Werewolves and phobias
- outwarddoodles
- Moderator
- Posts: 2670
- Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Custom Title: I'm here! What more do you want?
- Gender: Female
- Location: Ohio
- Contact:
- Terastas
- Legendary
- Posts: 5193
- Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:03 pm
- Custom Title: Spare Pelican
- Gender: Male
- Location: Las Vegas
- Contact:
*nods* This is what I was trying to get at earlier: lycanthropy doesn't automatically cure a phobia, but it can allow the individual a different outlook that could possibly influence his phobia, for better or for worse.Shadowblaze wrote:It is possible for wqerewolf to have phobias- those of other animals are likely to be compouned and tyhose of other things may be lessened. someone who is afreaid of dogs would still be, but it really depends- i don't like dogs because they have an annoying tendency to be bigger than i am (this comes from when i was smaller... but i still and reliively tiny) but if i was a werwolf, i could think, "hey, now they get to run form me..." so it would be lessened.
In the example of Shadowblaze's problem with dogs, the fear would be that a big dog would suddenly knock him over, pin him down and do any number of things from attacking to facial slobbering. Once a werewolf, however, he will be the biggest dog in town, which will not only help him overcome that fear of being overpowered by a big dog, he might actually learn to delight in their presence (he might learn that big dogs are actually not to be naturally feared and make nice with a few, or at the very least might get a laugh out of spooking them in gestalt form).
I, on the other hand, am bothered by dogs for a different reason. See, I'm not afraid of little dogs so much as I am afraid that I'll one day blow my stack at a tiny yapper and bring my foot down on him, so it's actually the bigger dogs that I'm more comfortable around.
Being a big, strong werewolf, I imagine, would just enforce that fear of breaking somebody's yapping chow chow even further.
So depending on the nature of the phobia, it could cure it just as easily as enforce it.
- Apokryltaros
- Legendary
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:27 pm
- Custom Title: Imperial Weirdo And Insect Expert
- Location: Cleft of Dimensions
- Contact:
- Scott Gardener
- Legendary
- Posts: 4731
- Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:36 pm
- Gender: Male
- Mood: Excited
- Location: Rockwall, Texas (and beyond infinity)
- Contact:
Flooding
There's a psychiatric technique known as "flooding," in which one faces one's phobia up front and in its worst imaginable form. This technique of living out the worst case scenario and surviving does wonders for curing a phobia. For example, if one has a fear of flying, a psychiatrist using this technique might have one take a plane to Beirut, Lebanon and back, with a connecting flight in Pakistan. If one has a fear of spiders, the doctor might have one stroke and pet a bunch of (secretly de-fanged or other species painted to look like) large black widows.
By facing one's fears, one can see that they're not as bad as the mind has made them out to be.
If one has a phobia of dogs, wolves, fur, the full moon, or things with pointed teeth, or if one has just had an apprehension of seeing An American Werewolf in London because the shape-shifting scene gives one the Willies, then the sudden flooding that would happen with a real-life shape-shift could very well cure the phobia. Suppose someone has a fear of the full moon. "Bad things happen on full moon nights. People get into wrecks more often, more people get violent," etc. That phobia is confirmed again by an attack by a large, wolf-like animal. The following full moon, suddenly, the absolute worst manifestation of "full moon madness" happens--you're now a werewolf! But, with the growing realization that being a werewolf does not mean going out and eating people (assuming it doesn't), one learns that one now has a powerful way of fending off "full moon madness." One is now the King of full moon weirdness, and all the other lunatics and their problems now become too inferior to warrant anxiety.
Or, it could make it worse, if one's shifting experience shows that the object of one's fears IS as bad as the mind has made it out to be. Imagine someone who was spooked as a kid by trick-or-treaters in animal suits, being afraid of furries. Then throw in getting chased by a werewolf, getting bitten, and then undergoing a horrifically painful first shape-shift. That phobia is likely to stick around.
By facing one's fears, one can see that they're not as bad as the mind has made them out to be.
If one has a phobia of dogs, wolves, fur, the full moon, or things with pointed teeth, or if one has just had an apprehension of seeing An American Werewolf in London because the shape-shifting scene gives one the Willies, then the sudden flooding that would happen with a real-life shape-shift could very well cure the phobia. Suppose someone has a fear of the full moon. "Bad things happen on full moon nights. People get into wrecks more often, more people get violent," etc. That phobia is confirmed again by an attack by a large, wolf-like animal. The following full moon, suddenly, the absolute worst manifestation of "full moon madness" happens--you're now a werewolf! But, with the growing realization that being a werewolf does not mean going out and eating people (assuming it doesn't), one learns that one now has a powerful way of fending off "full moon madness." One is now the King of full moon weirdness, and all the other lunatics and their problems now become too inferior to warrant anxiety.
