15 Unusual Phobias You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Let’s face it, humans are weak and some can have pretty weird fears and phobias.  Almost anything can force a person to leave the mortal shell. This applies to the body, but the emotional weakness is another thing. So it might be time to rethink the meaning of the word phobia.

Almost everywhere it is defined as “inexplicable fear.” However, perhaps no fear arises from scratch. This list can be used as a survival guide. And if you’re lucky enough to find the phobia that you already have, don’t think that it makes you weird. It makes you smart. You are ready for something that others have simply had left out. To keep you as safe as possible, here are 15 of the strangest fears and phobias you’ve never heard of.

 Deipnophobia

Deipnophobia is the fear of eating and talking at the dinner table. This psychological ailment is not as common as acrophobia (fear of heights), for example, but medicine has already tried various treatments.  

Some drugs prescribed for those suffering from this ailment did not show themselves in the best way: the drugs gave many unpleasant side effects and did not cope with the phobia, but only suppressed it for a while. The most effective methods of getting rid of such an unusual fear are now recognized as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, and hypnosis.

Allodoxaphobia

A mental disorder characterized by an overwhelming and irrational fear of the opinions of others. This is a rather unusual and rare disease that is classified as a social phobia and can manifest itself at any time in a person’s life. This is generally associated with experiences at a young age and often manifests itself around puberty.  

Allodoxaphobians live in constant fear of the possibility of testifying to the opinion of people about themselves and their activities. Such people understand that their phobia is unfounded and irrational, but they are unable to overcome it. Allodoxaphobia isolates the individual from society and complicates his professional life.  

According to psychologists, each allodoxaphobe demonstrates different behavior when interacting with a formal stimulus (in conditions of allodoxaphobia, it is the public opinion or the opinion of an individual). In the development of a phobia, a person’s perception of the situation plays a key role.  

 People who are not inclined to suppression, on the contrary, prefer to distance and isolate themselves from society as much as possible, to avoid entering into conflict, thereby ensuring their comfort.

 Anuptaphobia

The personal experience behind this fear is the fear of being alone. Some mothers simply drive their children crazy, constantly asking them questions about when they will acquire their soulmate. And this is just one example. 

 Sesquipedalophobia

  It will be difficult for you to read this list if you suffer from this phobia ‒ fear of long words. Ironically, the word “sesquipedalophobia” may be the longest in this article.  However, even professional writers can have a fairly simple vocabulary.

 Venustraphobia

 It can be difficult for a person with this phobia to get acquainted because it is a fear of beautiful women. Try to stay optimistic.

Bibliophobia

The fear of books makes sense. Many of us have a shelf full of books that annoy us while we watch an entertainment channel. Not everyone is ready to reread a book that once led to negative emotions.

Philophobia

Philophobia is the fear of falling in love or having affection for another person. For a person with philophobia, there is a great risk of being emotionally attached to someone or being in love.  

Usually occurs when a person is faced with any emotional upheaval associated with love, but it can also be a chronic phobia. May be found in religions. It is a mental disorder most often based on a person’s past. Philophobia can be associated with fear of moral pain or the loss of a loved one.  

The reason is, most likely, the experienced loss of a loved one for various reasons, more often because of separation. This phobia develops due to fear of repetition, especially when this often led to a loss of self-esteem, a deterioration in the general health of a person, and the loss of the purpose of life.  Affects the quality of life and pushes a person away from obligations. The worst aspect of the fear of being in love is that it keeps the person alone.  

May also develop from religious and cultural beliefs that prohibit love. As a rule, philophobia does not last long, but, depending on the stage of stress experienced, chronic philophobia may develop.

Liticaphobia

If you know something about the American legal system, then you are either a lawyer or you have this phobia ‒ fear of lawsuits. Although, most likely you are a lawyer. There are too many lawyers now.

Sciophobia

This phobia refers to shadows in general and is not solely a fear of one’s own shadow. The shadows make you mistake the lawnmower for an evil spirit or something. Severe fright can lead to the emergence of social phobia.

It also happens that the development of this disorder is involuntarily provoked by the parent. A loving mother should very carefully choose a fairy tale for evening reading aloud.  Narratives in which the shadow is capable of punishing a person or acting independently should be excluded. A child who does not understand the essence of the phenomenon may mistake the shadow for a living being.

