Congratulations, John, on having the courage to seek counseling, something I never managed. But I did develop a strategy of systematic desensitization for overcoming my fear, partly using cognitive behavior therapy and neuro-linguistic programming, which I had learned on a management training course. It took me six years in total, from age 46 to 52 (and, like you, I had suffered with hospital confinement for cleft lip and palate surgery as a child) but now, at the age of 75, I actually enjoy blowing up balloons of various sizes from 12″ to 19″ until they burst, and balloon modelers hold no fear for me either. If a sensitive individual like me can do this, then so can you, so keep progressing towards your new freedom!

I am now 14 months from my first counseling session. I can now blow up and pop balloons, and I can also be in a room with balloons on the floor and pop some. Some major hurdles have been accomplished. I still need to work on blowing up long balloons and making something like an animal. We will see how it goes.

Same, I have a trust issue when it comes to balloons.

It’s been eight months since I started therapy. My next hurdle is to have balloons on the floor and pop them or watch someone. I ™m able to watch someone blow up helium balloons. I have blown up some 9 " ones and popped them. I’m making progress but have some more hurdles.

Hi. I, too, am totally blind and have been since birth. I’ve feared popping balloons all my life, but, like you, I can listen to them popping on video all the time without fear. I have no problems touching them or blowing them up. Water balloons do not frighten me at all. It’s strange.

Unfortunately, I can relate somewhat. I was going on a roll of telling people about my phobia, and one particular person said something that completely destroyed our friendship. He said I don’t care, then sent a pic of balloons to mock me. I took screenshots, and he deleted the photo about 2 hours later, but I still had screenshots. I am still trying to figure out how to tell my homeroom advisor about my situation. If you want, there is a globophobic group chat that we have on Discord, and we have a subreddit where we are pretty active.

An update on my pursuit of counseling for my fear of balloons. As I mentioned in another post, I’m 71 yrs old, and this fear started as a baby while in a hospital. I have started counseling and am in about my 4th session. The therapist and I have decided to try a mixture of treatment modalities EMDR, exposure, and talk/counseling. I found that interwoven with the phobia are other issues that I have to address. I still have some hurdles to get through, but I’m pleased with my progress. In her office, I blew up a balloon, and she did as well. We did not pop them, but I did take them home. My wife was very surprised. In my next appointment in about two weeks, we will be doing some EMDR with the bullying issues that I went through. She said we would also blow up some balloons and pop them. I have bought two packs of balloons and have blown several up but have not popped them. I did pop a very small one and plan to do more. I will post an update in about three weeks.
John

Hi. My story is similar: at about age 5/6, I was scared stiff when a yellow balloon I was playing with touched a vase of roses, and the thorny stem burst it. I was stunned and traumatized. My mum had blown the balloon up, and I watched as she drew a face on it with a marker pen. I was terrified of balloons until I was about age 13, when I became curious about them and wanted not to be scared of them. My older sister helped me to get used to balloons and how to blow them up without a bang. Mainly she taught me that they could be blown up without bursting. She used to screech her fingers over the full balloons, which I never got used to. I’m now in my 60s, and while my sister showed me I could blow balloons up and pop them, I’m still scared of them in other people’s hands.

I have decided to start therapy to see if I can get some relief. I have both anxiety and some relief. Will see how it goes.