What scares you as an adult but didn't when you were a child?

Losing my teeth... Instead of getting a dollar I have to pay a whole lot of dollars.
— TheRectangleSFW

Surgery. I had a motorbike accident when I was 8 and had to undergo an operation on my head to take out the blood clots. From what I recall (i only remember a few hours before the surgery, my brain completely erased any memory of the accident) I was pretty chill when I was told my head was to be cut open. And when they wheeled me in to shave my head and administer anesthesia, I was chatting non stop with my fun anesthetist while wondering why my mom and brother were weeping uncontrollably and my dad looked solemn. Now even a trip to the dentist scares me.
— ramya92

Carnival rides. As a kid I assumed they were safe, and only *felt* scary.
— garycarroll

The thought that one day my parents won't be alive anymore. You never really think about mortality when you're a kid. Now that I'm an adult, I'm realizing that my parents are getting older and I have to face the reality that one day I'm going to have continue living in a world where they aren't there, and that just breaks me.
— NomNomPanda95

I don't know why but before I was 17 I was so chill when anyone drove a car and I was the passenger. I got my license when I was 18. I'm 26 now and everyone is a scary fucking driver to me if I sit in the passenger seat. My mother being the worst.
— heyitsatortilla

Oh god, everything. Missed opportunities, developing bad habits, falling behind in life, health issues, career issues, relationship issues, failing, not enjoying life enough and conversley not being productive enough, concerns for my wife and dogs, social judgement. Still terrified of things that go bump in the night too, but I am better at putting on a brave face
— fortylightbulbs

How squishy the human body is. When I was a kid, I'd do all kinds of dangerous shit. I'd climb trees, make rope swings over big drops, go sledding down hills that felt almost vertical at the time. There's a photo somewhere of me walking along the top of a brick wall that's a good eight or nine feet off the ground trying to get a football down off a roof. All I can think when I look at it it is *My God, if I'd taken one wrong step I could have ended up dead or in a wheelchair for the rest of my life*. It's even worse now I'm older, because it's more likely to cause me permanent damage, but it genuinely didn't occur to me at the time how dangerous some of the things I did were. I know how important it is to let kids be kids, but I can't shake the idea that the slightest bump in the wrong place and your body can basically just shut down. Game over, man. Game over.
— Portarossa

29, female, still single, living in an Asian culture where the pressure to get married before you’re 25 is high. I see all my friends around me either getting married or having their 1st or 2nd child. It feels scary knowing that there is a very high possibility i may have to spend the rest of my days single and lonely. It’s not dying alone that scares me, it’s living alone.
— papaweir

Back Injuries. As a kid, I never worried about getting hurt and how that can affect your life. My Dad hurt his back at work one day when I was little and I don't think he ever fully recovered, physically or mentally. I just remember him suddenly being in bed all the time, or sometimes he would almost pass out getting out of the car, or he'd yelp doing something small. He had a few surgeries to try and help but I don't think it made a lot of difference. Then he was unemployed a couple years because of the pain. My brothers and I would need to rub his back or help put IcyHot where he injured it. It was just years of watching him suffer... TLDR; Lift with your legs. For the sake of your future, please fucking lift with your legs.
— RikaBaF27

Top 10 Answers