fear of

I used to believe that when you flushed the toilet, you had to run out of the bathroom and touch the vase that was in the hallway. But it had to be done before the toilet finished flushing, or you would die in your sleep that night. I did this for years. I'm almost 30 now, and I still wait until the last second to flush the toilet so I can leave the room before it finishes.

Jessie

When I was little my older brother believed an evil hand lived in the wall behind the toilet. He was convinced that when he was by himself and had to sit on the tolet seat that a tile on the wall would open like a door and the hand would come out and grab his privates. So whenever he had to do #2 he would take my brother and I with him and make us sit in the dark laundry hamper with all the stinky, dirty clothes. As long as he had someone with him the hand would never come out.

Lisa Shattenkirk

When I was little I used to have a big fear of demons. So I started to believe that if you flushed the toilet while still sitting on it you would be sucked into hell and demons would spread poop all over you. I had a similar belief about the bath tub drains.

The Rodian

In first grade I would always be afraid to flush the toilet because I thought that was how robbers got in to your house because one time my friend had said someone broke into her house after she'd used the bathroom.

Girlie

For some reason I got the idea that a lobster lived in the toilet and would pinch my butt with its sharp giant claws. I was afraid to sit on the toilet and would try to be as fast as I could when going to the bathroom. I must have been about 6 or 7 at this time.

The really strange thing is that I had very little exposure to seafood growing up, so I have no idea where this belief came from. I see I'm not the only one who thought something scary lived down there, though...

kitten13

I was convinced that there giant tarantulas living behind the toilet and if I flushed the toilet they would know i was there. So i would flush the toilet and then run away as fast as a i could incase the they attacked me.

Anon

I used to think that when I flushed the toilet, I'd get sucked into it, so I'd run out of the bathroom...or I just wouldn't flush.

Eventually, I stopped believing that I'd get sucked in, so I'd have to watch the toilet flush before leaving the bathroom (I have fears of evil things being behind me...I guess I consider the noise of the toilet flushing to be evil...). Sadly, now I still do that.

Chibs

I don't know why. But I always ran away screaming after the toilet flushed.

Bijan

When I was in second grade, my friend told me that all the waste in a Port-a-Pottie fermented and then turned acidic if it sat too long. She then told me that if you go pee too hard in a Port-a-Pottie, the acid pee would splash your butt and thats how you get flesh eating diseases. So i never used Port-a-Potties

Anon

We spent many summers in Japan when I was little. At the time my aunt's toilet was not modern. It was a separate room with a toilet and a hole that dropped about 10 feet down. There was someone who cleaned it out every week or so. She was called "the honeybucket lady" Needless to say I was terrified that I would fall into the hole, if not for being so small then from passing out from the smell. But I was really nervous that I would accidently pee or poo on the honeybucket lady (as though she would be standing in there!) I always checked first.

Liz

After watching 'Jaws' when I was about 4, me and my sister used to think that Jaws would come and bite our bums off while we were on the loo.

Da frog

I was scared to flush the toilet. I imagined (for some odd reason) that at the end of the pipe was The Incredible Hulk and he would be forced to eat my waste. I knew this would enraged him and that any day he was going to bust through the toilet and get me... it was just a matter of time. So I would flush and then run as fast as I could to an area of the house where the were family members between the toilet and me. I figured he would only kill the person he thought did it and therefore the closest person to the toilet and not me. I guess it was a matter of survival.

Amanda

when i was a kid i used to think that when you pooped and peed and then fluched it down the toilet it was feeding monsters in the sewers and that if you didn't use the bathroom too often that they would starve and come up looking for food.

T-bop

I used to think that plumbers were men who had to live inside the toilet and sweep all of the...wastes...out. I was always afraid one of them would accidentially climb out of the toilet while I was using it. To top it all off, my dad had a friend who was a plumber and I always asked him what it was like inside the toilet. He probably thought I was insane. Which I was. But I'm fine now.

- - -

When I was about 7 years old I loved the T.V show " Sailor Moon " I dont know the idea cam to me but I was Afraid that the bad people from the show , particularily the scary witch with flaming red hair , lived in my toilet , I thought that after standing up from the toilet i had only untill the toilet stopped flushing to wash and dry my hands , AND run from the bathroom screaming or else she would rise up from the toilet and grab me so she could pull me back in and make me become her slave !!!

Alanna

I used to think that if I stayed around and waited for the toilet to finish flushing then a monster would come out and chase me so i would have to run into my room before the toilet got done flushing! I also had to check behind the shower curtains so there was no murderer behind them!

Anna

When I was little I thought that if I sat on the toilet while it flushed I'd go with it. I also used to be scared that if I sat on the toilet when my dad had forgotten to put the lid back down I'd go in and drown

TLK_

When I was younger I used to think that when I flushed my fish down the toilet it would come back and haunt me when i'm going to the bathroom.

Mick

Arachnaphobia - fear of spiders - always struck me most in the bathrooms. I was afraid to sit down without check under the seat to make sure there were no spiders coming up.
Of course, when camping in public camp sites, this is still my concern :-)

Anon

I was always afraid of toilets, like every other kid was. I thought that the louder the flush, the more likely I'd get sucked down into the toilet. Automatic toilets are the worst. I'd take some paper and cover the sensor with my hand so it'd think I was still there when I got up. Airplane toilets were soooo loud and had that horrible flushing that I'd cover my ears every time.

Odd thing is, no one really instilled that fear into me. I'm sixteen and I still covered my ears three days ago when I had to use the toilet in the airplane. I absolutely refuse to go to the bathroom if the toilets are automatic. And if there's a bar next to me for the handicapped people, i grab onto it with one hand so tight that my hand turns white.

Danielle