Overcoming fear of balloons

[onemoreblow]

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[b0f0s0f]

Re: Overcoming fear of balloons

Yeah that's definitely not the best way to do it. I'm phobic and in my experience it's way more important to get used to the fact that balloons are not actually very fragile. The pop is always going to be a bit of a shock if unexpected (hell, it scares even non phobic people too), but they're really not easy to burst without trying unless it has a defect or something.

The way I got over my balloon phobia was as follows:
Step 1. I purchased a bag of white 12" balloons. I picked that color because colored balloons can be partially transparent which in my opinion makes them appear more fragile and at risk of popping.

2. I started just getting used to handling an uninflated one, feeling the texture of the latex and stretching it a bit. At this point even this makes me sweat a little because a) I was incredibly phobic at this point and b) the fear was highly arousing.

3. I moved on to blowing just one or two small breaths into the balloon. Being pretty low risk, I could just inflate and deflate repeatedly, slowly making the balloon bigger and bigger each time. I got it up to about halfway full.

4. At this point I really wanted to try popping one, so I tied it at that 1/2 way point and shot it from a distance with a BB gun. To my surprise, it didn't even burst, but was just punctured straight through by the BB and leaked its air out in a few seconds. This was what made me realize that, despite having stretched so far past their equilibrium point, balloons aren't actually under that much stress. I repeated this with some slightly fuller balloons that would actually burst.

5. After repeating the previous step from shorter and shorter distances I was finally close enough to be comfortable popping them with a pin by hand. I could do it without earplugs since they weren't very inflated and didn't make a very loud bang, and at this point I was fairly comfortable around them.

6. My biggest breakthrough came when I tried to buy a bag of 9" balloons a year or so later. I discovered via the internet that Walmart carried them, and despite my disdain for the place, I steeled myself and went in and bought some. Except, in my nervousness and paranoia, I actually bought a bag of 7" balloons instead, much to my disappointment (should've read the label more closely). The interesting thing about smaller balloons, however, is that they are proportionally closer to their limit when fully inflated. I used this opportunity to get used to handling balloons that were much closer to popping. I couldn't do this with 12"ers because I was too scared to blow them up that big, so I took advantage of this bag to get used to handling very tight balloons. I put on my studio isolating headphones and put on some death metal, and began to inflate the 7" balloons with reckless abandon. Despite blowing them very large, I didn't pop a single one until one I had essentially tried to b2p (but failed) popped after it landed on something on the concrete floor (a small rock perhaps) which scared the shit out of me, but nonetheless taught me just how resilient balloons are.

7. Soon after, I did go purchase my bag of 9" balloons and was able to play with them much more comfortably than I ever would have been able to prior to my desensitization. I highly recommend pearlized balloons because they're less elastic and feel more like inflating a grocery bag than a balloon.

The thing everyone with a balloon phobia should understand is that if balloons really were as in danger of popping as you think they are, everyone would be afraid of them, no joke. They're really quite sturdy and unless you blow them up until they're starting to form a neck (i.e. overinflated) or really tight, they're not in danger of bursting unless really abused or jabbed with something sharp. That's the secret to why people seem so confident and comfortable around them!

[lilolover82]

Re: Overcoming fear of balloons

Never could say I've been afraid of the balloons, actually really have a fetish for them and inflatables. They really arouse me. I am glad you were able to over come it.

[LoudPopper]

Re: Overcoming fear of balloons

Pretty interesting video, although the therapist(?) was a bit to aggressive for my liking. But I'm happy for that woman. You could see by the end she felt more control when she was popping them. What's more, is I think I saw her crack a tiny smile as she saw herself overcoming her fear when she was popping them. What was best is that she finally found a happy place with balloons and even was making them for kids.

My overcoming of my fear of popping kinda came out of necessity. My cousins would ridicule and chase me me. I was always tired of coming up for excuses as a kid in grade school. My fear was so bad that I even faked sick and left school early once. I started by popping small balloons in private with while covering my ears. Even though I coudn't hear it much, I noticed the popping was kinda "exciting" for me, because of the shock. As time went on, I started removing my fingers from my ears. And graduating on to bigger balloons like 12". I don't know when the enjoyment of the popping sound came along, because it was always startling to me. But I think I started to equate the startle with excitement, and the rest is history. I always knew that if I was in control of the balloon my fear was significantly less. Then I think I got a sense of "power" and "control" by popping them knowing that I was overcoming the ridicule of my family members, and doing something that was formerly scary. I know that the sexual part didn't come until later, when I had my first orgasm while casually laying on one, and popping wasn't involved there.

Anyways, good luck to those of you who want to overcome the fear. I know some of use prefer balloons not to be popped, so I hope I didn't offend anyone. Happy looning!

[Casey88]

Re: Overcoming fear of balloons

I used to be afraid of balloons due to my traumatic childhood having a balloon popped on my face. It used to be a point where i couldnt bear to see or touch them at all.

Somehow, slowly I managed to overcome it by buying inflated balloons or getting them for free from the shopping centre.However, this is a problem as I would need to hide them while bringing it inside my room.

I started buying uninflated balloons and practiced blowing them up under-inflated and it took a while before i could blow them up into its rated size.

Being a phobic, I dont feel to go a step further to being brave and being able to pop it. As a non-popper, I am emotionally attached to them. However, lately part of me just wish to start to pop them whilst they have oxidised or deflated.

But then, I just feel I do NOT have to do this.

[Ryan556]

Re: Overcoming fear of balloons

this topic is interesting for me because as a kid I was back and forth with feeling scared of balloons. There were many times were a balloon would pop and I would just get scared from it and laugh, but as I grew older I got more scared for some reason but at the same time started to grow more of an attachment towards them, then it got to the point where I'd love having them but was scared to death when someone else had them because they might pop them. Till this day I still dislike popping but I know not all balloons are perfect. Also I go to a lot of concerts and that has made my ears less sensitive to balloons popping.