could happen is making me nervous. I love the beach, but it too hard to enjoy myself when I am so afraid of the beach birds and their feathers. I will cross streets if I see a feather on the sidewalk and I am approaching it. My fear is that the wind might blow it up on me.
i am also afraid of feathers but i thought i was the only one. i am from mauritius and i am 22 years old lady! Since early childhood i use to be afraid of feathers. Am not afraid of birds bt when i see things they make with bird feathers freak me out. things such as dust cleaner broom which are made with feathers. I can stand scarf made of feathers!!! Now that i know there is also other people who ave this phobea i don’t feel lonely!!
I thought i was the only 1 such a relief! I used to be comfortable around feathers until i was about 12 i dont no what it was but now i cant even look at a feather without screaming or crying or having a huge panic attack, i absolutely freak out and it takes me ages to calm down. I made my mum replace my quilt because it was made of duck feathers. People think i am making it up when i start crying over a feather or just using it to get attention i also now have a bird phobia, like all birds because they have feathers , my brothers pet bird landed on me and i had to have a shower it was terrible. i would love to know if there was a cure i’m even considering hypnotherapy as it has become such a burden
If anyone has overcome this i would love to hear from them on
iluvu4eva_regan@hotmail.com
thanks
I am so relieved that I have seen so many others who share my pain. The fear I have suffered all my life has been blamed on several possibilities… I used to play nearby a broom closet which had a huge osterich feather duster hanging. My mom thinks there is a possiblity that this may have fallen down on top of my head at a young age. Also, before kiddie-locks on kitchen cabinets were invented, my mom would tie an osterich feather on the lower cabinets to keep me out of the dangerous cleaning items. She recalls doing this after she realized I showed great fear at the sight of one of these very hairy, dark grey osterich feathers. Another possible reason for this fear may have been, the many birds that would fly in and out of the grape vines I would frequently play under in our yard. Mom, thinks it was also possible that a bird may have swooped down and scared me at a young age. This fear has been something I try to keep to myself and my family because when people find out about it, they love to play practical jokes on me with feathers. I realize it it a crazy fear. I can be in a room with a feather an so long as I am at a safe distance from it and noone is horsing around with it… I can go about my business just fine. However, I do need to continually check to be sure it hasn’t moved or someone hasn’t picked it up to come throw it on me. When I was in my college years… some girls who were psych majors requested I participate in a lab/questionaire session as part of one of their projects. This is where I was able to recall some of my very early memories gowing up with the fear. I do remember them back in the 70’s not having anyone else with this fear for their project. It really helps just knowing I am not alone with this… so thanks to everyone who wrote their stories here….. I hope mine helps someone too…… I must say my family thinks this is very humorous and must admit that I have laughed along with them…… Oh well, it’s what makes me!!!
WOW! I can’t believe I’m not alone here. I’ve never known anyone to have this fear. I am 53 years old and terrified of birds and mainly feathers
I remember as a child having peacock feathers in a huge vase. My sister and I would play with them, often. All I can recall
is my sister chasing me with one and I began to scream. This has affected me adversely all of my life. When my children were
small we took them to the park. I stayed in the truck, because of the ducks. I remember my husband taking my daughter out and when
the ducks started to circle the truck, I was screaming hysterically for my husband to get me out of there. I had to lay down
when I got home and felt like I had been beat up. Once the neighborhood kids threw a pigeon feather on my lap. I went into hysterics and it took 15 minutes for my grandmother to calm me down and get me to stop shaking. My mother talked to my pediatrician about it.
He said I would outgrow it. I guess he was wrong.
im now 20..n i have been afraid of feathers n birds since i was little..i remember when i was a kid..my mum had a leafy shaped print on her skirt..im terrified to even looked or get near the skirt..anything that reminds me of feathers scares me..i hate some sort of leaf just because of its shaped..im also afraid of any kind of birds..im scared of the way they move n everything..but now im gradually cured with feathers after years of hiding my fear to other people..im afraid if they know they will use it as practical jokes like my sister did n believe me! she never stops! she only stops when my mum had an eye on her..but will continues when my mum had her eyes on other things..my mum knows about it so she never use the real feather duster..we use the synthetic type..n there werent much pigeon near our house..so i was okay most of the time since we moved to a new house when i ws 8..our old house has chickens running around everywhere outside our house so my sister had all her chance in the world to scare me screaming and crying..in order to overcome that.. i try to act like i was never afraid of feathers or birds to convince new people that i never had the phobia..i just knew that things will get so much worse n there is no turning back if they knew since most of them had no idea how bad it terrifies me..if feather or any type of birds are near..i try not to look at them just like u try not to look at ghost when u actually have a glympse of them..and if i had no other choice to look at them..ill look but hold my breath n pretends like everything is okay like its the matter of life n death..if somebody knew about this phobia of mine im forever doomed since they will force me to touch it..after a lot of practice in touching feather with my eyes closed i seems to be able to overcome it..but i never to this day are able to touched or get extremely near any kind of bird..im fine as song as they cant touch me..oh yeah and dead bird have more points in terrifying me than birds that are alive..ughh just the thoughts of it gives me the chill.. i dont know why..
