I am Deathly afraid of balloons

by Brianna
(Memphis)

Dear fellow people with phobias,

I am a 14 year old girl and I am Deathly afraid of balloons. I don't remember when this started all I know is that it has haunted me for some time now. Ever since i was about 3 or 4, I have been afraid of them. Like when I was in pre-school, a girl in my class had a birthday party in the class room. Her parents brought a whole lot of balloons. I ran to the bathroom and stayed until it was time to go home.

Also when I was in the 5th grade a boy popped a balloon and i had a mild panic attack.

Every time i see a balloon on T.V. i put the t.v. on mute and close my eyes or i change the channel. I don't even like looking at them. One day I was watching Maury and the woman that was afraid of balloons and the next day it was all over the internet. It hurt my feelings because the captions were like: "Classic Freak out" or "crazy woman scared of a balloon. That makes me feel like , if someone found out it would be all on the internet.

I feel so ashamed. Sometimes i ask questions like " Why did God make me afraid of balloons?" of "Why did they invent balloons in the first place?".