Or, it could make it worse, if one's shifting experience shows that the object of one's fears IS as bad as the mind has made it out to be. Imagine someone who was spooked as a kid by trick-or-treaters in animal suits, being afraid of furries. Then throw in getting chased by a werewolf, getting bitten, and then undergoing a horrifically painful first shape-shift. That phobia is likely to stick around.
Taking a Gestalt approach, since it's the "in" thing...
- Terastas
- Legendary
- Posts: 5193
- Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:03 pm
- Custom Title: Spare Pelican
- Gender: Male
- Location: Las Vegas
- Contact:
Really? Well... You get the idea at least, right? A big dog like a husky or a rottweiler I could deal with because if they play rough, I could rough them off of me and it wouldn't even phase them.Apokryltaros wrote:Chow-chows tend to be large dogs, actually.
But my mother's miniature schnauzer? Yeesh. Much as I'd love to Vinatieri the little bastard, somehow I don't think that would go over well with my friends and family.
-
- Legendary
- Posts: 13085
- Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:27 am
- Custom Title: Executive Producer (Red Victoria)
- Gender: Male
- Location: Tejas
Lets see you rough off these dogs.Terastas wrote:I could deal with because if they play rough, I could rough them off of me and it wouldn't even phase them.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/hugedogs.html
- Wolfhanyou
- Legendary
- Posts: 628
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:38 pm
- Location: In a Box Being Sold On Ebay
- Contact:
Wow. Those are mastiffs, great danes, irish wolfhound, and a St. Bernard right? Damn those dogs are big.Figarou wrote:Lets see you rough off these dogs.Terastas wrote:I could deal with because if they play rough, I could rough them off of me and it wouldn't even phase them.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/hugedogs.html
-
- Legendary
- Posts: 2335
- Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:28 pm
She. But yes, that’s my point. furthermore you might still be afraid of digs in some ways- my dad's friend Tom Stigerwald (a painter- he's really good) has a dog named Bud- i would hate to be a werewolf around bud because my scent would change- bud likes me now but if bud attacked me, i wouldn’t care how agile i was because bud is one hell of a powerful dog- something about if "he attacks you you're doomed anyway"Terastas wrote:*nods* This is what I was trying to get at earlier: lycanthropy doesn't automatically cure a phobia, but it can allow the individual a different outlook that could possibly influence his phobia, for better or for worse.Shadowblaze wrote:It is possible for wqerewolf to have phobias- those of other animals are likely to be compouned and tyhose of other things may be lessened. someone who is afreaid of dogs would still be, but it really depends- i don't like dogs because they have an annoying tendency to be bigger than i am (this comes from when i was smaller... but i still and reliively tiny) but if i was a werwolf, i could think, "hey, now they get to run form me..." so it would be lessened.
In the example of Shadowblaze's problem with dogs, the fear would be that a big dog would suddenly knock him over, pin him down and do any number of things from attacking to facial slobbering. Once a werewolf, however, he will be the biggest dog in town, which will not only help him overcome that fear of being overpowered by a big dog, he might actually learn to delight in their presence (he might learn that big dogs are actually not to be naturally feared and make nice with a few, or at the very least might get a laugh out of spooking them in gestalt form).
I, on the other hand, am bothered by dogs for a different reason. See, I'm not afraid of little dogs so much as I am afraid that I'll one day blow my stack at a tiny yapper and bring my foot down on him, so it's actually the bigger dogs that I'm more comfortable around.
Being a big, strong werewolf, I imagine, would just enforce that fear of breaking somebody's yapping chow chow even further.
So depending on the nature of the phobia, it could cure it just as easily as enforce it.
As for the yappy gods (I hate them too) you might just growl them into silence, or your scent might make then more nervous. or you might get even more irritated because of enhanced hearing. *gets weird image of a werewolf stepping on a dog in gestalt from*
Come to think of it, being a dog wouldn't work to well for us weretigers, now would it...
- Terastas
- Legendary
- Posts: 5193
- Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:03 pm
- Custom Title: Spare Pelican
- Gender: Male
- Location: Las Vegas
- Contact:
Sorry.Shadowblaze wrote:She.
*nod-nods* I wouldn't particularly mind being a werewolf, but if I knew there was a feline variation of lycanthropy somewhere out there, I'd sooner seek that out than the former.Come to think of it, being a dog wouldn't work to well for us weretigers, now would it...
Might be going off topic with this, but I'm not sure how being a weretiger around dogs would differ from being a werewolf around dogs. On one hand, your scent would be unfamiliar and unrecognizable as canine, so you still get the same hostile relationship from the unfriendly dogs and a sense of distrust in the ones you already knew. But on the other hand, tigers are the largest land-dwelling carnivores on the planet, so any kind of canine they could come across would be less of a threat.
