Hello there! Today I bring you, “Random Phobia That I Probably Have Now Thanks To A Traumatic Family Trip”! Although I don’t diagnose myself with phobias, this is one that I strongly relate to. So I thought it might be cool to write about it! If you don’t know what philemaphobia is… well, let me explain it this way. I’ll probably never get mononucleosis!
Philemaphobia, or philematophobia, is a phobia triggered by the act or thought of kissing.
(If you are interested to learn more about the phobia itself, you can read up on it here: www.verywellmind.com. But that’s not what this post is about.)
How did I learn of this phobia? Ah… well… some of my cousins are a bit creepy. Okay, okay. It’s not like what you’re thinking. I’m a teenager, they’re little kids. It’s not really that weird to normal people, because they’re just trying to show affection. But it creeps me out. Seriously!!
This is what it is:
This is what I see:
Aaand these are the faces I make when they start coming at me / when they finally detach their leechy little demon face flaps (lips) from my skin. :
IT JUST GROSSES ME OUT, OKAY?! DoN’t JuDgE mE!!!
One of the kids, the little boy, literally grabs me around the neck and holds on like a friggin sloth on its branch. Then he just divebombs at my face, and no matter how hard I try to get him off, he’s just attached. He’s exactly like a Pacific Lamprey. (Don’t look it up, you’ll have nightmares…) He did this E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y. of my visit. Sometimes more than once a day.
Another one, the youngest girl, did it too. She didn’t swing on me, she just grabbed my shirt and pulled me down to her level. Then she had the AUDACITY to LiCk HeR disGUSTING LiTtLe LiPs and kiss me on the cheek. It literally hurt me. I love these small sticky creatures, but no. Just. No. (I’m crawling in my skin just thinking about it.) I had to go and scrub my face to within an inch of my sanity before I could face the world again. And even then, I wished I was covered in child propellant.
Anyway, just wanted to share that miserable, horrifying, loathsome experience. (Wait… do I have pedophobia???)
Disclaimer: This is in no way meant to bash my little cousins or anything like that. This is simply the perspective of someone with extreme anxiety surrounding physical contact. (Might make a separate post about that later.) They really are good-intentioned kids, they just don’t understand personal space or the word “no”. And while I see this as grotesque and repugnant, even pure execrable, it might not be disturbing to others. This is both my opinion and my comfort level due to anxiety. Nothing more.
Thanks for reading!
♡, Shortie
