5 Things That Can Scare Adults

The month of October is usually spooky season which is typically associated with haunted houses, zombies, horror movies, and other creepy things. All those things were pretty scary when we were younger. As we got older, there are far more things that we have encountered as adults that we can classify as scary. As I am trying to navigate through the early stages of adulthood, I realize there is nothing scarier than my list of 5 things that can give an adult a jump-scare. Even when I was putting this list together, I could feel the fear increasing in me. Therefore, don’t get too comfortable as the post you are about to read can shock you putting you in an existential crisis. Reader discretion has been advised (especially if you are an average, struggling adult).

1. Paying Bills

As soon as we graduate college and move out of our parents’ home, adults have the freewill to live on their own. It may seem great and all, but nothing gives a fright to adults when the bills start coming in. Yes, living on your own comes with a hefty price of paying for every single utility such as rent, phone, insurance, electricity, and even groceries. The worst part of it is that we need to pay bills in order to have those necessities to basically stay alive. Most of the time bills can be expensive depending on a lot of factors like inflation, and the economy. Based on our recent economy of the US, the total of our bills has become nothing but terrifying. And once the bills are paid for the month, we might not be able to afford anything that we can enjoy. Otherwise, we will be subject to another thing in adulthood that can give us a scream.

2. Being in Debt

As if paying bills wasn’t scary enough, the most horrifying part of being an adult is being in debt. With the recent economy due to factors like the pandemic and inflation, it has become more difficult to buy and pay for things. Since our parents are not around to tell us what we can and can’t buy, adults can go crazy and spend their money on a lot of unnecessary stuff. Unfortunately, that only leads them down a dark path of being in debt. Once you’re in debt, it will be like struggling to crawl out of a deep hole that you have dug yourself for no reason. I have been in debt before during college because I wasn’t keeping track of my expenses, and it sure scared me more than a typical haunted house. I am not in debt currently, but I could be if I don’t conquer the next thing that scares adults.

3. Being Unemployed

In order for adults to conquer the fears of the first two things on this list, they need to have a job so they can be financially stable. However, things can happen to said job such as layoffs, getting fired, or quitting that can cause us adults to lose their jobs. Then there is the frightening aftermath of being unemployed. The obvious choice to conquer this is to do job searching, but that is even more horrifying since it is a daunting task. I already published a post that makes job searching seem scary itself. However, unemployment can become a never-ending nightmare the longer adults are without a job. I am currently in this “nightmare” of unemployment as I am writing this post. I do my best to apply for jobs every day, and I have been doing some interviews. Hopefully it ends very soon as it is causing me a lot of anxiety.

4. Having a Job

I know that I just mentioned unemployment being scary, but once you have a job and start working, well that is another nightmare. Depending on the job you have, it can be a sweet dream or a terrifying reality. In a job, there can be many things that can jump out and scare you like a villainous boss, endless meetings, angry customers. I could go on forever, but this needs to be a separate post about scary things in the workplace (stay tuned). Having a job is like coming into an escape room that you can’t escape for an entire day until like 5pm usually. Overall working at any job can suck the life out of any adult where there is hardly work-life balance. Even if one is lucky to have a day off, you are already exhausted and just want to sleep. I mean you could conquer this fear easily by quitting your job, but you will go back to being unemployed. If only it were easy to live life without a job, but no that is not how society wants adults to live.

5. Socializing at Events

This might not seem scary to a lot of adults, but it can be if they happen to be introverts like myself. Especially around this time of year, being forced to socialize at a big event is more terrifying than being in a haunted house. Imagine being in a room with hundreds of people, but you don’t have the ability to socialize making things very awkward. There is also the added effect of being filled with anxiety as you try not to humiliate yourself around others. The socialization can even extend after the event when it has drained so much energy out of you like a vampire sucking out blood. The only way to survive these is to sit in silence the entire time, try to make an escape route to leave the event early, or hope the actual event is cancelled. Heck you can even try to see if someone brought a pet over to make things better, but that is a rare occasion. I especially don’t like socializing at family gatherings because that is when you have to deal with relatives you don’t particularly enjoy seeing. Especially when someone like myself has been nothing but a total failure and is trying to deal with personal matters.

And that is my list of things that can scare adults. I hope I didn’t frighten you while reading this. If it did, then take care of yourself by doing some nostalgic Halloween traditions like watching classic movies, eating a lot of candy, even dressing up in a costume. The truth is that adulthood is hard, but that shouldn’t let us stop from living our life to the fullest. Hopefully things get less scary as we mature into the later years of adulthood, but for now I commend you on pushing through your early years even if some days aren’t the best. I will say that these aren’t the only things that can scare adults, and I might be back with a list of 5 more things, so beware! Anyways have a Happy Halloween however you plan to celebrate!