Bizarre Strange & Unusual Phobias

On a previous post I focused predominately on the more common fears that many people have in general. Now I wanted to highlight the more uncommon, most unusual, bizarre, strange and downright weird phobias that afflict a number of people.

Some of the information presented here will repeat what I originally stated in a previous post a few months back that you will find here >> What Really Scares People: Top 10 Fears

Instead of an evolutionary or culture-led phobia, there may be a separate explanation for weird or strange phobias, such as the fear of cheese. This group of phobias may be linked to deep-seated psychological trauma. For whatever reason, that inanimate object or non-threatening situation has become the focus of the fear, and acts as a trigger for stored feelings of anxiety.

The common “specific phobias” – such as the fear of spiders, or snakes, or being struck by lightning – are all understandable… at least on some level. We may not fully understand the extreme fear response some people give them but somewhere in there is a threat to survival.

Below you will find a list of uncommon – and in some cases – bizarre phobias – which really do prove utterly terrifying and disgusting to a small part of the general population.

• Ablutophobia – the obsessional fear of bathing

• Adipophobia – the fear of appearing too fat

• Agyrophobia – the fear of crossing roads

• Ambulophobia – the fear of walking

• Anablephobia – the fear of looking up

• Androphobia – the fear of men

• Anthophobia – the fear of flowers

• Arachibutyrophobia – the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth

• Aulophobia – the fear of flutes

• Barophobia – the fear of gravity

• Cataptrophobia – the fear of mirrors

• Chionophobia – the fear of snow

• Chorophobia – the fear of dancing

• Chromatophobia – the fear of colors

• Chronomentrophobia – the fear of time

• Cnidophobia – the fear of string

• Cyberphobia – the fear of working with computers

• Decidophobia – the fear of making decisions

• Ephebiphobia – the fear of teenagers

• Ergophobia – the fear of work, finding work or functioning at work

• Erotophobia – the fear of sex or talking about sex

• Gelotophobia – the obsessional fear of being laughed at

• Genuphobia – the fear of knees

• Geumapobia – the fear of taste

• Gerontophobia – the fear of growing old or fear of the elderly

• Gymnophobia – the fear of being seen naked or seeing others naked

• Gynophobia – the fear of women

• Haptephobia – the fear of being touched

• Heliophobia – the fear of sunlight

• Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – the fear of long words 😛 Really!

• Hypnophobia – the fear of sleep

• Kyphophobia – the fear of stooping

• Levophobia – the fear of objects to the left

• Megalophobia – the fear of large or oversized objects

• Metrophobia – the fear of poetry

• Mnemophobia – the fear of memories

• Nomophobia – the fear of being out of cellular/mobile phone contact

• Octophobia – the fear of the figure eight

• Ommetaphobia – the fear of eyes

• Osmophobia – the fear of smells

• Optophobia – the fear of opening one’s eyes

• Papaphobia – the fear of the Pope

• Peladophobia – the fear of bald people

• Phagophobia – the fear of swallowing

• Phobophobia – the fear of having a phobia

• Scopophobia – the fear of being looked at

• Scuirophobia – the fear of squirrels

• Siderophobia – the fear of stars

• Somniphobia – the fear of sleep

• Spectrophobia – the fear of mirrors

• Trichophobia – the fear of loose hairs

• Triskaidekaphobia – the fear of the number 13

• Xenophobia – the fear of strangers, foreigners or aliens

A Final Thought

And finally, spare a thought for those very select poor folks who suffer from Panophobia – which translates to those  who are perpetually and continuously afraid of EVERYTHING…..