Sink Holes
Ever since I was little, I've had a phobia about floors collapsing (so much so, that I would be frightened to put my clothes in the wardrobes because I was frightened of the weight on the floorboards!).
Thankfully, I'm a lot, lot better. However, all the talk about sink holes earlier this year has set in my mind, to the extent that I won't let my (13 year old) son use the inflatable pool (which is family sized) in the garden, as I'm worried about 1) the weight of it when full and 2) the emptied water creating a sink hole.
I even feel uncomfortable when he's bouncing his basketball on the garden and running around. A trampoline would be out of the question and I can't even bear them in other people's gardens!
With the warm weather, he's been asking if he can use it but I've made excuses. I've spent most of the morning researching sink holes, their causes, geographical maps of the UK where they are most likely to happen, soil types etc and I'm not any more reassured - or assured at all! - and have just given myself an anxiety headache.
I'm normally very calm and rational but this whole thing has tapped into a long held (and previously considered irrational by me and the very, very few people who know about it) phobia. (even a counsellor I had said weight on floors had never occured to her).
Are there any engineers out there who can give me any assurance at all, or any sane people who can give words of sanity?! (not saying engineers aren't sane!).
Incidentally, I live in the north Midlands in a standard 3 bedroom 1970's built house with a small-ish (not tiny) garden.
Thankfully, I'm a lot, lot better. However, all the talk about sink holes earlier this year has set in my mind, to the extent that I won't let my (13 year old) son use the inflatable pool (which is family sized) in the garden, as I'm worried about 1) the weight of it when full and 2) the emptied water creating a sink hole.
I even feel uncomfortable when he's bouncing his basketball on the garden and running around. A trampoline would be out of the question and I can't even bear them in other people's gardens!
With the warm weather, he's been asking if he can use it but I've made excuses. I've spent most of the morning researching sink holes, their causes, geographical maps of the UK where they are most likely to happen, soil types etc and I'm not any more reassured - or assured at all! - and have just given myself an anxiety headache.
I'm normally very calm and rational but this whole thing has tapped into a long held (and previously considered irrational by me and the very, very few people who know about it) phobia. (even a counsellor I had said weight on floors had never occured to her).
Are there any engineers out there who can give me any assurance at all, or any sane people who can give words of sanity?! (not saying engineers aren't sane!).
Incidentally, I live in the north Midlands in a standard 3 bedroom 1970's built house with a small-ish (not tiny) garden.
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I know it is not that simple for you to just get over, But think of the millions of people WORLD wide who do this everyday with no problems
Poor foundations, heavy loads, rainfall and poor geology cause sinkholes. So an HGV speeding over a road built on soft chalky ground following a torrential downpour is far more likely to create one, than bouncing a ball in your back garden. Think rationally and you should be able to cope. Please don't deny your kids a bit of fun this summer on the basis of an illogical fear though, that would be a shame.
Let me know where you live (town name would be useful) and I'll have a look in a bit more detail. Might be worth contacting BGS (British Geological Survey) as well. Problems are more likely to be old mine shafts so if you aren't in an old mining area, there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
A lot of people have been cured of irrational fears such as this by regression hypnotherapy.
http://www.google.gr/search?&q=regression+hypnotherapy
You'll find arguments for and against it but, if it cures you, who cares how it works?
I am so happy you posted! You are NOT alone in your worries! It is a form of Gephyrophobia - technically a fear of the collapse of bridges, relating to structural integrity! Apparently it's related to Agoraphobia because by definition you could end up in a place/situation where escape might be difficult.
My fears are not as strong as yours, but I can certainly relate.
Mine started when I was younger. I had shelves on my wall above the full length of my bed, which I had heavily stacked for years, so much so they were bowed badly. Anyway - then one day it happened - they gave way, at night, and my parents didn't know I was under 3, 7ft long, heavy shelf loads of stuff. In my dreams I had been in a plane crash and was buried alive trying to dig my way out! LOL. I am not sure if it knocked me unconscious because I was already asleep when it happened, but I woke up, fought my way out, much to my parents alarm, and was rushed to A&E to discover several bone breaks, and concussion. Fun times! ....but I feel this is a valid reason for the fear....even though I know, logically the shelves were obviously overloaded to the extreme. I do have shelves above the bed again, same length, but I think the house would fall down before they did. They are thicker wood, with stronger brackets, and longer screws, and I have batons and cross sectors everywhere. It's like a Barn roof under there! It's not going anywhere! Lol.
