SHITSHOW SATURDAY #220 – 5 Kinds of FearsSHITSHOW SATURDAY #220 – 5 Kinds of Fears
Adult Child
Members of Andrea’s community reflect on a reading about five kinds of fear and relate it to their own histories of dysfunction, control and hypervigilance. The conversation blends humour and candour as they share how therapy, support groups and self-awareness are helping them face fear in more grounded ways.
33:43•29 Aug 2026
Five Kinds of Fear and the Secret Ways They Run Your Life
Episode Overview
- Fear can take different forms—ambient, situational, control-based, bodily and ordinary—and recognising which one is active is key to working with it.
- Situational fear often reflects old childhood stakes, where minor adult events trigger outsized reactions rooted in past abandonment and grief.
- Overthinking, planning ahead, and constant responsibility may feel like competence but can be fear dressed up as control.
- Bodily fear usually can’t be reasoned away; somatic approaches and staying present in the body help the nervous system finish old survival responses.
- Awareness of dissociation and hypervigilance, shared in community and therapy, helps reduce shame and creates space for new, safer experiences.
“The gap between the size of the situation and the size of the feeling is what an emotional flashback is.”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This Shitshow Saturday gathering circles around one central theme: fear, and how it quietly shapes nearly every part of life for adult children of dysfunction. Andrea shares a reading on the “5 kinds of fears”, breaking them down into ambient fear, situational fear, fear disguised as control, bodily fear and ordinary human fear.
One standout line sets the tone for everything that follows: “The gap between the size of the situation and the size of the feeling is what an emotional flashback is.” From there, community members connect the concepts to their own lives in painfully honest, often darkly funny ways. You’ll hear one member talk about living with a nervous system that “never stands down”, only realising much later that constant tension isn’t actually normal.
Another describes years of trying to please a critical mother and mother-in-law, leaving her hating holidays and any situation where she has to perform or host. Someone else breaks down how overthinking and planning every possible outcome is really fear in costume, joking that they can freak out simply because another driver didn’t use a signal.
There’s also a raw look at bodily fear and dissociation: from waking at 2am convinced a tiny work issue will cost a job, to calmly finishing wound care while a patient casually shows a knife, only later recognising, “I’m fucked up… that was such classic dissociation.” This episode lands for anyone who grew up unsafe and now can’t always tell which fear is real and which belongs to the past.
The tone stays conversational and irreverent, but the message is serious: naming these fears, sharing them out loud, and staying in community gives everyone a bit more room to breathe. Which of these five fears sounds most like you right now?
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