I despise my heartbeat, so i was curious...

I'm so glad that I read this.
That I'm not the only person out there with this problem.
My phobia is the same as yours but I can tolerate to listen to other people's heartbeat but I CANNOT listen to mine.
If I'm sleeping, I have to sleep in a way where I don't hear it either.
I don't know if it's normal, but at least you're not alone.
:)

For all of those who have been writing about "heart beat phobia", I might be able to lend some information that will be of interest to you. First, ask yourself, am I a very creative person? Second, ask yourself if you are a very sensitive person? Third, ask yourself if your imagination has produced consistently in the past phobias. These three ingredients are evidence of something I like to call a potentially vulnerable individual to hypochondriac tendancies or imaginary illness or anticipation of illness. Ultimately, we need to recognize that our personality may be vulnerable given the misuse of what could be an incredible tool, our powerful imagination, our sensitivity to things, and creativity. When we are aware that our imagination is a source of creating or crafting thoughts, we can take more control of our imagination. Ask yourself if what I am imagining is useful to me or not useful? Logically, having such fears of a heart beat are not use ful in any way. Therefore, logic would say you should not imagine such things. They say hypochondria can be cured using information (i.e. eliminate ignorance on the subject and get factual information). Number two, recognize that it is a problem internal to you and therefore within your ability to solve. Finally, I believe that the fear stems from a dissociation of you to your body. If you have no relationship to your body, then perhaps you need one in order to respect all of your body, organs, and other. In other words, learn to have a loving relationship with your body, rather than a fear based one. This is a useful attitude, as opposed to a non-useful one. Amazingly enough, the fear likely is resultant of a subconcious fear that our body may let us down or not be reliable. Ultimately, ask yourself this: would your body have a tendancy to be more reliable if you loved it, nurtured it, encouraged it, respected it, did not take it for granted, and appreciated it OR if you feared it, hated it, despised it, did not embrace it, did not help it, nourish it, etc. I will say that when you learn to accept and love yourself and your body, you are in turn being encouraging and useful to all processes. This is a positive attidue towards living, one that can uproot your fear based tenandancies and replace them with a love based inclination to your entire being.

I'm sorry that I'm responding to this post that's clearly been here for awhile but... I just want you to know that your story sounds exactly like mine, and I'm so amazed to read about someone who experiences what I do.

Ever since I was a baby, I've had a fear of other people's hearts. My mother had to grow used to the fact that I pulled away when she hugged me, even when I was an infant. When I was in elementary school, I was so afraid of the way I looked after running around in gym (turning red, breathing hard, etc.) that I became paranoid that others could hear my heart beating and I would hold my breath, sometimes to the point of fainting. I grew to fear words relating to the cardiovascular system. Even now, at 20 years old, I struggle to say something as simple as "heartbeat" without turning red or dancing around the word with other words for awhile. I've been diagnosed with OCD for quite some time, so that may have something to do with it.

I grew better about my phobia as I grew older and learned how to manage OCD and other emotional disorders, but the problem is always there. One time, at a haunted house on Halloween, a friend grabbed my arm in fear and proclaimed "hey, I can feel your heart beating!" I ripped my arm away and blurted out something that didn't even make sense. I avoided her for several minutes, unable to even tell her what was wrong (she was very sympathetic, thankfully). When I had to do mandatory CPR training in school, I paid off a girl to fake the pulse-taking section with me. I'm a very smart girl, straight A's, and I have so many great friends who love me, but this one thing always haunts me.

For myself personally, I have theories on what could cause these problems. I'm sure it's different for everyone but... I agree that I don't think it's a fear of dying. I don't fear death. I accept it completely as something natural. Because of my OCD, I've developed eating disorders, and even the PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) that I started experiencing due to starvation didn't particularly faze me. I've wondered if the fear of hearts is a fear of being close to others. I freeze up when people touch me and I've been unable to have any boyfriends because of my phobia. I think it might be a deep-seeded fear of being close with other people. This is just a theory, of course.

Well, anyways, I just wanted you to know that someone out there has the same problem as you! You're not alone! And I've been doing just fine despite it (I've been studying abroad in Tokyo for a year!). Thanks for posting your story! It helps to know that there are others out there with the same problems!