I guess it once again depends on the individual. But anyway, I'm sure our canine counterparts are getting really sick of this slightly OT discussion, so lets just leave it at that.
-
- Legendary
- Posts: 2335
- Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:28 pm
-
- Legendary
- Posts: 3355
- Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:16 pm
- Custom Title: Aspiring "Reverse" Kitsune
- Gender: Male
- Location: Lakeville MN - (USA)
- Contact:
Meh...sez U...Shadowblaze wrote: cool to be a werewolf- better to be a weretiger.
I was a WereTiger in my oldest remembered TF dream...but I later moved on to dreaming about being a Mouse...then a Dragon...then a Fox...and periodically all sorts of odd things including Birds, Dinosours and Turtles (the "teenage mutant ninja" kind). However...I never went back to the Tiger again. WOLVES RULE.
[Edit:Tigers are cool too though... ]
Please Forgive the Occasional Outburst of my Inner Sage ... for he is Oblivious to Sarcasm, and not Easily Silenced.
=^.^'= ~
=^.^'= ~
-
- Legendary
- Posts: 13085
- Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:27 am
- Custom Title: Executive Producer (Red Victoria)
- Gender: Male
- Location: Tejas
Terastas wrote:Meh...sez U...Vuldari wrote:WOLVES RULE.
Tigers and wolves rule!!
Both are common. Look at Exxon. They have "Tigermarkets" And the slogan is "Put a tiger in your tank." You also have "Tony the Tiger" Mmmmm sugar Frosted Flakes!!!
wolves are also common in some products and places.
Last edited by Figarou on Tue May 10, 2005 1:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
- outwarddoodles
- Moderator
- Posts: 2670
- Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Custom Title: I'm here! What more do you want?
- Gender: Female
- Location: Ohio
- Contact:
- Terastas
- Legendary
- Posts: 5193
- Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:03 pm
- Custom Title: Spare Pelican
- Gender: Male
- Location: Las Vegas
- Contact:
That's true. But I'm pretty confident we have the werewolf phobias debate settled, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's only when the discussion gets off topic before the original question has been answered that it's a problem, but so long as duck-throwing isn't part of the equation, a little OT never hurt anybody.outwarddoodles wrote:I have a feeling we're getting off topic...*Chases off the derailers with a newspaper.*
-
- Legendary
- Posts: 2335
- Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:28 pm
*realises she had already thrown a duckie* *has to leap and eat the duckie*
<_<
>_>
i didn't do it.
hyeah....
so- phobaias depend on -
exact type
species of were-creature
physical changes in were from
realistic/unrealistic
the last being- "oh no dogsare 50000 times my height so i dont like them" or "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAA itsaspiderAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAA"
<_<
>_>
i didn't do it.
hyeah....
so- phobaias depend on -
exact type
species of were-creature
physical changes in were from
realistic/unrealistic
the last being- "oh no dogsare 50000 times my height so i dont like them" or "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAA itsaspiderAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAA"
- mielikkishunt
- Legendary
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:57 am
phobias
My main character were, has a phobia of needles. So it is possible
As for dogs with weretigers, I can see them(except for the dogs who were bred to hunt Lions, say Rhodesian Rhidgebacks) turning and RUNNING AWAY.
As for dogs with weretigers, I can see them(except for the dogs who were bred to hunt Lions, say Rhodesian Rhidgebacks) turning and RUNNING AWAY.
Lt Com Kyr
Could someone explain why my Russian Wolfhound only eats my WereWolf Books?
Could someone explain why my Russian Wolfhound only eats my WereWolf Books?
- JonathanBaine
- Legendary
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:53 pm
- Location: Everywhere....
- Anubis
- Legendary
- Posts: 6429
- Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:57 pm
- Custom Title: Eletist Jerk
- Gender: Male
- Location: Crossroads, ganking a hordie lowbie.
- Contact:
Re: Werewolves and phobias
lol that is funny as hell i'll never thoght of a werewolf doing that!Figarou wrote:Reilune wrote:I was just reading through some of the topics here when a thought popped into my head. What would happen if a werewolf had some kind of weird fear of something? Like germs. Can you picture a germaphobic werewolf?
Oh great. I can see it now.
Werewolf 1 *walks into the kitchen*
Werewolf 2 *sitting at the kitchen table*
Werewolf 1 "Is there anything to eat?"
Werewolf 2 "Sure, there is some meatloaf left over from dinner."
Werewolf 1 *catches a glimpse of something moving in the corner of her eyes* *screams* "Ahhhhhh!!! A mouse!!" *jumps on a chair* "Get it away from me!!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeee!"