So after that, I began to think about weight on things.... then a few months later, we were having the bathroom redone, and I saw the joists and stuff, and now worry about the weight of the bath, and all the water, etc. However, I have OCD and need to wash a lot - so the OCD outweighs my phobia of collapsing stuff. Even though, when I'm in there, and the bath clunks with the heat of the water, or whatever, my heart skips a beat and I literally have visual images of the thing falling through the floor.
Balconies freaked me out too. I don't understand the physics of how they can just stay up there, and have nothing underneath support them. Thankfully this was explained to me by a good friend, who went all super science-y on me, and now I understand how they can just hang there, but they still freak me out. It's all to do with gravity, and displacement of the centre of Gravity, and displacement of weight through various points and bolts and cross angles. Even now typing about it - I can feel my heart thumping. Lol. But then - how often balconies do you hear that collapse? Hardly ever!
It is a genuine phobia. Rationally thinking - the chances of collapse is limited and thankfully rare - but when you hear reports, or see things, it's like it's confirming our fear is a perfectly valid one... and allows our brains to go "There see! Told you so!", and the fear grows with that validation.
Sink Holes in this country are rare, but they aren't as deep as elsewhere in this planet. Cold comfort I know - but it's something to hang on to. Your research will add to your fear - sometimes knowledge is power - other times - ignorance is bliss. You need to work out what is preferable to you, but be smart about it - don't research for hours - you will fry your brains.
Unfortunately - the only way to deal with the fear and lower our anxieties, is to expose ourselves to them. You may need to learn relaxation techniques, and alongside other therapies, maybe something like psycho-analysis - you could try CBT, but do not let the Dr fob you off with 'let's try CBT first! Or you will end up back on a waiting list for further counselling after, which may take a while to get.
The fear also seems centred around the harm your son could come to - so you may need to work out when that started and why.
You said you've worried about this since you were young - did something happen to you? Like me with the shelves, but then I know and can explain perfectly the reason why they collapsed - and it was my own personal error that did it, and have now corrected that error, on almost overkill...but not too much overkill, as the shelves still need to shift and give under natural pressures. Lol
A paddling pool of water will not be able to cause a sink hole on it's own. When you empty the pool, the water swooshes out over a large surface area. It isn't enough water over a long enough period, to sink down through the soil to any of the potential causes of sink holes. The soil is highly porous and will hold it and evaporate it and feed any grass or vegetation with it, first. You aren't likely to empty the pool in the middle of storm, therefore adding to ground weight, but if you are worried - empty it on a day when you aren't using it, even in stages - when its been rain free for a day or so. That way you know the soil will soak it all in way before any danger area's are able to be reached. It's worth remembering that sink holes usually happen after stormy days, or days immediately after a heavy load of rainfall. So I guess - as a stepping stone - you could tell your son, he can't use the pool on a day directly after rain, maybe? I suggest him using the pool not only for his freedom and enjoyment, but as a pusher for yourself to beat. If he is willing to help you - kids at 13 can be very understanding - tell him you need his help - and let him play for an hour in there, while you sit on the sidelines, go through the fears and worries, and when you can handle that, then extend that time he can be in there. Don't forget the sunscreen though!
The ball being bounced will not cause a sink hole either. Balls are spherical, and they give when they hit the floor, so while there is a vibration, the energy and force is usually sent back up and over the ball, causing it to spring backwards in the direction it came from. When a ball hits you, it hurts, but not nearly as much as if it slammed into you and couldn't deflect the energy back up along the path it came. The vibrations of kids running about, and balls bouncing, is not enough to loosen ground. I'm guessing you'd hear a different hollower tone in the ground too, as you traveled across it, if it were thin enough to give way by those small, light, moving, vibrations.
I just want to re-iterate. You are NOT alone in this fear. It is a perfectly valid 'specific' phobia, and to me - a logical, one to have. But there is so much physics and gravity displacement involved, that it means for much of the time, we are perfectly safe.... .now we just have to convince our brains of that!
Good luck out there - and keep pushing and testing your phobia's. It sadly is the only way to deal with them.