Wow. After I read all this I was slightly relieved. So I'm not alone. The heartbeat really disturbs me. When I'm trying to fall asleep and I hear my heartbeat I have to reposition myself in someway so I can't hear it. In the 7th grade when we studied the heart it was no problem for me to stick my fingers down the pig's aorta. But then it came time to run around the track and take our heart rates. I just can't do it. I can't feel it or hear it or I'll have a panic attack. It's hard for me to hug my mom or dad and hear their heat beat too. I'm not really afriad of death. And I'm not afraid of my heatbeat speeding up or slowing down. It just freaks me out... like when I'm having my blood pressure taken and the thing squeezes your arm until you can hear and feel your heartbeat. I HATE IT! I've had OCD practically my entire life so phobia are pretty common to me. But this is hard one to work around. Since I'm emetophobic (afriad of vomit) when someone says they feel sick I move away or wash my hands... but I'm constantly being followed by my phobia. Any suggestions?

I have the same phobia. The only thing is, I KNOW the reason for me is not because I am afraid of dying. I am not someone who is afraid of death, and no I am not a death seeking person (honestly there is no reason to fear it). So that leaves me with questions, as I don't know why I am pushed away from heartbeats. My husband likes for me to lay on his chest, and I always have to get up and tell him I'm sorry because I can't stand to hear or feel his heartbeat. I'm not necessarily AFRAID of them or their feelings, it just makes me feel awkward for some reason.

WOW, im very glad to have come across this website! ive been very frightened of my heart beat.. it all started when i was at the mall with a friend, we went to grab a bite to eat and continued on with our shopping, all of the sudden i had her feel my heart beat because it was beating pretty fast (probably because we were walking pretty fast).. and she freaked out and totally freaked me out, anyways.. i ended up experiencing a panic attack because it freaked out about my heart beating fast, which i am aware its completely normal... ever since then i have experienced various panic attacks..if i feel my heart beating fast i get more anxious and nervous and have to calm my self down... how do i get rid of this fear?? its very annoying!!

Wow! I thought I was the only one in the world to feel this way. I cannot hear heartbeats and cannot feel them, if I do I have a panic attack. I know that I can work with someone to correct the problem but I am scared to do so. I hate to get my blood pressure taken, it makes me freak out. I am not happy that others have this but I feel less alone. I wonder what has caused it more than anything and I hope I get over it so when I have a baby I can handle hearing the heartbeat.

I can't believe that there are so many people out there have a fear like i did. i always speechless when i hear one's heartbeat even when i watch some movie with rip of someone's heart i always change the channel as quick as i can. and if someone talk about heart i never stay near there i just try to find the way out or i move away. on my biology class i never have 90% mark on my quiz or test because of my test are questioning me about heart. i always think i'm crazy that have a fear like that.

Wow I never thought I could open up about this phobia of mine, but you guys all give me hope! Pretty much word for word to this original post here. Also I was diagnosed with OCD just a few weeks ago so it's interesting to see a possible connection here. Anyway, the ONLY thing that's ever "helped" for me is intimate time with my boyfriend- I actually WANT to hear/feel it then. Otherwise, even close cuddling or something sans the arousal is once again completely unbearable when it comes to that stupid heart.
to Ocean29's comment about being disconnected, I think that may have some truth to it. I also suffer from PTSD which makes my anxiety about all this even worse. However, in group therapy I am being taught "grounding" techniques and I'm wondering if once I master those, it will help with the heart thing as well? I sure hope so- this really is debilitating as all hell. I'm sick of the panic and not being able to trace it back to anything since, like many of you, I've been like this since I was very very young. Luckily in college I no longer have to deal with those stupid health tests and pulse checking in PE- I didn't think I'd survive all that stress!! But it seems like there are a lot of us in this boat, so there must be SOME explanation and SOME escape!! good luck to us all ;)

*shudders* heartbeats. They absolutely terrify me. I can't stand touching my wrist for fear of feeling it. But the absolute worse for me is hearing it, though. I also can't sleep on my sides either, because it bothers me too much to hear. There used to be an insurance commercial on all the time that played a heartbeat sound and I had to mute it when ever it came on. I've never had a bad experience with them, so I don't know where it stems from. The only way I can deal is by getting away from it or by trying to just put my hands over my ears and hum to block the sound. But I am glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!

I'm terrified of my heartbeat! Absolutely terrified. But my phobia came about as a control issue, plus we visited a dead body museum and I saw real human hearts (dead ones) so it freaked me out.

