Possible links between fear and tickling....

[Featherdfingers]

"Terror is the best possible feeling in the entire world."
-Stephen King

While most of you probably don't agree with that above quote, I have often thought about the connection between the sensations of being tickled and being scared (this post is a long time in coming). For example, on the rare occasion that I tell one of the uninitiated about my adoration for all things tickling, I will often draw a parallel between the rush of being tickled (or tickling someone else, I suppose, although personally I find that to be slightly less of a *rush*, although equally--if not more--fun!) with the rush of riding a roller coaster.

Roller coasters and tickling? Wha, huh, say again? Well, think about it... Both involve a giddy, almost-sexual sense of anticipation (if you think I'm crazy -- think long and hard about the feelings you experience while climbing that first steep hill at a theme park), masochistic endurance, a love-it/hate-it relationship, addictions (adrenaline junkies), and perhaps most notably -- a distinct craving for a temporary loss of control (while I've tickled for hours straight, a roller-coaster is rarely longer than a few minutes, although arguably more intense for that short period). While I won't go quite into depth with these examples, I would say there are similiar parallels you can draw between tickling and scary movies/books, in addition to attending haunted houses/woods/castles.

Okay, so tickling and horror share certain qualities -- but does that add up to a direct correlation between the two feelings. Not necessarily, but for certain people (myself included) I think being scared fills the same void as being tickled fills -- a return to a very primal, instinctive lifestyle (a lifestyle that is not surprisingly becoming more popular as the roots of society become more and more "advanced"). Like tickling, you can think about fear all you want and that still won't make the feeling go away (often, the more you dwell on it, the more pronounced the feeling truly is!). No, when you are being scared/tickling you are almost entirely at the whim of your own physical body and your own natural responses. Therein, I think, lies the real attraction -- and the beauty of it.

Anyone have any critiques, comments, responses, additions, and/or subtractions to this theory?

 

[Ayla ny]

well, both give you chills... and something scary is often described as spine-tingling. 🙂

I get (almost) the same feeling from being startled as I do from a quick tickle. there’s that same sudden adrenaline rush and flash of panic. I wonder if there is a connection between being ticklish and being easily startled...

I have never been skydiving but I imagine that the rush would be an awful lot like the unstoppable, no turning back now, rush of allowing yourself to be really tickled.

both are about the excitement in loss of control.

 

[Sunriseticklee]

Some scientist say that ticklishness is linked to a sort of defense mechanism... It let the "cave people" know when something dangerous was crawling on their bodies or whatever. And if that is linked a bit to fear... then... Ok. LOL

I am sooo NOT a rollercoaster gal, being afraid of heights....
But with the right person making fun of me, I'd get on every single one.

(Went to Six Flags with my students and the very first ride they picked was the Georgia Scorcher.... I was like DOH.... But you beter believe I got on it-- very near speaking in tongues! heehee I was NOT going to look all chickenized in front of the kids who thought I was one of the coolest people in the world.)

But another one of my fantasies is to go on a monster roller coaster with a special tickle friend and he tickles me the entire time I am on the ride. I think the sensations mingling with my fear, the dizzying turns and the mind boggling speed would drive me up the wall.
WOW That would be sooo exciting! It would probably be a huge turn on to me as well... I really think so... But ya see, I have a whole slew of amusement park fantasies.

Anyone ever seen the movie FEAR? When she is on the roller coaster with that crazy dude and he is just running all types of game on her that night. Well that scene ALWAYS gets to me! I think THAT would be too much fun!

Ok.... Need really cool sexy close tickle friend to take me to Six Flags and fulfill all of my fantasies! Woohoo.... WHEW! It would be intense!

Live, Laugh and TICKLE
Sunriseticklee


*fans herself*

 

[siamese dream]

Those are very interesting points Featherdfingers. And now that I've read that, the conversation we had a while ago about this makes a little more sense. Too bad you can't type that much in the chatroom 😀.... hell, half the time when I chat with you, I have to go back and delete 2 or 3 lines because I wrote too much and it won't let me submit the whole thing. lol

I think there must be some sort of connection between fear and tickling, in the way you described... but it might be different for different people. For example, I think the 'fear' feelings I have on a roller-coaster are a lot different than feelings about tickling. This is probably because I'm really scared of heights...and I've been on some fun roller coasters, but usually that feeling is more like "Okay, I'm climbing the hill now...there's no getting off the ride now, I just have to endure this and hope I don't go flying out of this little contraption"...

