This is going to sound cruel, but I laughed my butt off at the beginning of the post you and Biddy were trying to get the shocking load of laundry out. I really hate static build-up, in the winter at work, EVERYTHING shocks me and it’s due to the flooring. Sometimes just knowing you’re going to get shocked is just as bad or even worse than getting the shock. The anticipation and dread is awful, especially in my room at work. I swear, the minute you come into the room you can hear the static buildup, it calls to you.

I’m not as much afraid of the shock as I am of the charge. If my hair starts to stick up or I feel the tingle as I take off my coat- it’s torture. I have a mild panic attack every time. I start sweating profusely and have trouble breathing. It feels like there are hundreds of tiny bugs crawling all over me and it’s just too much. I find it very difficult to find clothes to wear in the winter. I have issues with so many different fabrics! The only sweaters I wear are 100% cotton and finding coats is nearly impossible. I wear several items from that anti-static line that Lands End came out with about 6 years ago but other than that winter clothes make me miserable. I wish there was a solution.

No, technically Southern California is a “desert”, by geological standards. LA is having a static storm right now…it’s been super dry for the last few weeks. I’ve considered moving to the southeast, I figure as humid as it is down there they must have SOME static reduction; I’d trade the mosquitos for not having to deal with shocks.

I hadn’t considered the rubber dishwashing gloves. Either way, there’s no way I could look crazier than the woman who was running NEXT to me while I was busy electrocuting myself, so maybe I’ll consider that for next time.

I have had this phobia for as long as I can remember. I am 51 now.
Every time I get a shock, if it’s a strong one, my arm recoils so violently that I have actually smacked myself in the face!
My best advice is to carry a metal pen with you at all times during the winter months when it’s dry. I have an old gold-filled Cross pen that some one gave me years ago that is now my “discharge pen”. I never touch anything potentially conductive – especially light switch plates (the screws are grounded) – without “leading” with my discharge pen. It usually generates a fat blue spark, but the little twitch I feel in my hand is much preferable to the sharp and painful SNAP of a spark on your skin. Just make sure you have a maximum surface area in contact with the pen (all five fingers). I don’t care what anyone thinks of me tapping everything with my pen.
My only other advice would be to move to Florida where it’s always too humid to allow static electricity to accumulate. I live in Denver. It’s always very dry here and static shocks are a daily hazard.