Im happy to know im not the only one with this phobia. Im a 23 yr old mom with a 30 mnth toddler. I remember sinse I was a toddler having this fear of feathers. Dont know or remember how this happened but it did. I was always scared to go to the park with my whole family.because my y mom told everyone aboit my fear of feathers and everyone took it as a joje or an excuse to tease me. Mu little brothers n cousins wod chase me around with feathers cuZ dey thought it was funny but for me I felt like ill die if they reached me. I rememeber one of my cousins plu,ked a feather of my uncles hat n chased me a block down. I went running for my life 🙁 I wish I wouldnt have this fear cuz its hard for me to move on.with my life. Now we r all grown n dont prank me about.it . Also my mom haa been a bird lover wish.i hate u know why.im.scared of them also cuz dey have feathers. Cant stand to c a pigeon or anything with feathers including dusters n jewlry. My boyfriend has been the only one who.hasnt.tricked me byt.thinks its funny to threaten me with one if I dnt do as he likes how rude
I too used to have a fear of feathers. Anything to do with them I would freak out! The part that got me most scared was the feeling and look of the hard centre. I have no idea how it started, just something I developed I guess. It started when I was a baby. I can’t remembember any bad memories with birds or feathers. I only remember if I even saw a bird or feather I would completly freak and go into a crying fit. It stopped when I was about 10 I think. My cousin got a bird and I refused to be any where near it. If It was even standing on someone near me I would get nervous.
One day my cousin came up behind me and put the bird on my shoulder. I became frozen with fear and started crying and having a panic attack. After they removed the bird I became courious and try’d holding it again. I’m now 16 and not at all afraid of feathers or birds.
I am 40 years old – afraid of feathers on living or dead birds or clothes etc I’ve had this fear forever. Can’t remember not having it. Sometimes I have a nightmare that I’m running in the road with hundreds of chickens chasing me. Last night I dreamt that I should find out what happened in my childhood to cause this fear. Unlike some people here, I have no clue why I should be afraid of birds and feathers.
I met someone…a cashier at the grocery store once who had this I was buying a feather duster. I was so moved by her delema that I wanted to help. I thought the first step should be watching someone draw a very primitive feather on paper…then drawing one yourself when the fear of the other is gone. then cut out the paper shape and play with that for a while. Then perhaps a tiny tiny real feather….first just look then touch and then a larger fluffy one and so on…. achieving calm each time before moving on then finally in the end after various sizes holding and playing with a big feather…..it can take days rather than hours but in the end it can be done if you want it to happen.
i am 20,me and my twin sister both are very much afraid of feathers or any kind of birds 🙁 since we were 4 or 5 years old.i slightly remember how it started as i suddenly saw some chickens very very near to me and i screamed,i had no idea why my sister is facing the same problem,many people saugges us about therapies,but i’ve heard that they includes touching birds,is that true?we cant even think of touching or getting closer to a bird,specially hens 🙁
Omgosh finally people who understand the fear of feathers!! Finally people who won’t laugh or make fun of me and say they don’t understand!! I’m so afraid of feathers !! They scare me so much especially the wings !!! If I see a wing on the ground I scream!! If I see some feathers and they are not all detached like say a cluster of three feathers then I really freak!! Black feathers feathers scare me the most!! Grey and brown also scare me badly. And I get so scared if someone chases me with a feather!!!
I honestly think this can be inherited. I have no idea when my fear of feathers began, but I have been afraid of them since I was very small, and still am. My father’s brother, who has since passed away, was exactly the same, and apparently one of my cousins (his grandchildren) is the same way. I think it may be due to some brain malfunction. I really hate them. I was in Michaels Crafts not too long ago and looked down an aisle where they have feather boas hanging on a hook. Needless to say, I went on down and would not even go in that aisle!
I’m not alone!!! I have been afraid of feathers all my life. I’m almost 55 years old. When I was a child the pediatrician told my mom I would outgrow it. Wrong! If I see a feather blowing in the wind, I run, afraid it will touch me. I won’t go near a bird or to the beach. I fear pigeons terribly. If there is a nest with a baby bird, I’ll walk any way around it fearing the mother bird will attack me. I feel like I would die if I came in contact with a feather. It’s horrible living with fear of an inanimate object, when you know intellectually it can’t do you any physical harm.
I have this phobia too. FYI it’s called pteronophobia.
It is such a comfort to read about other people who share this fear!! I am 22 years old and have had this phobia for as long as I can remember. I have no idea how or why. I’m not scared of being tickled or of the colourful artificial feathers, for me it is the real ones with sharp bits in the centre that really terrify me. It’s definitely the hard centre that I dislike the most and dark wing feathers that I hate. At school I had to do an art project on stuffed birds and was unable to participate as I couldn’t touch/properly study it. Friends in my childhood tormented me by chasing me with feather boas etc. Simple things like sleeping on a feather pillow/walking through town where there are always pigeons is difficult for me. I really want to get some help, does anyone have any experience of curing this phobia? I am very rational, intelligent and normal in every other way, it is so out of character.
Hello,
Maverick Television (UK) are making a programme about fears and phobia’s for Sky One. This weekend we are filming those with a phobia of birds. If anybody would like to consider taking part, please contact me as soon as possible on a.evans@mavericktv.co.uk.
Thanks,
Amanda.
I’m so glad to know that there are people like me. I thought I was the only one scared of feathers. Just a thought of them gives me a chill. Many people tried to get me rid of it they used to put them inside my shirt and I’d cry really bad and scream and act like a crazy freak. I’m still the same I can’t even look at feathers or even think about them I’m 15 and people think I’m joking when I tell them I’m scared of feathers.
I think this can be inherited. I’ve been scared of feathers as long as I can remember. My uncle (dad’s brother) had the same thing, and some of my cousins do too, I understand. I am going on 51 years old and still have this fear. Luckily I hardly have to be around feathers. I don’t have feather pillows, no down coats, etc. I won’t go near feathers, however, if I am see them. I just go the other way. I am not sure how this came about but I am glad I am not the only one out there.