10 Weird Phobias People suffer from

Phobias are described as the irrational, often morbid, fear of something that often poses little or no danger at all. While some may seem irrational and preposterous, only the one suffering from them knows how miserable it makes them. The fear of darkness, the unknown, heights, water and insects are pretty normal and we might think that these are the only phobias known to man. Some of us however, whether due to a traumatic experience or just bad luck, have fears that could be classified as being a bit more irrational. The effect that they bring on a person can be utterly detrimental on his emotional and mental well being. But like me, you are also in for a surprise. Have a look at the weirdest phobias actually known to the medical world.

Ergophobia

Ergophobia is the fear of work or the workplace environment (I can feel a virtual show of hands already)

This is probably one of the most convenient phobias on this list, now instead of citing reasons of headache, not feeling well you can simply state you have Ergophobia (wink wink)

On a serious note, psychologists believe it is a combination of various fears such as failing at assigned tasks, social anxiety, and public speaking.

Philophobia

'Jab pyaar kiya toh darna kya' would definitely not be one of a Philophobia’s favourite song. A person suffering from Philophobia is petrified of falling in love. Unfortunately many people in this category end up living a life of solitude and fear of commitment.

P:S – Did I just give you a better reason to break up?. Let’s break up, as I’m Philpophobic!

Somniphobia

Hypnophobia, also termed clinophobia or somniphobia, is the often irrational and excessive fear of sleep. It may result from a feeling of control loss, or from repeating nightmares or anxiety over the loss of time that could be spent accomplishing tasks or maximizing leisure time instead of sleeping.

Scopophobia

Joining this list of funny phobias is Scopophobia, which is fear of being seen or being stared at. It may seem implausible but Scopophobics have this extreme dread of drawing attention to themselves. As a result, they become aloof to others and are unapproachable. They become paranoid of being looked at, so they want to stay at home or secluded as much as possible, totally refusing to be drawn out of their own world.

If they do go out, they tend to cover themselves. Scopophobia is indeed highly disruptive to the daily functioning of any person suffering from it.

Spectrophobia

Mirror mirror on the wall, what dark secrets do you hold.

Spectrophobia or eisoptrophobia is a kind of specific phobia involving a morbid fear of mirrors and the dread of seeing one’s own reflection.

It is attributed to the fear of self-knowledge. It is an exaggerated or irrational fear of mirrors or one’s own reflection. it is the fear of self actualisation. It may arise as the fear of losing one’s perception of personal beauty, or the fear of accepting anomalies on one’s persona like moles or marks that are a reminder of painful events from one’s past. It could also be termed as a symptom of denial of certain events that have left marks on one’s persona.

Ablutophobia

If you have ablutophobia then you had better go grab some deodorant because you are probably too scared to take a bath or clean yourself. Ablutophobia is the persistent, abnormal and unwarranted fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning. This phobia is a situational specific phobia. Ablutophobia tends to be more common in children and women than in men and especially with those people who are very emotional. It might be an impact of an event from the past linking bathing, washing or cleaning to emotional trauma. Those suffering form Ablutophobia experience – dizziness, breathlessness, excessive sweating, heart palpitations, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, becoming mad or losing control.

Chorophobia

Not Everyone Can Dance

Dancing is a very common part of our lives. It’s an expression of our mood, joy and energy. Chorophobia is an persistent fear of dancing. It might be any form of dancing, couple or even single. Mostly sufferers believe that they don’t feel like dancing, but they don’t realize that they are afraid of it. In most cases people realized this anomaly when they just had to dance like at a club or at prom. The treatment for Chorophobia is the same as for other phobias, but it is hard to recognize. Sometimes it is just seen as the reluctance or a part of one’s personality not to indulge in things like dancing.

Heliophobia

In a sort of modern day vampirism, heliophobia is actually defined as fear of the sun. Although it sounds harmless, it can actually be quite serious and lead to vitamin D deficiency as a result of staying indoors. Heliophobia is a problem that afflicts hundreds of people, but one that suffers from a lack of true research. Sufferers of Heliophobia would keep out of the sun and would mostly be just thought of as ‘night owls’. They are terrified at the sight of daylight and tend to keep it as dark as possible. They stay in basements or cellers and spend an abnormal amount of time on in house activities. Television, movies and especially vampire stories have come quite handy in inflicting Heliophobia.

Heliophobia was considered a “telltale sign” of vampires in many cultures. So I guess the new twilight vibe can also inflict Heliophobia.

Nomophobia

Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term, an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia”, was coined during a study by the UK Post Office who commissioned YouGov, a UK-based research organization to look at anxieties suffered by mobile phone users. The study found that nearly 53 percent of mobile phone users in Britain tend to be anxious when they “lose their mobile phone, run out of battery or credit, or have no network coverage”. The study found that about 58 percent of men and 48 percent of women suffer from the phobia, and an additional 9 percent feel stressed when their mobile phones are off.

The study compared stress levels induced by the average case of nomophobia to be on-par with those of “wedding day jitters” and trips to the dentists. More than one in two nomophobes never switch off their mobile phones.

How many of you have nomophobia?

Phobophobia

Phobophobia is the fear of phobia(s), and more specifically, of the internal sensations associated with that phobia and anxiety. Phobophobia comes in between the stress the patient might be experiencing and the phobia that the patient has developed as well as the effects on his life, or in other words, it is a bridge between anxiety/panic the patient might be experiencing and the type of phobia he/she fears, creating an intense and extreme predisposition to the feared phobia. Phobophobia is not necessarily developed as part of other phobias, but can be a important factor for maintaining them. Phobophobia differentiates itself from other kind of phobias by the fact that there is no environmental stimulus per se, but rather internal dreadful sensations similar to psychological symptoms of panic attacks.

It’s hard to believe but this is literally a phobia of phobias. If you managed to get through this list though, you’re probably in the clear on this one.

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