It would probably be really boring for me to go to an amusement park alone, because I wouldn't ride anything scary. In a situation like that, I'd be very passive, and I'd ride the rides that whoever went with me wanted to ride... (unless they just looked like something that would be awful for me). To get on the roller coasters, I need 'moral support' or something, I need someone to ride with me and cajole me into getting on the coaster...if I went alone, I probably wouldn't end up getting on the coaster at all. Even if the ride turned out to be fun, the first thing I need is someone there to push me into getting on the ride in the first place. 😀

Tickling is an entirely different thing for me. I don't need any convincing for that one 😉...in fact, I'd likely be the one trying to convince the OTHER person to do this. Maybe I'm somewhat aggressive when it comes to tickling....even as the ticklee. Hehe... The best example I can think of for the feelings I get from tickling: Okay, when I'm getting ready to go somewhere that I've been looking forward to for a while, like a concert or whatnot, or to meet someone that I've been looking forward to seeing...I'll get this excited feeling in my stomach, I'll be all jittery and hyper just anticipating finally getting to do what I wanted to do. I think that feeling is very similar to the feeling I get from tickling.

Maybe the roller coaster scenario doesn't work for me, because I have some "real" fears about roller coasters (mostly related to heights and falling), I don't have any "real" fears about tickling. So it's more of an excited-nervous-hyper feeling rather than fear.

 

[tklr5150]

I see where you're coming from, FF. There is a similarity in the gut feeling you get from tickling and from anxiety/fear, especially when that fear comes in the context of some sort of security (i.e., a roller coaster, in which you may be terrified but some part of you also realizes that you're not in mortal danger). Arousal and fear are two of the most basic primal emotions, so it makes sense that the physical actualizations of them share some qualities since I believe they both stem from the same place in the brain.

For the record, I am not a roller coaster person either - not for a fear of heights, but for a fear of falling. I can handle water rides, since they only have one big drop and then it's done, but the whole time riding it you'll hear me talking non-stop, cracking bad jokes nervously - that's MY defense mechanism. Fortunately I don't react that way to tickling situations 😛

 

[TickleCrazy]

I recently had a fantasy about being tickled all the way up the incline of the Cyclone and then screaming all the way down. I'm thinking that tickling-anticipation and coaster-anticipation, and as Siamese said, anticipation of anything you are really looking forward to, are like different kinds of chocolates in the same box.

 

[siamese dream]

Re: Re: Possible links between fear and tickling....

I recently had a fantasy about being tickled all the way up the incline of the Cyclone and then screaming all the way down. I'm thinking that tickling-anticipation and coaster-anticipation, and as Siamese said, anticipation of anything you are really looking forward to, are like different kinds of chocolates in the same box.

That's an excellent way of putting it, about the different kinds of chocolates in the same box.

Another thing I missed in my first reply, which I think is always part of the tickling experience for me, is a sexual thrill. Being tickled is an extremely sexual sensation for me. I know that there are others who don't always associate the two, but it's there for me. I can't ever recall being turned on while riding a roller coaster 🙂... An adrenaline rush, yes, but not turned on. I'm sure there ARE people who get a sexual thrill from roller coasters... they're probably the ones who have spent hundreds of dollars at the amusement park, lining up for the ride over and over again... lol 😀

 

[TickleCrazy]

Re: Re: Re: Possible links between fear and tickling....

I'm sure there ARE people who get a sexual thrill from roller coasters... they're probably the ones who have spent hundreds of dollars at the amusement park, lining up for the ride over and over again... lol 😀

LOL! I haven't done that in my adult life but as a kid I once spent all my money on 13 consecutive rides in the first car of the Cyclone, never even getting off to wait on line. Was it sexual for me? Maybe, I'm not sure. But tickling sure is! Here's something we haven't yet mentioned: MOTORCYCLES! I used to be fearless and just enjoy the rush. The more cool and skilled the driver was, the more of a turn-on was the ride. A really fun part was of course holding onto the waist of the driver. I couldn't help but tickle some of my drivers.

 

[Featherdfingers]

I can't ever recall being turned on while riding a roller coaster ... An adrenaline rush, yes, but not turned on. I'm sure there ARE people who get a sexual thrill from roller coasters...

I'll take the daily line at Space Mountain for $1,000, Alex.

But seriously, and I think I might get taken to task for saying this: I think there is a sexual component to anything we truly enjoy in life. Not in the physical sense that we "get off" from all of our favorite hobbies or friends (although that is certainly a possibility! 😀), but pyschologically speaking, we always seem to subconsciously return to those things in life that make us feel most alive, or "turned-on."

I guess one could fairly call that a rather Freudian view of life. But hey--don't roller coasters really resemble giant pen--

 

[Deleted member 2452]

hi ayla

well, both give you chills... and something scary is often described as spine-tingling. 🙂

I get (almost) the same feeling from being startled as I do from a quick tickle. there’s that same sudden adrenaline rush and flash of panic. I wonder if there is a connection between being ticklish and being easily startled...

