I now have a fear of the fire alarm going off in my dorms. It went of twice in a row on Sunday, once while I was still at my grandparents house, where I'd been staying for the weekend. The second time it went off, I'd been in my dorm for about an hour and was getting ready to clean the fishbowls. I was on video chat with my boyfriend when the alarm suddenly started blaring, scaring me half to death. I got out quickly with my tablet and phone in hand, but forgetting my room key.
We stood outside for what was probably around 20 minutes just because someone decided to cook their mac and cheese without water.
We stood outside for what was probably around 20 minutes just because someone decided to cook their mac and cheese without water.
The alarm went off again at 5 in the morning. I almost didn't even bother going outside, but I eventually stumbled out of bed and made my way outside. This time the alarm was caused by faulty wiring in one of the alarms, probably messed up from going off twice the day before.
So here's how my brain works: if something scares me enough to get my heart freaking out for over 5 minutes and to set my brain on overdrive, whatever caused that panic is going to sit in my brain for a while and cause a lot of anxiety.
I won't use the sink in the hallway outside our bathroom in the dorm very much now because our room's fire alarm is right on the opposite wall. I also hate the noise, because loud noises, especially like the ones fire alarms make, make my anxiety shoot through the roof. So standing with my back to it while I'm brushing my teeth is very similar to how I feel when there's a spider sitting on the bathroom wall while I'm trying to take a dump(I have arachniphobia).
Also, the word for a fear of fire alarms is my new favorite word: igniterroremophobia.
