There are many weird phobias out there, including fear of bald men, fear of peanut butter, and fear of the moon! Discover more strange phobias and what causes them.
What constitutes a weird phobia? The most common phobias all have some kind of underlying logic. It would indeed inhibit our survival to be bitten by a poisonous snake, develop cancer, or fall from a cliff.
However, there are some very weird phobias out there, for instance, the fear of celery or baked beans. It is safe to say that celery never posed a threat in our evolutionary past.
What Causes Phobias?
The common specific phobias are thought to arise from several means. One theory is that they are ingrained in our genes through years of evolution. For instance, our ancestors may have lived among poisonous snakes – and the body’s physiological response to that was to run like hell. It’s a survival thing.
Alternatively, social trends in our culture may condition us to react to things in certain ways. For instance, on sighting a mouse, women should immediately hop up on the kitchen table and scream until a male is present to save them. It’s textbook Tom & Jerry.
Uncommon Phobias
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 lightening – are all understandable on some level. We may not understand the extreme fear response some people give them. But somewhere in there is a threat to survival.
Here is a list of uncommon phobias, which really do prove utterly terrifying and disgusting to a small part of the population.
- Ambulophobia – the fear of walking
- Anablephobia – the fear of looking up
- 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
- Chromatophobia – the fear of colours
- Chronomentrophobia – the fear of time
- Cnidophobia – the fear of string
- Cyberphobia – the fear of working with computers
- Genuphobia – the fear of knees
- Geumapobia – the fear of taste
- Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – the fear of long words
- Hypnophobia – the fear of sleep
- Kyphophobia – the fear of stooping
- Levophobia – the fear of objects to the left
- Metrophobia – the fear of poetry
- Mnemophobia – the fear of memories
- Octophobia – the fear of the figure eight
- Ommetaphobia – the fear of eyes
- Optophobia – the fear of opening one’s eyes
- Peladophobia – the fear of bald people
- Scuirophobia – the fear of squirrels
- Siderophobia – the fear of stars
And finally, spare a thought for sufferers of Panophobia, who are continuously engaged in the fear of everything...
Further Reading
The Causes and Cures of Phobias by Rebecca Turner
The 10 Most Common Phobias by Rebecca Turner
Phobia Fear Release - Proven Advice to Cure ANY Phobia, from a Professional, Certified Phobia Treatment Expert