I'm scared of my heartbeat, the thought of it stopping makes me wanna puke, I'm terrified of death. It's a horrible phobia. I don't know how to get rid of my phobia of my heartbeat. I hate ALL heartbeats. I can't feel them. It creeps me out.

Please help, can anybody relate, or calm this down for me?

It's a huge cause of anxiety at the moment and the centre of my depression. Counselling isn't helping!!!

I know exactly how you feel. Whenever I would lay on my friends stomach or give one a hug I would automatically pull away because i cant stand heartbeats. It completely freaks me out. I think its because when i was little i would hear it when it was dark at night and think it sounds like footsteps of someone who was coming closer and closer to hurt me. Veery normal.

I am also pleased to find i'm not the only one who cant deal with this.
I cant stand any type of heartbeat but my story is slightly different. When i was yound i remember lying with my father and hearing his heartbeat.
I now am not in contact with my father as he is gone and i can not listen to any type of heartbeat, mine or any others.
It distresses me too much!
Is there a name for phobia of heratbeats?

Wow. That is some story. I don't think it's abnormal, because it sounds like a phobia that manifests itself from a deep-rooted fear of dying, and lots of people have phobias that manifest from a deep-rooted fear of dying.

I'm going to apologize in advance if your phobia makes my response difficult for you to read.

Here goes:
For me, it's not quite the same, but it is disturbing enough.

When I was little, I couldn't go to sleep because my heart in my ears sounding like "potato chips crunching". It made me crazy. Now that I learn I have this congenital mitral valve prolapse, which has caused me to have blackouts, or what I consider to be tiny little deaths, the regurgitations in my heart sounds and feels repulsive to me - perhaps because it is an imperfection, because I know it is the reason why I have to take extra good care of myself all the time, or because it physically feels a little freaky.

Heartbeat sound effects in movies only sound cheesy to me - I can't recall one effective heartbeat sound effect in a movie or on tv. They just cheapen the story.

I had the opportunity to hold and explore two human hearts, and also I visited museums that had exhibits on hearts and surgery, and I think I've come to terms with the fact that we're a.) designed beautifully and intricately, and b.) all gonna die (which, and I'm certainly no doctor so I could be very, very wrong, but I think in its deepest level your fear/disgust might be stemming from fear of our mortality, that heartbeat sound being horrible evidence of the fragility of life).

Maybe if you could find a way to get into a room of cadavers for med students in a hospital and touch and feel a dead human heart, you might feel a little bit more at ease, I don't know. The cadavers are soaked in embalming fluid, so everything is brown, dry and nothing bloody. If you think it might help you face your fear, you might want to consider it.

wow! I did not even know this was a thing. I really like listening to other peoples heartbeats. It makes me sad that it scares you guys so much!

It makes you aware of just how little is keeping you alive. A lot of phobias are based on awareness of mortality.

I don't know of it is normal, but reading this certainly helped me with a fear tht I might be the only person! I can stand other peoples heartbeats and even my own to an extent (checking pulse), but when it comes to directly feeling my heartbeat when I sleep, I get completely restless and can't think of anything but it. I don't know of this is linked to my Thanatophobia (fear of death) or not, but it does really bug me and cause rather a few sleepless nights.

I am so glad I found this thread. I too felt like I was the only one with this phobia. I can't stand it. For me it just feels like at any second the beating is just going to stop.. scares me to death.. Absolutely terrifying. I have insomnia, and OCD and that combined with this phobia makes it almost impossible to sleep. I've never been able to sleep good... many many long nights have happened. Plus, I'm always scared that my home will be invaded by people at any moment.. I wish I could control my fears.

Hearing someones heart beat comforts me. Especially a significant other. I think it's kind of relaxing. But, I'd still say it's normal to be repulsed by them. ^^

this site makes me feel so relieved to know im not alone with this problem. my friends amd doctors think im crazy because i cant stand my blod pressure being taken. i cant stand my heartbeat or my wrists, ir any kind of pulse for that matter. I find it rather difficult to sleep at night because i can never keep my mind off the pulsating through my body :(

dude i kinda have that too! but i fear my heart going fast. not normal or slow

Oh so I guess a build-a-bear wouldn't be a good gift then.

i'll be perfectly honest i would give my left ball to be able to pin you down and hold your pulse right now

I totally know what you mean. It freaks me out big time. Just knowing that it could stop at any given moment.. it’s scary 😟

Hi! Im afraid of heart beats as well. I hate the sound and the feeling. I cant hold hands with interlocking fingers because of the heart beat. Ive been looking for a name to this phobia.

