Reddit user u/camoman7053 asked, "Forget irrational fears, what's your perfectly rational fear?" and my anxiety levels are going through the roof.
Here's what the people of Reddit shared:
1. "Living in poverty or being homeless. They say that money can't buy you happiness. But it sure can buy you freedom."
2. "Irresponsible drivers."
3. "Being followed when walking home."
4. "Heights. Just trip and you die. I have to cross the highest bridge in my country to get to the store...on my bicycle...with only a small metal fence between me and the awful depths. I die on the inside every. Single. Time."
5. "The ocean. Seriously, it's a big blue nothing full of things that can kill you. Hell, even drinking it can kill you!"
6. "That I'll never be interested in a relationship and I'll end up alone for the rest of my life."
7. "That I’ll forever be left with no aspirations or real motivation."
9. "I’m afraid I will make poor health choices as a younger person that will decrease my quality of life in my late 50s."
10. "Fear of deteriorating mental health."
12. "Aneurysms. I've lost two relatives to them. I've briefly talked to someone who has survived and recovered from one, and it sounds like you're better off just dying from it than trying to recover."
13. "Until 2020, my mom always laughed at my fear of virus outbreaks and aliens. It's been a, uh...fun year and a half."
14. "As a teacher, a school shooting."
15. "Dying alone suddenly and not being discovered for a few days."
16. "The fear that when I die, it just ends. No afterlife, no reincarnation, it just ends. It’s kept me up on multiple occasions."
17. "That future generations are not going to live as well as past generations. They are going to have to clean up a lot of stuff."
19. "Nuclear war. It was a constant fear growing up in the 1980s, and then everybody just forgot about it when the USSR broke up. But the weapons and systems are still there and still ready to go on a moment’s notice."
"MAD should keep anything from happening, but there have been some extremely close calls in the past, and a colossal mistake could definitely happen."
20. "The climate crisis."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.