Fear of Stickers

[cwoz82]

hey,
Even as a child i remember those little "Very Good" or "I've done well" stickers teachers put in your work book, i remember if the weren't perfectly straight and alligned right in the corner of the page then i couldn't look at the page. At the doctors or dentist, they pu the lovely stickers on you to say "I've been good" etc, i couldn't bare having them on my clothes.
As i've gotten older, it's gotten no better. I can't take stickers off of anything i've bought, but then i can't stand them being on anything. It's make me feel physically sick and i keck at the sight of a sticker. Everyone thinks i am incredibly wierd for it, i've googled it but not much info on it...anyone else remotely the same? Is it a known phobia?
I can't stand stickers, my husband sometimes thinks its funny to stick them to me and see me go nuts because i can't are to touch it to pull it off... i feel nauseous just saying that.

[alias_kev]

Eek. Well I guess its fairly rare and a bit odd but all of us on these pages - even those who only guest - are probably the same but over different things.

Your problem is best compared to being scared of moths or spiders. Unless you live in about 3 countries in the world they are of no danger but many people would run away from one. The need for them to be perfectly aligned was a bit OCD like. It maybe that on one level you feared not getting a sticker or disliked them being wonky and feared being blamed for that. Only a guess though. Its a shame you get teased as clearly its more than a little unsettling for you. Its possible to get counselling for phobias or there are books out there. There is some good stuff in these two:

A complete idiots guide to conquering fear and anxiety by Sharon Heller.
Living with Fear by Isaac M Marks (2nd edition)

The second book is older and based more on Behavoural Therapy (BT) than Cognitive BT (CBT). But it has some good info and advice. You may even find them in your local library.

I'm sure there are lots of other good books too.