I have a pacemaker for my heart since birth. They check my heart activity, by shutting off the pacer for a short time with a magnet and I can feel my hear beat and it in the most repulsive feeling ever. I can’t feel it when it’s on, not sure why, but I assume everyone can normally feel their heart beat? I can’t stand to lay my head on my husbands chest because I can feel and hear his heart. I don’t mind the sound of like and artificial heart beat sound or just a recording or even an ultrasound, it’s the real life sound and feeling that I can not stand. I have a feeling it stemmed from my heart issues as a child, but I’m not really sure. Nice to know I’m not the only one.

I deal with this every day. Every night. It's exhausting. I have a perfectly fine heart and have had it checked.

What started it was my grandma telling me in my younger years she thought I had a heart prob.

After that it just stuck in my head.

I was an alcoholic for 3 years and that caused major anxiety and panic and irregular heart beats. I soon figured it out.. I was drinking too much. Got checked again and was still showing a really amazing heart and artery walls etc.

I still live with this and find that eating clean and exercising are the only things that make me feel better.

But I still freak out almost once a day sometimes.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

I cant believe i just found this. I too have this phobia, i cannot listen to or feel my heartbeat, and it all started after my IBS started (with a couple of nasty gastroenteritis). I always wanted to discover what were the thoughts that were creating this, and I think it's because until my IBS started, I had never truly accepted myself or loved myself. I also think that's what originated my IBS. And for me it was relatively easy to sort this out because ever since I was a little boy I knew I was gay and the people around me (mostly my school mates) always made me think gay people were freaks. And even worse, whenever I had a gay thought or I found a guy attractive, I would hit myself and think horrible things like "I cannot be gay", " you have to be straight", "gay people are disgusting". I even forced myself to watch straight pornography even though that made me want to barf. So yeah, I would say that's most likely at the root of this phobia and ibs.

I am not like that anymore though. I accept myself now as a human being, but unfortunately the damage is done, so all I have to do now is learn how to reverse it. I've been interested in EFT (emotional freedom technique) which you can check online what it is, and it's basically a chinese medicine related technique which consists of tapping in different meridian points on your body (which allows you to connect to your unconscious, or your deeper self) while simultaneously saying affirmations like " I am safe", "I love myself", " I accept myself", or any other positive affirmation. One thing I've noticed is that some of you said that the root cause of this phobia could be a fear of dying. And the interesting part is that, even though like many of you I consciously do not fear death,I've noticed that the one affirmation that works best for me (it calms me, relaxes me) is saying " I am not in danger. I am not going to die". Now for those of you who are going to try this, be aware that it takes time until you can perform EFT with visible results because it may seem kinda stupid to some people at first, tapping their body while saying affirmations like that, but give it a try, watch videos, learn how to do it and after a while you might see some real positive results.

I plan to use this technique to end this phobia and help heal my IBS. I am aiming for 15 mins of EFT everyday for at least a few months or until It stops. I hope some of you (the ones who managed to read this all) do give it a try, and best of luck in finding what is causing you to feel like this.

I have this but its not as extreme as some of you. Listening to it is like nails down a chalk board and feeling them just makes me shudder. A lot of you seem to have other disorders but mine in singular and I don't feel mine I caused by fear of them or fear of dying. All I know is lying on the sofa cuddled up to my mum on a sat night as a kid was challenging as I could always hear her heartbeat but nothing a shift of position and a pillow between my ear and her couldn't solve. Glad there is other people with this and also glad I have a mild version. Still don't know a name for this though.

I also find hearing both mine's and someone else's heart beat disgusting. I can't stand it and I think I dislike hearing it because I know the heart could stop any possible minute. I get disgusted by other things as well others don't normally get disgusted by such as hearing the unborn child's heart beat in the ulta, pregnancy and I'm also afraid of giving birth. I know I'm a weirdo :D

Im so glad im not alone i just woke up at 2 am and i could hear my heart beat and it just made me suck i dont know why but i hate how it pops in my chest and the sound it makes, i feel sick and mad at the same time.

