50 Photos Of Gigantic Things That Are Big “Nopes” For Anyone With Megalophobia (New Pics)
InterviewFear isn’t rare—we all have things we’re scared of, whether that’s heights (hey!), spiders, open water, snakes, or, well, anything and everything. A phobia you may have heard a little less about is megalophobia, the fear of large objects like skyscrapers, yachts, planes, big animals, etc. Though someone’s fears are no joke, big things tend to be very impressive, whether we’re talking about architecture, engineering, or nature.
That’s where the ‘Megalophobia’ online community comes in. Its members share incredible photos of gigantic objects that are definitely imposing. We’ve collected some of their newest images to share with you. Scroll down to check them out. It’s a reminder about how small human beings actually are in some contexts.
Bored Panda reached out to u/Hoogs, the head moderator who runs the 'Megalophobia' group, and he was kind enough to answer our questions about the community and the phobia. You'll find our interview with him below.
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Unreal Landscape: Dolomites, Italy
The subreddit has been around for over a decade now, and we were curious why it continues to be so popular to this very day. "I feel that the sub has continued to grow over the years because it attracts both people who have an interest in unique and awe-inspiring images, and people with megalophobia," moderator u/Hoogs explained to Bored Panda.
"The latter may seem counterintuitive, since you would expect people to avoid things they fear, but think of it like a horror movie. You watch it for the thrill. It provides a unique sensation that's a break from the mundanities of everyday life while allowing you to explore your fears in a safe environment," he said.
Sorvagsvatn, The Lake That Hangs Over The Ocean. Faroe Islands
Mind-boggling. Apparently, the locals just call it Vatnið - "the lake". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8rv%C3%A1gsvatn
Thunderstorm Over Panama. Picture Taken At 37,000 Feet By Santiago Borja
"I also suspect that even people who don't classify themselves as having megalophobia still get that little touch of vertigo when seeing some of the sub's content."
We were also interested in getting the moderator's thoughts on how megalophobia might impact a person's day-to-day life. "Megalophobia might impact a person's daily life negatively if they are regularly exposed to things like large buildings, structures, statues, vehicles, and even geographical features like mountains and canyons," u/Hoogs told us.
Just Imagine Going Hiking In The Woods And Coming Across This Beast
No need for a banana here! 🦌 Mr Moose makes the trees look like alders 🌱
Perseid's Meteor Shower Over Stonehenge
White-Bellied Sea Eagle
"It might prevent them from doing certain things they'd like, having unique experiences, or even just living their life in a world with so many things that are larger than us," he said.
"Humans are small, and I think this phobia cuts right to the heart of that fact we all know to be true."
Around a tenth of people living in the United States have specific phobias. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), around 9.1% of American adults have had specific phobias in the past year, while around 12.5% of all adults in the U.S. will experience a specific phobia at some point in their lives.
Additionally, 48.1% of people with phobias had mild impairment, 30% had moderate impairment, and over a fifth (21.9%) had serious impairment. The number of people with phobias may be underreported because there is a certain stigma attached to mental disorders.
The Sky Looks Way Too Much Like A Gigantic Wave
Saltwater Crocodile Next To A Human
Iceberg Passing By A House In Greenland
I'd love to see that in real life - while standing on solid, rocky ground.
As per Verywell Mind, phobias are overwhelming, irrational, and persistent fears that lead people to avoid certain situations or objects.
These fears can have a huge impact on your life depending on the context. For example, if you’re scared of flying but have to go on a ton of trips abroad for work, you’ll have a very hard time logistically unless you put in the time and effort to get over your fear, whether by yourself or with the help of a therapist. Similarly, being scared of open or deep bodies of water is going to be awful for you if you live near lakes or the sea.
Phobias are mental disorders that are classified as anxiety disorders. Generally, people with specific fears avoid the things that scare them, but they might feel anxious even thinking about the things they’re afraid of.
If you’re scared of public speaking, for example, you might start panicking just imagining having to get up in front of a large crowd for an important speech. Or you might cringe at the mere thought of holding a spider if arachnids scare you.
France Has The Best Villages
Wow! is that a Citroen CV2? Haven't seen one of those since French 'art' movies in the 60's.
Tokyo Flood Tunnels
Harpy Eagle, One Of The Biggest Eagles In The World
Seriously, why does he have manacles on his ankles? What's the reason for keeping this animal in captivity?
A variety of factors can influence whether someone will develop a phobia and what it will be, ranging from your genetics and culture to your life experiences. Your home environment has a massive impact, too.
If your relatives were all terrified of dogs, it’s likely they passed on a similar fear to you, even if you may have never personally had a negative interaction with these animals.
Or a family member might pass on their general sense of anxiety to you, making you feel scared of leaving home. Specific phobias often appear when you’re around 7 years old.
Tallest Statue In Africa
Baobab Trees
Not sure why these are on a "megalophobia" list - surely they're just the right size, and gorgeous?
Kelpies
The Kelpies are a pair of monumental steel horse-heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. They stand next to the M9 motorway and form the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, which meets the River Carron here. Each head is 30 metres (98 ft) high.
Someone who is in a situation or around an object that irrationally scares them might feel dizzy, nauseous, breathless, and may have a distorted sense of reality. In some cases, they might have a full-on panic attack.
Specific phobias are grouped into five main categories: animal, natural environment, situational, blood-injected-injury, and ‘other’ types.
How Did They Build This 85-Meter-Deep Underground City 2,500 Years Ago?
Slowly, deliberately, and with an amazing knowledge of air flow and ventilation.
Breathtaking Shot Of Faroe Islands In The Kingdom Of Denmark
Hallgrímskirkja Church In Iceland
It’s actually not that big. It sits on top of a hill, and the snow in this picture gives the illusion that it’s much larger.
