Scissor irrationality. Am I the only one??

[Calaelen]

Hi All!

I just wanted to bring up a topic I sometimes struggle with..and I wonder, am I the only one?

Some background. I am a stylist, not currently working in the field, but I do hair for all my family and friends, still. Now the weird part. Every time I pick up a pair of scissors, whether it is to give a haircut, or to do some household task, I get this irrational fear that I am just going to hack off my own hair. It's like a visual thing, I see myself doing it, then I sort of panic, fearing one day this impulse will come true.

Recently I've also been having many dreams where I have cut my hair all off, and the most recent one was one of those never ending dream, it spanned a period of weeks, and finally in the dream I was convinced that it wasn't a dream(the rest of the dream was spent feeling sickening shock, and grief, for the loss of my length, and that I'd actually hacked off all my hair...usually I find myself begging in the dream please just let it be a dream, or knowing for sure that it is a dream..

So how about it, anyone else??

Any other hair anxieties, or impulsive thoughts leading to fear??

[bunzfan]

I have exactly the same fear and i used to cut hair to. When ever i trim family or friends hair i worry about this to i wonder what it means?

[Gypsygirl]

Do you know Bella Online? Here you go, one of their articles I have bookmarked on here because yes...I do dream about my hair sometimes. My dreams are never about losing my hair in any way, though. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10574.asp

[spidermom]

My irrational fear is about heights. I get these thoughts that I'm going to pitch myself over the edge.

[monsterna]

I get the same when I S&D. I am very careful about the angle and where I'm coming from when I cut. I feel like one day I'll just be day dreaming or something while doing it and cut a big chunk off as it's in my hands, forgetting I'm only S&Ding.

[freckles]

My irrational fear is about heights. I get these thoughts that I'm going to pitch myself over the edge.

yep. Near an edge and I always have a feeling that I'm going to throw myself over, just because I could. And driving on motorways I feel like I could just drive into the barrier, so maybe I should.

I'm not suicidal and I'm not talking about suicidal tendencies. It's just a weird little urge that says 'you COULD. How weird is that? You totally could and no-one would be able to stop you! Do it!'. I've heard other people talk about this stuff before so I'm PRETTY sure it's not just me. :o I'm sure there are sound psychological reasons for this 'I have an urge to do a thing that I don't want to do' thinking, and it sounds like the hair thing might be a (toned down) version of that.

[Sunshineliz]

I do get a little afraid that I might accidentally cut something I shouldn't. I also have the fear of heights like spidermom and feeling scared that somehow I'm going to fall, even if there is a window stopping me.

But the worst reoccuring fear is that somehow my kids are going to fall out of the car while I'm driving and get run over. That one comes with adrenaline rushes and terrible images. I just have to reassure myself that they're all strapped in and not going to suddenly fall out for no reason. (That one is probably deeply rooted in childhood as a friend was run over by her own mother--on accident--and I saw all the blood afterward. My mother shielded me from seeing her body thank goodness. It was terrifying enough as it was. My friend wasn't in the car though.)

[Ginny Mae]

I read once that the reason our minds replay awful possibilities (like falling off a tall building or having all of your hair cut off) is to help us deal with that situation should it ever arise in real life. Kind of like subconscious aversion therapy I guess.

I don't really have a similar fear but I have been haunted for about the last fifteen years by a (probably made up) story I read in a teen magazine about a girl who sat on a bus with her ponytail hanging over the back of her seat....whereupon a tramp who was sitting behind her cut it all off! I can remember the title even now: "A tramp hacked off my hair with rusty scissors"!!

[Calaelen]

Do you know Bella Online? They asked to do an interview with me a couple of years ago- and I fell in love with that site. Here you go, one of their articles I have bookmarked on here because yes...I do dream about my hair sometimes. My dreams are never about losing my hair in any way, though.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10574.asp

Hmm...Both of the things relating to loss of hair, or hair cutting in my examples tend towards feelings of "loss of power". I struggle with that a lot, so at least there's one mystery solved.

I also tend to have irrational thoughts of flinging myself off heights, or in from of moving cars...maybe it's just human nature? Or, I am nuts, as previously accepted..

[Calaelen]

I read once that the reason our minds replay awful possibilities (like falling off a tall building or having all of your hair cut off) is to help us deal with that situation should it ever arise in real life. Kind of like subconscious aversion therapy I guess.

I don't really have a similar fear but I have been haunted for about the last fifteen years by a (probably made up) story I read in a teen magazine about a girl who sat on a bus with her ponytail hanging over the back of her seat....whereupon a tramp who was sitting behind her cut it all off! I can remember the title even now: "A tramp hacked off my hair with rusty scissors"!!