I hate hearing heart beats, i have to put my fingers in my ears and go lalalalala. I panic that if I think about it hard enough, my heart will stop :(

Another one that felt like I'm alone but I am completely relieved that I'm not. This started happening last October when I got a huge panick attack from a concentrated dab and I kept concentrating on my heart trying to slow it down but then I kept freaking myself out with my thought like I was going to have a heart attack or something. Since then I have had a couple of panick attacks and freak out whenever I feel my heart racing. I also cannot hear others hearts it kinda bugs me to feel someone's heart but not really. I've been trying to over come this since and it's the hardest and most irritating this ever. I'm only 16 almost 17 and I feel this is the biggest step back of my life. I really really want to over come this and leave it behind, but I also feel like a freak telling anyone about it :/

I am beyond amazed that I am not the only one who feels like this! Seriously I could have written this post. I completely relate to everything you said. When I was pregnant I cringed when they would check my sons heartbeat. When my cat sleeps on my legs or feet or lap and I can feel her heart, it's too much anxiety for me. Hugging people when I can feel a heartbeat is the same. Laying completely still at night on my stomach and feeling the subtle movement of my heartbeat is unbearable. I tried to tell my family about this and they just looked at me like I was insane. I'm not a hypochondriac or anything like that I just despise hearing, feeling, seeing a pulse. I can't explain it but I am so grateful there are others out there like me.

Wow I have the same sort of thing going on. I can't stand to feel my heart beat or take my own pulse. It causes me extreme discomfort. Wish I knew what it was called or a reason for it.
It makes getting my blood pressure checked a pain in the ass. Some one look into what this is all about.

WOW! You're obviously not alone! ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HATE THEM TOO!! I cant stand them either!! :)

I too cannot stand my own heartbeat, especially when lying down on my tummy, it makes me feel like I'm going to make it pop or explode or something! It's horrible!! Lol, you are def not alone.

I just hate the feeling of pulse anywhere except the chest.... It is repulsive. I hate when I can feel it after p.e too, or when my wrist sits still for a while an you feel it on your wrist ugh!

Ah! I know how you feel. I've had that phobia since I can remember. The first time I realized I had it, was when I was in bed many years ago, and I was listening to my heartbeat, and I had a major panic attack (MAJOR) because the awful sound freaked me out.
You are not alone, my friend. I read somewhere that it may go away on its own, but... I doubt it.

One other item...let's resolve this phobia. One person once mentioned to me that we micro manage our employees when we do not trust them. This analogy is applicable in our case. If we try to micro manage something that is fulfilling its function, we become exhausted and tired like a manager that micro manages his or her employees. Amazing in my opinion...

Oh, one other thing does come to mind. We need to understand what control based disorders can do to us. Basically, the minute we fixate ourselves with the details of a process, we no longer are able to simply be. Overanalysis, fueled by a fear of loosing control, is problematic. If you are an extremely analytical person, we need to step back and again, look at the big picture. BE AWARE A fear of loosing control, evidenced by control freak tendancies, actually makes things even worse!!!! Always recognize that the beautiful body was designed with self-regulating processes and that we need to respect them, appreciate them, let them be...picture your body made of up many people for example. If you tried to control people in the same manner you try and control every detail of self, your relationship would be very frustrating. Have a positive relationship to your body...I hope this helps. If anyone needs more advice, certainly send me a question...wishing you love and wellness..

Hi everybody, there is a name for hearing a whooshing, heartbeat sound: pulsatile tinnitus. It's not a condition; it's actually a symptom of an underlying condition.

I don't know if all or any of you have it, but I recommend that if you suspect you have it that you see http://www.whooshers.com for more info.

I have pulsatile tinnitus, so I hear the heartbeat sound constantly. It's very annoying! You can also do a search for "whooshers" for more info.

well, i have very low blood pressure so i cant actually feel mu heartbeat, not much at least and the few times it has gotten a bit higher like when im on cold weather i cant sleep cause the heartbeat annoys me, so when its "normal" (120/ 80) i find it very annoying, not to mention how thats high for me i get dizzy and my ears ring... my normal is 90/60, cant feel much of it

Actually i think if it more of a weak spot

One last item...for those who are interested, please visit my website www.invitaswellness.com and become a fan of our FB page if you would like. Wishing you love and wellness.