Some of the most common phobias, according to NIMH, include the fear of closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, dogs, animals, insects, thunder, public transportation, injuries involving blood, and dental and medical procedures. If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you or a loved one may be at least partly scared of one or more of these things.
1980 Eruption Of Mount St. Helens
Bagger 293, Once Held The Record For The World's Largest Land Vehicle
Image This Quetzalcoatlus Chasing You
Beating your fears probably won’t happen overnight. It can take weeks, months, or even years of dedicated and focused effort to reframe how you see the world.
One approach to reducing the severity of your fears is using self-exposure to gradually desensitize yourself. When you spend time around an object or situation that makes you uncomfortable, you adapt and get used to it. Eventually, you realize that you’re not in any danger.
Biggest Ship Elevator In The World, The Three Gorges Dam Shiplift
Devised in the 1950s, approved in 1992, originally scheduled for completion in 1999, then pushed to 2009. Construction begun in only 2008 when German construction and metalworking companies were brought in to solve major design issues -shifting the design away from rope & pulley to rack & pinion- and it was ultimately opened in 2016. German engineers from EMA Indutec had to develop a new process of metal hardening that allowed hardening penetration five times the usual thickness, as well as novel quality control processes, to deal with the enormous stress the rack and pinions has to bear.
This Door (I’m 5’11” For Reference)
A Lighthouse In Iceland
Þrídrangaviti Lighthouse (Thrídrangaviti without the Icelandic alphabet). https://icelandmag.is/article/watch-incredible-video-stunning-thridrangar-lighthouse-south-iceland
In more serious cases, you may need long-term counseling, psychotherapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy.
Therapy can be incredibly helpful here, but you have to understand that counselors aren’t wizards; they can’t wave a magic wand and make all of your problems disappear. They’ll guide and support you, but you have to be prepared for a lot of (unpleasant, uncomfortable) emotional heavy lifting.
Banff National Parkway Alberta, Canada
I've been there (technically, I was on a bus that dropped someone off at a chalet there in the middle of the night)
Forest In Nagano Prefecture, Japan
If Saturn Were As Close To Earth As The Moon, This Is How It Would Look Like
And boy would it look cool, though it'd probably play merry hell with Earth's gravity.
The Megalophobia online community was created over a decade ago, in late April 2014. Over the years, it grew to around a million members in size. If you plan on joining the group and sharing photos of huge objects yourself, take some time to familiarize yourself with what’s already been posted by other members.
Long story short, reposts are frowned upon. You shouldn’t share photos that are in the top 25 of all time or images that have been posted within the past 90 days.
The Pure Infinite
For context, our galaxy is approximately 100,000 light year across. That means light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, would take 100,000, years to travel from one edge of the galaxy to the other.
Colosso Dell'appennino Is The Only Statue That Triggers My Megalophobia
The Interior Of An Lng Cargo Ship
Which of these photos impressed you the most, dear Pandas? Were there any that genuinely seemed foreboding? What are the biggest objects that you’ve personally seen with your own eyes?
What phobias, if any, do you have? What do you do to reduce the impact they have on your life? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Why Not Have A Seat On Royal Clock Tower In Mecca
The Mother Of All Leaves
What are they? They are similar shape to rhubarb, but obviously not that.
The Size Of An Eagles Claws
Lion's Head Rock In Japan
Valley Of The Lights Italy
Hidden Beach, Marieta Islands, Mexico
Fanjingshan Temples In Tongren, China
Huge Wheel
Map Of The Universe. Our Galaxy Is Under The Red Dot
I Have A Huge Fear Of Heights And The Grade Of The Streets In San Francisco Test That, But This View Was Worth Looking Over; Taken Just Before Sunrise
The Size Of A Tornado Compared To The Size Of Wind Turbines
Sometimes, the design engineers have to just hope a particular natural event doesn't hit.
Massive Cooling Tower With Stairs
The Kalyazin Rt-64 Radio Telescope In Russia. Built In The Ussr For Robotic Venus And Mars Missions, Still Operational Today
This Can't Be Real, Right? Just Stumbled Upon It On Google
The Madonna Della Corona In Spiazzi, Italy
The climb up to it might be tricky, but again - megalophobia? Not sure - looks like a lovely homely place once you're there.
A Big Hairy Unicorn That Existed As Early As 29,000 Years Ago
The correct term would be "as late as 29,000 years ago". But, even that's wrong. The oldest woolly rhino fossils are 3.7 million years old, and the last living species went extinct about 14,000 years ago
Los Angeles Sky Cowboys Of Ironworkers Local 433
Oil Rig That Washed Ashore In Scotland
tl;dr:: rig being towed for scrapping, high winds tore it loose from the tug boat. More here: https://gcaptain.com/maib-publishes-investigation-report-into-transocean-winner-grounding/, https://weather.com/news/news/drilling-rig-runs-ashore-scottish-coast, https://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/09/europe/oil-rig-scotland-storm/index.html
Urban Hell
It's apparently a deceptive shot of the air-con units attached to apartments in this development: https://smdc.com/properties/shore-residences/
Giant Sequoia
Hey Bored Panda, can we get more stuff like this and less stuff about celebrities and lists of stuff someone thinks we should buy?
Also all the expert interviews. That must comprise a not-insignificant portion of the site's budget and surely I'm in the majority in just scrolling past that part of every thread.
Load More Replies...Hey Bored Panda, can we get more stuff like this and less stuff about celebrities and lists of stuff someone thinks we should buy?
Also all the expert interviews. That must comprise a not-insignificant portion of the site's budget and surely I'm in the majority in just scrolling past that part of every thread.
Load More Replies...