My goodness, I've never known anyone else with a fear anything like mine! Mine stemmed from kids running on the wooden floor in the play hall at school, don't know why. Didn't help that we lived in a first floor flat growing up, either. I feel more claustrophobic than agoraphobic and my fear was always based around floors indoors. Its now extended to outside and especially so in built up areas. (I completely relate to the joists, bath water - I prefer showers for this very reason! - and balconies). I quizzed (in a non-mad way) the quantity surveyors I used to work with about buildings, foundations etc and that helped a little.
Your experience eith all those books landing on you sounds horrible! No wonder it left such an effect on you.
Thanks for posting 😊 I've found your post incredibly helpful.
I think it's one of those unspoken of phobias. I actually thought I was the only one for a while, before rationalising that even I can't be that unique. Lol.
As for the books and shelves landing on me - it wasn't so bad - I was asleep. The worst part was the aftermath and the healing - and oh lord, the cleanup! LOL.
But today, when I Googled "fear of collapsing buildings", or "collapsing Architecture", or "collapsing group" - I actually discovered there are a lot of us with this phobia out there too.
Maybe it was the sound of one of the floor planks in the school hall that creaked in an ominous way, or sounded more hollow than it should. It's weird how things like that can effect us.
Sadly - it's still one of those things in life, we have to challenge, to test, to fight, and to come out the other side, no matter how terrifying the experience - and then repeat until it loses it's power. Don't worry - not asking you to go Pot-Holing, but you never know - it's something you could work to!
So glad to meet a fellow 'sufferer'! *waves*
When I read your post and then Jinny's,--- Jinny did such a good job in their reply I wasn't going to post but I got to thinking about your fear, your Google marathon and thinking about what happened to Jinny.
I have responded as yours being an object weight related fear, there might be more to your phobia.
I have used Kn, span loads, load bearing calculations and measurements but how best to explain this, then it came to me, the image method, but what image/s to use?
In the end I settled on a solid pine double wardrobe and the 60s Mini car image.
But first,---Sink holes are not caused through weight, and are a rare occurrence in the UK and what most are calling sink holes here in the UK,--- aren't.
When they do happen in the UK they look dramatic but are so nothing in size and depth compared to other sink holes around the world.
I'm hoping others will have sympathy for you and not start posting links to sink holes, we all know what they are and look like.
Jinny's collapsing shelves,--- weight was not the main contributory factor, what was, was the material/fixings failing, although I appreciate Jinny might not have seen things that way at the time.
It's safe to let your son to use the paddling pool, it's safe and he's safe but you will know your local area best.
A ball the size of a space hopper filled with water and continually bounced on the ground he played on, would not make the ground collapse around him or you, nothing can.
I have used loose general rules of thumb, rounded up or down, they are not going to suit everyone's grey cells but there are simply to many variables.
Taking a 10x12x bedroom floor area, ( 120 square feet ), allowing for 40lbs per square foot, current residential regs', with 9 inch thick floor joists, and floor boards to suit.
The floor above, in 70s built good condition--- and it will be, should be able to support the weight of at least 3 Minis +,--- that's a combined 270 stone average weight.
That's an average 9 baths filled to the bottom of overflow on that floor area.
( I could have done it with just toilets pans but that would have been showing off ).
Or 15-16 fully laden, planet holding, won't throw anything away, ladies double wardrobes at around 17 stones each.
So there is nothing you, your son and 4 of the best weight lifters in the world could lift and place on any floor that would make it collapse.
I don't know if any of that helps.
*waves back*
BIB: I've always been so embarrassed that I've only ever told those closest to me. My ex husband massively took the p and wasn't in the least bit understanding and no-one else 'gets' it. People think it's a funny little quirk but its been a huge thing to me over the years. I do push myself though and now 'breathe through' and rationalise my fears - mostly - to a manageable level.
Thanks so, so much for posting this. Yes, it really has helped, as my mind works best with facts like this.
Incidentally, to all who posted, I did let my son get the pool out but I've said we won't tip the water onto the garden (for my own peace of mind) but we'll keep filling the watering to use on the plants. He's not been too noisy (noise adds to my stress too, I grew up in a very volatile household) so it's been reasonably ok.
Thank you all, lovely people