There comes a period in the life of children when they begin to be keenly interested in their shadow and wonder why this dark silhouette is constantly pursuing them. You should not leave this interest of the baby unattended, it’s time for the parent to explain to his child that there is a shadow, where it comes from, and why it is completely safe. Timely adult intervention can prevent a child from developing sciophobia. The clearer the phenomenon, the less it scares the baby.

Triskaidekaphobia

  This is not a common phobia, but how not to include the fear of the number 13. If this were a list of 700 phobias, we could include hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Fear of the number 666.

To date, there is no consensus among researchers about the origin of triskaidekaphobia. The most common version says that the number 13 is disliked because it is more than 12 ‒ a number that is sacred among many people ‒ and carried something unknown and dangerous.

 Besides, there is a biblical tradition indirectly related to the number 13 ‒ at the Last Supper Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, sat at the thirteenth table. This legend is associated with the most common in Europe and the United States in the 19th century, a sign associated with the number 13 ‒ if 13 people gathered at the dinner table, one of them will die within a year after the meal.  Later in Christianity, the apocryphal belief spread that Satan was the 13th angel.

Nictogilophobia

  This is by far the most specific fear on the list. This is the fear of the night forest.  Each of us should have a healthy amount of this phobia, to be honest.  Even if you don’t believe in witches and werewolves, there are many very real dangers in the night forest.

Ankraophobia

The fear of the wind makes sense in some countries. For example, if you grew up where there is no tornado, it is of course pointless. But it may well appear after reading “The Wizard of the Emerald City”.

Anyone can be born with this condition or get it at a later age. This phobia is most often the result of psychological trauma caused by a negative experience with the wind in the past of a sick person. This experience can be remembered or “imprinted” in the subconscious of the injured person. People with this phobia are usually afraid of changes in the weather, such as storms. They will probably believe that the wind can kill and destroy. 

They also avoid things that remind them of the wind, such as ocean waves.  Ankraophobia is also associated with terms such as aeroacrophobia, which is a fear of open heights, and anemophobia, which is a fear of drafts.  

Ablutophobia

  It is the irrational fear of bathing, washing, and cleaning.  It can significantly spoil your life. Face your fears guys. Symptoms and treatment methods for ablutophobia are the same as for most specific phobias, namely rapid or labored breathing, dizziness, heart palpitations, tremors, panic, etc. 

The Prussian king Frederick the Great was so afraid of water that he could not wash at all. The servants had to wipe him down with dry towels. The character of Nikolai Nosov’s fairy tale “Dunno in the Solar City” Pestrenky suffered from “ablutophobia”, but he did not want to wash, preferring to go dirty; got rid of it when the Wizard enchanted him so that the dirt will slightly pinch his face until he washes.

Nostophobia

There are so many interesting things in the world around you!  Not surprisingly, some people are afraid to return home. It’s probably easier to deal with the fear these days when the internet offers us so many amazing things. Overcome your fear and return home to read our list.

There can be a huge number of reasons why we sometimes do not want to return home. Someone got a “deuce” at school and is afraid of the punishment of their parents, someone does not have very favorable relations with family members, someone else does not have their corner at home, and some are simply afraid to return home because it is already late evening, the street is dark, and their house is located in an area, to put it mildly, not very favorable.

Nomophobia

This phobia is the fear of being left without a phone, and it makes sense. The only thing worse than spending a day without your phone is coming home to see that no one has texted you.

Appeared in a 2008 YouGov study commissioned by the UK Post Office. The purpose was to study the anxiety experienced by mobile phone users; 2.1 thousand people attended it. About 53% of mobile phone users in the UK admitted to worrying when they “lose their mobile phone, run out of battery power, or when they are out of coverage.”  About 58% of men and 47% of women experience similar fears and another 9% experience it when their mobile phones are turned off.  55% of those surveyed said that the main cause of anxiety was not being able to stay in touch with friends or family.

Somniphobia

 Even if you have not been influenced by “The Nightmare on Elm Street”, you may still be afraid to fall asleep. So much to do in a day. Who has time to sleep?

Neophobia

  As those who find it difficult to change their nicknames in networks, we easily understand people who are afraid of change. It’s easy to go with the flow, but if you get off the beaten track, you can get so many new experiences. At least that’s what they say.

Kakorrafiophobia

This fear ‒ failure and failure, is somewhat similar to the previous phobia. Oftentimes we are afraid to try something new precisely because of the fear of failure. Although this is part of the learning process. Usually, no one even notices it.