We all are afraid of something or the other and that is so normal. Fear comes in our way of achieving things in life. However, things become difficult when this fear turns into a phobia. They way phobias can control our body and mind can make it difficult for us to confront objects or things that are actually not threats. Many a time phobias are just random and have no underlying meaning. However, most develop because of some kind of unknown or known trauma. Here are 10 of the most bizarre phobias that you too may be suffering from.
10. Xanthophobia
Fear of a color, particularly yellow, certainly seems bizarre. However, it is a fact that Xanthophobia has developed because of the attachment of the color yellow to some disturbing experience. For instance, in China people started becoming afraid of the yellow color because it was an imperial scarf’s color that signified an order to commit suicide. Because of this relation, people started getting afraid of any object that was yellow in color even if it had no relation to that order.
If one suffers from xanthophobia they will close their eyes anxiously or even have a panic attack if they see something as harmless as a daffodil. Such people also find it difficult to eat lemonade, cheese, bananas, and eggs.
9. Hylophobia
Derived from the Greek word Hylo, which means forest, and phobia, meaning fear, hylophobia is perhaps the most understandable phobias in this list, because of the way forests are constantly depicted in serial and movies as a lonely and scary place. However, there is a difference between a phobia and the fear of being left alone in some forest. People who suffer from hylophobia get very anxious and display other symptoms like nausea, dryness of mouth, excessive sweating, shaking, and so on.
8. Turophobia
Can you even imagine there is a phobia built just around the fear of dairy products? Katie Weston is one of those who suffers from cheese phobia after as a child a cheese string had made her throw up in her friend’s trash bin. This incident was traumatic for her and kept her away from cheese forever. Even if a friend would try to bring a cheese string close to her, she would get anxious. Even the smell of cheese is too much for her to handle.
7. Omphalophobia
This is yet another really bizarre phobias, omphalophobia, where a person has a fear of the belly button. In this case, a person does not have a fear of only other’s navels but their own as well. Such people will not touch their own belly button and even if they see it, it can cause great discomfort. Celebrities like Jenny Frost and Khloe Kardashian suffer from this problem.
See also; Phobias that You Probably Don’t Know About.
6. Ombrophobia
Be it dramatic action scenes or love scenes, rain is hardly shown as something harmful, but this is something ombrophobes will never believe in. Even if it barely drizzles the sufferers can have panic attacks or may feel like they will be swept away in a flood caused by the rain. Most people think that the reason behind this phobia, just like in case of most others, is a painful experience associated with the rain.
5. Nomophobia
Nomophobia is one of those phobias that perhaps many people in the present day generation suffer from. It is the fear of having no cellular contact. Now that most young adults are highly dependent on their phones, it is pretty natural that an anxiety has developed at the very thought of the inability of using their devices. According to a study, men have brighter chances of developing nomophobia compared to women. Statistics also show that 65% of Americans sleep with their cell phones next to them, it is that important. Also, one in five people would not mind going without shoes for even a week but cannot stay without their cell phones.
4. Uranophobia
This one is really, really weird. There are people who have a strange fear of heaven and experience nausea, great fear, and lightheadedness at even the very thought or mention of the word heaven. The reason behind this possibly can be the enormity of heaven and things that can be expected, like meeting the Creator, angels, and one’s loved ones – all this may be too overwhelming.
3. Papaphobia
This phobia is one in which the sufferer has fear of the Pope. There are so many scandals surrounding the Catholic Church that people have grown afraid of the Church’s highest authority, the Pope himself. Yet another reason can be that the sufferers just have fear of anything sacred. Some of the symptoms displayed by the sufferers include shortness of breath, dread or anxiety, heart palpitations, and rapid breathing at the very thought of witnessing the Pope.
2. Triskaidekaphobia
This is the most common phobia and so many people suffer from this that a few offices have avoided having the 13th floor at all. In the American society, the number 13 is greatly feared. There are many reasons behind the origin of this fear, with one being biblical. From the late 19th century, some people think that the fear of the number 13 started from religious circles as Judas, the traitor, was the 13th person to join Christ at the Last Supper. Furthermore, many unfortunate events also have involved the number 13, thus adding to the fear.
1. Trypophobia
Some psychiatrists believe that the symptoms linked with it do not make it a phobia at all. However, other psychiatrists believe that the feelings of uncomfortableness and anxiety that people experience when seeing shapes or patterns resembling small holes, does make it a legitimate phobia. People suffering from this phobia feel uneasy when they see the body of a strawberry, the head of a lotus seed pod, or any other objects that have small closely gathered holes.
Many people do suffer from these and other bizarre phobias and there is not much to worry about. You just need to gather courage, face your fears once, and you will be free of your phobias forever.