How do I make my parents stop making fun of me? I'm deathly afraid of vacuum cleaners and ceiling fans, and my parents keeps calling me hurtful names and laughing at me. I've tried to simply tell them to stop, but they won't.

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Danae Hitch Profile
Danae Hitch answered

You have an irrational fear that needs to be conquered. It's not a normal type of fear; animals are normally afraid of vacuum cleaners and I don't know of anyone that is afraid of a ceiling fan.

Because the fear doesn't make sense, your parents make fun of you. It's not a kind thing to do but it could be they're embarrassed they have a child with irrational fears. So instead of offering help, they laugh and poke fun.

If you want to conquer the fear, as I believe you want to, then you need to find out why you're afraid so you can work through it.

If you feel you need professional help, you might say something to whichever parent you feel closest to. Such as, "Mom, I know you don't understand why I'm afraid of the vacuum cleaner or ceiling fans; I don't really understand it myself. I just know that I panic and you guys laugh at me. I would really like to talk to someone about this. Do you know of someone that could help me?"

If you don't get any helpful answers, I would suggest two things. Journal about your fears - what sets them off - what you try to do to help yourself, etc. - and wait until you are no longer living with your parents to get help. The United Way and the YMCA offers low cost counseling - so you could check into this and see if they can help you.

In the meantime, don't react when your fear is set off and your parents laugh. Simply turn around and go to your room without saying anything. If you say something, you'll probably get agitated. They'll start yelling - you start yelling and the whole thing gets blown up out of proportion. Good luck.

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