As to cutting off of hair on a bus or in public, that is actually a very real fear of mine and I rarely wear my hair down while out because of it..that said, when I was in 6th grade, I had very long hair and it was in a ponytail and my constant bully picked up a pair of scissors and hacked off the whole thing! I was of course shocked, angry and ready to kill this kid, but I wasn't nearly as attached to my hair then as I am now, and was one if his kindest forms of torture..

[Calaelen]

But the worst reoccuring fear is that somehow my kids are going to fall out of the car while I'm driving and get run over. That one comes with adrenaline rushes and terrible images. I just have to reassure myself that they're all strapped in and not going to suddenly fall out for no reason. (That one is probably deeply rooted in childhood as a friend was run over by her own mother--on accident--and I saw all the blood afterward. My mother shielded me from seeing her body thank goodness. It was terrifying enough as it was. My friend wasn't in the car though.)

That is awful, and makes very real sense given the experience you had as a child. I am sorry you went through that, how traumatic.

[Sunshineliz]

That is awful, and makes very real sense given the experience you had as a child. I am sorry you went through that, how traumatic.

It was bad, but that fear was reinforced as my own mother almost did the exact same thing to my little sister a few years later. (Backed out of the driveway and over the kid.) Fortunately she got a very strong feeling to stop and got out and saw my little sister right next to the tire. shudder:

[Calaelen]

^wow...so lucky she had that feeling. It is things like that that make me trust my intuition as though it is sacred fact...

[Chetanlaiho]

My irrational fear is about heights. I get these thoughts that I'm going to pitch myself over the edge.

I get this too, very strongly, and I get the same with my hair sometimes, I wish I knew why ^^;

[Calaelen]

I think it may be human nature in a way..or a way of reinforcing something which you do not want..

[roodboerinnetje]

As to cutting off of hair on a bus or in public, that is actually a very real fear of mine and I rarely wear my hair down while out because of it..that said, when I was in 6th grade, I had very long hair and it was in a ponytail and my constant bully picked up a pair of scissors and hacked off the whole thing! I was of course shocked, angry and ready to kill this kid, but I wasn't nearly as attached to my hair then as I am now, and was one if his kindest forms of torture..

Calaelen, I'm sorry to hear this happened to you! Makes sense that now you'd be wary of the same thing happening again, since you experienced it once. I would also have been absolutely shocked and upset!! :(

I also had a couple of bullies in grade school, one of whom decided it would be funny to sit behind me at the bus stop and try to light my hair on fire! Fortunately I caught him in the act and my hair wasn't badly hurt, but what a thing to do to someone! I realize, as I was told then, 'hair grows back', but still... :steam

[AnnaJamila]

I think that kind of thing sometimes, but not just about hair! Sometimes I think things like, "What would happen if I just threw away dinner?" or "What if I don't use the brakes and make an accident?" or "What if I pick up these scissors and snip-snip-snip?".

It's kind of unnerving! :o I sincerely hope I'm not bonkers . . .

[MemoryXIII]

Hmm.. That's scary. I read once that there are two ways something can realistically exist. If you believe it does, or if you fear it does. Maybe it's just an anxiety that will vanish, but trust yourself. :)

[Merewen]

I get that about EVERYTHING. It's a good thing I have some kind of impulse control. I'm really bad about heights.

[McFearless]

My irrational fear is about heights. I get these thoughts that I'm going to pitch myself over the edge.
Same here.

[Impulsive]

Sometimes when I'm cutting off split ends I worry I'll accidentally snip too much, but I don't think that's irrational as it actually could happen.

My most irrational fear is dentists. For some reason, whenever I'm sitting in the chair at the dentist, I get the most irrational feeling that he's going to kill me by shoving his tools down my throat. I don't know why I feel this way. All of my dentists have been very kind people, but I still feel frightened and do my best to avoid going.

[beccababesx]

I am terrified about someone chopping off my hair, thats why I never ever wear it down my back, always up or over my shoulders. I also dream every night about running my hands through my hair and the hair just slipping out of my scalp in huge handfuls. Ughh I always wake up horrified!

[bluesnowflake]

I have the same thing with scissors. Like, "what if I accidentally cut off all my hair or someone else did?". I don't like to be around scissors or in the general public with my hair down because I have this irrational fear that someone's going to cut it off. If I have to be, I pull it over my shoulder and hold on to it with one hand. I've had the "cut-off'my-hair" dreams and I always wake up and touch my head to make sure it's still there. Whew!