[Iwanttoknowmore]

I'm told that I need to get over the fear of crossing streets, this may sound crazy or silly to you but I don't know why I have this fear. I just get so scared with cars, trucks, etc. come by and I just freeze and break into a sweat and start to feel cold all over, and that people are staring at me.
I am only scared of crossing the street by myself, but if someone else is crossing (whether I know them or not) I would be near them and cross when they cross. My daddy just yells at me saying "You are 16 years old about to be 17 and your scared? Girl your not a baby, you don't have a reason to be scared." It just makes me mad that a lot of people think it's funny that I'm scared and that I start to tear up by the thought of it, or if I'm in front of the street. I don't have a problem crossing small streets, like the streets when I used to live in Jersey, but Florida streets are like high ways which makes my fear even worse and make my anxiety worse.
What should I do?

[joypulv]

First of all, you are not alone, and your father is being thoughtless. He needs to know that people have all sorts of fears - heights, open space, closed space, crowds, airplanes, elevators, spiders, snakes, and that's just a tiny bit of the ordinary ones. Many of us have little fears that we can avoid: I go nuts if a tee shirt gets stuck over my head when taking it off or putting it on. If I had fangs I'd tear it to shreds.
I personally would just look people in the eye and say very firmly 'I'm OK as long as other people are crossing too' and say it with a sort of 'end of subject' tone. Don't whimper or say more. Meanwhile you can work on the fear for the long term, but take your time. Your life isn't going to grind to a halt. Get a good friend to practice walking across a street with you, back and forth, each time a little further apart, until you want to stop. Then the next week do it again, and again, and again.

[Iwanttoknowmore]

I always tell my daddy that everybody has their fears and he would just tell me to stop talking, shut up, or give me a look, I also don't like open spaces and crowds, I have some friends and family members that have that problem too, which makes me feel better, My daddy saiys I should go out more but like I tell him, I don't like big open spaces or crowds and just nags like my stepmother, and I will try to get used to walking across the street, I will do it little by little, If it doesn't go away I will stop trying because not all fears go away

[Gummiebear]

I have a fear of escalators I see one I go into panic mode, and I conquard going up one with eyes close then someone telling me we are there but can't go down yet. I know there's a lot of people afraid of something and yours just is crossing the street, just take one step at a time look both ways and run it(if it safe to do so). And don't listen to your dad!
-gummiebear