Common and Uncommon Phobias

May it be the dark or bugs, everyone is afraid of something. Though you have people who say they aren’t, there is at least one thing everyone is afraid of. Some fears are more common than others, and others are just completely “out there.”

Arachnophobia is the first phobia. It is actually quite common, and usually women suffer from this rather than men. It is the fear of spiders.

Ohidiophobia is another common phobia. This one is shared by men and women alike. It is the fear of snakes.

Nyctophobia is commonly a phobia most children have, though I have known some adults to have this problem as well, me included. This is the fear of the dark or night. What I mean by the fear of night is you get scared easily. You start thinking about all the things that could be in the dark.

The fear of hurricanes and tornadoes is known as lilapsophobia. This one is very normal, considering these are two of the deadliest atmospheric phenomenons.

The next two exist more because of the expectations of our society.

Cacophobia is the fear of ugliness – fear of anything being ugly or you becoming ugly. With society trying to perfect everything and trying make everything “flawless,” how could you not have this fear?

Obesophobia is another phobia created thanks to society’s harsh expectations. Obesophobia is the fear of gaining wait. Some people who have this phobia take it to high and dangerous levels to try to prevent this from happening.

Those are a few of common phobias. Now what about phobias that are just kind of “out there.”

Arachibutyrophobia is an interesting one. This is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Since this happens pretty much every time you eat peanut butter, I suppose this is a food that people with this phobia avoid.

Peladophobia is another interesting one. It is the fear of bald people. Perhaps it’s the look of the skin or the shininess of the head, or just the fact that they have no hair. I am not really sure what part actually scares them.

Phagophobia is the fear of swallowing, eating or being eaten. This is a fear shared by adults and children alike.

Phobophobia is a bit of an odd one. This is the fear of phobias. People with this phobia are prone to panic attacks, have problems thinking, feel ill and usually are afraid of dying, and in severe cases, are detached from reality.

Lastly, we have Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, which is the fear of big words. Upon reading this, my first thought was, how cruel is it to make a fear the thing you fear the most.

Though these are only a few phobias, there are lists upon lists of them that go through the whole alphabet from A to Z. And though some may laugh at a few of these being slightly out of the norm, just remember, everyone is afraid of something.

Culberton, Fredd. “The Phobia List.”
phobialist. 17 July. 1995 19 Apr. 2011