I have never been skydiving but I imagine that the rush would be an awful lot like the unstoppable, no turning back now, rush of allowing yourself to be really tickled.

both are about the excitement in loss of control.

i had to answer your post here, nothing personal. sky diving/parachuting is nothing like tickling! period, end of story. no one ,except an idiot, goes out of the door with the desire to loose control! you loose control and you are dead!
tickling for me anyway is 180 degrees opposite from fear! the only similarity is the adrenilan release in the body. but it's from two very different reasons. it's like saying you are having a stomach cramp from your monthly period, and having one from tomaine food poisoning is the same. yes both can hurt, but thats the end of similarities!
in short, if you're affraid, you aren't going to be ticklish.
steve

 

[Eternal Tomboy]

Interesting thread...

I never really thought about this stuff before. I happen to be a HUGE fan of roller coasters (despite my fear of heights...and as a few others pointed out, more importantly, the fear of falling...lol). It is definitely a love/hate feeling as I wait on line. The anticipation is enough to cause the slight stir of butterflies in my stomach. Then once the bar slides down over your head and the ride begins, I know there is no turning back and the butterflies really kick into high gear. Without being tickled at all, I will laugh and scream my way through the entire ride. Perhaps it's because once the drops and twists really get going, the intense feeling of butterflies in my stomach are enough of a ticklish sensation to get the giggles started.

I 100% agree with FF about the connection between roller coasters, horror flicks (or just being scared in the fun sense of the word), and tickling. I never quite put it all together like that though. I get a similar rush from all of them. And although I love the rush from them, I do definitely have a 'what the hell was I thinking?!" feeling when going through all of them, and then a "LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!!" feeling when they're over. They are things that I need to be cajoled into doing....but not really 😉

I'm such an adrenalin junkie! 😀

Maggie

 

[TicklingDuo]

I suspect that your observations hold some truth, FF. The adrenaline/endorphine rushes and all can be very similar. Another interesting thing to consider is fear OF tickling. There was a time when I was afraid of it. The fear amplified the sensations and my reactions were actually violent...way beyond the normal struggle.

Ann

 

[Ayla ny]

Re: hi ayla

i had to answer your post here, nothing personal. sky diving/parachuting is nothing like tickling! period, end of story. no one ,except an idiot, goes out of the door with the desire to loose control! you loose control and you are dead!
tickling for me anyway is 180 degrees opposite from fear! the only similarity is the adrenilan release in the body. but it's from two very different reasons. it's like saying you are having a stomach cramp from your monthly period, and having one from tomaine food poisoning is the same. yes both can hurt, but thats the end of similarities!
in short, if you're affraid, you aren't going to be ticklish.
steve

steve, I was talking about the fact that once you jump there is no stopping, until it's done... and once you are tied, same thing. the fear/apprehension you feel before jumping or being tickled. not a freaking out, spazzing, loss of control... but more a decision to give up control.

happy to clarify - 🙂

 

[Featherdfingers]

I 100% agree with FF about the connection between roller coasters, horror flicks (or just being scared in the fun sense of the word), and tickling. I never quite put it all together like that though. I get a similar rush from all of them. And although I love the rush from them, I do definitely have a 'what the hell was I thinking?!" feeling when going through all of them, and then a "LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!!" feeling when they're over. They are things that I need to be cajoled into doing....but not really

Hey Daisy -- sounds like you, me, and Sunrise all need to get together at a theme park and have a coaster/tickling adrenaline fest 😀 . Oh, and about the seating arrangements...I think I will sit behind both of you for your maximum enjoyment/torture!

 

[njjen3953]

My BDSM group just posted a questionaire and one of the questions was,
Do you have any fetishes? If so, what?

Most common response from the subs was, fear(imagined fear).

Although it is not a fetish for me, I agree that imagined fear makes a scene totally thrilling and easier for me to get to that special place.

Jen

 

[Maria_Rose]

I do not agree that you can't be ticklish and afraid at the same time. I think that's kind of a dangerous (and common) misconception. I myself am terrified of being tickled by the wrong person, it is like rape to me and is very painful (this does come from past abuse). But I am reduced to violently ticklish reactions MUCH faster if I'm afraid of the person and I do not want them to tickle me. It's like my body betrays me and I have no control whatsoever. In the past I taught myself to block out ticklishness altogether, to the point where I was even numb to any physical or sensual pleasure whatsoever. But still, if I am tickled by someone I fear, I know for a fact I will feel it intensely and either react uninhibitedly, or detach altogether. Sometimes it's frustrating with my girlfriend because I trust her so much that her tickling me doesn't produce hysteria. I laugh, but it's so non-threatening and gentle that sometimes she thinks she's not "doing it right". She is of course, but in order for her to get a scream out of me she has to be somewhat aggressive and merciless (in play only of course). There is still a difference...scared ticklishness and consentual ticklishness are completely different sensations to me, they have to be, or it wouldn't be so erotic. Scared ticklishness is like being held over the edge of a cliff when you're deathly afraid of heights. But to say someone isn't really afraid just because they are ticklish is wrong, and can lead to some very horrific experiences. I was hurt very badly because someone believed ticklish laughter was a voluntary expression of pleasure and the desire to be tortured further. My fear was never heard or recognized, because as long as I laughed I was "enjoying it" and "bonding" with the person. I apologise for this message, it may well be deleted, and I wouldn't blame the mods if they did. I'm sorry it's so long, and I'm sorry about the miserable content. But if it saves one good person from unwittingly becoming an abuser, then I'm not one bit sorry for any of it. Maybe I shouldn't be here...I do apologise to all those who actually waded through this irrelevent raving post. And for those who did...thank you.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

