[Gallagher]

I'm afraid of things coming out of the walls.

When I was younger, this was just one of those random, odd little fears that never really came up, save for getting extra spooked when watching some scary movies. But it's gotten worse in recent years because 1. our house is getting older, and with our income, it's difficult to make repairs we need to. One of our bathrooms doesn't even have a shower anymore, while the other has several holes and gaps in the walls. There are holes in other rooms as well, but not as bad as in the bathroom. 2. We've been dealing with infestations of rats getting into the attic, which has been especially bad in our area this year, and bugs in the walls themselves.

I can't even begin to think of any way to handle this in a controlled manner. I'm not afraid of rats or insects, other than the usual "ew" that anyone would get from unexpected and unwanted pests. I'm not afraid that any harm will come to me because of them, either. I'm just afraid of things coming out of the walls, or worse the ceiling. And it's something that happens with the bugs fairly often, especially after rain, and I live in a very wet area. I can also hear the rats right above my head most every night, and there's a vent positioned right above my bed.

Needless to say, my weird little fear has quickly turned into a full blown phobia. Not an unjustified one I don't think, but it's not a situation that we can fix easily. I have to find a way to deal with it, as unfortunate and uncomfortable as it all is.