Did you ever overcome a deep fear or phobia?

When I was a little kid I was more afraid of robots than anything. I was terrified of them. I couldn't even be around old car parts if they were oozing grease or oil. I had a little wind up toy soldier as a kid and the top came off revealing all the gears and spring inside. I didn't want that thing anywhere near me. Why I got a phobia like that in the70's I can't imagine, there were no robots around back then outside automotive factories. Certainly nothing like today. Movies like Terminator hadn't been made yet so I didn't get it from there. There was just something about the living yet dead nature of machines that moved on their own. The potential of icy claws and whirring motors, dead electronic cameras and radar staring at you. The stinking things are dead but somehow alive. I guess my childs brain couldn't come to grips with that.