maria rose

your post was highly relevent, and deserved to be here, in this thread. no need to appologise.
i believe you are a unique individual though. most people loose their ticklishness when affraid, or very angery. this topic came up over on amt recently. the majority (if not all)of women there said they aren't ticklish when affraid, or angery.
it is a shame you had to under go that kind of abuse. it is a tetamonial to you, that you can still enjoy tickling at all. good for you.
steve

 

[Deleted member 2452]

are you all telling me

that you are more ticklish when you are affraid?!?!
this is mind boggling. i'm not knocking you folks, really!
i'm very perplexed though. it has always been my experience that when affraid people are not ticklish. jumpy perhaps, but not ticklish. the sensations are blocked.
i can see the adrenalin rush part being the same in roller costers and tickling. but it seems people here are saying they are more ticklish when affraid (really affraid)wow.
stev

 

[njjen3953]

Maria_Rose,
From one survivor to another, please do not apologise. It is relevent to this thread. I totally relate to what you said here.

Jen

 

[njjen3953]

areenactor,
It is imagined fear. We know in most situations that we are not in any real danger. It is the perception of the fear that increases the ticklishness.
Try sometime to let yourself believe you might be literally tickled to death. You will be shocked at the results. 😉

Jen

 

[Novus]

Getting air time on a roller coaster is similar to tickling. I am not a rollar coaster fan and this is the only part of them I like.

As for fear and tickling it probably has to do with the individual if they are more or less ticklish when frightened. I have never been tickled and frightened at the same time except in a dream when I was tickled by ghosts. It was both very frightening and very ticklish.

 

[TicklingDuo]

Maria_Rose.......No need to apologize. It IS an issue for many of us (past or present) and should not be ignored. As a fellow survivor, I applaud your courage.

Ann

 

[TicklingDuo]

Re: are you all telling me

that you are more ticklish when you are affraid?!?!
this is mind boggling. i'm not knocking you folks, really!
i'm very perplexed though. it has always been my experience that when affraid people are not ticklish. jumpy perhaps, but not ticklish. the sensations are blocked.
i can see the adrenalin rush part being the same in roller costers and tickling. but it seems people here are saying they are more ticklish when affraid (really affraid)wow.
stev

Yep....That's true for many of us, Steve. Here's something that might help understand. Note that this is based on my own experience and may not be the same for others.

Though I engage in tickle play for fun only outside of play with Drew, it is often highly erotic and sexual when it IS with him. I liken it to the intimacy of love making. If someone else were to try to make love to me against my will, it would be considered rape. There would be no questions asked. But, for someone to tickle me in more than a playful way is generally not considered abusive, much less a sexual attack. Though the actions may be different, the fact that tickling can be very sexual does make it intense on an emotional level.

Fear and ticklishness? I suppose it's the same as being raped. For some people, the physical sensations are so amplified that they are unbearable. Others check out and feel little on a conscious level. I've experienced both the amplification and checking out. Because of past history, I've also experienced flashbacks. It's all a matter of where you're at and where you've been, I suspect.

Ann

 

[Maria_Rose]

Thank you to those who offered your support, I felt so much better once I knew it was acceptable to say what I did. I can relate to the flashbacks Ann speaks of, they used to be (and sometimes still are) extremely debilitating for me. Last night when I posted that message I think I was being a little over-emotional, I have fibromyalgia and was in more pain than usual. I appreciate beyond words that it was accepted so warmly, but in future I will try to avoid taking my frustrations out on all of you. You're a sweet bunch of people who have helped me in ways that no one in my "real time" life could have done. Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

maria, and ann

you two ladies are not alone. i have had flash backs too. about a time whern i was attacked as a boy. and about some things a did when i was in the military. they are scarry, but also remind me to stay on the straight and narrow.
ok as to this fear thing; would you be ticklish if a "real" burgler broke into your house, tied you up, and tickle tortured you either for money, jewels, or for kicks cause you didn't have anything he wanted? thats how the question was put on amt. now that would be a scarry situation, i can't believe you'd be ticklish then.
steve