The Most Unusual Phobias

A phobia is defined as an irrational fear of an object or situation. It’s amazing when you really look into it how many strange and unique phobias there are out there. Many of us share similar phobias such as the fear of spiders or snakes or of heights. Some phobias however are very unusual. Here is a list of the top ten strangest phobias.

Imagine you are having a good time at a party and laughing with your friends. If someone suddenly started screaming and freaking out it’s most likely that they have Geliophobia. Geliophobia is the fear of laughter. It’s best not to invite people with Geliophobia to parties if you don’t want to crash the party as that person will scream in horror every time they hear laughter.

Peladophobia is the fear of bald people. People with Peladophobia run the opposite direction when they see the sun reflect of the shinny surface of a bald person in the distance. Unfortunately for bald people though there are even more people out there that have Maliaphobia which is the phobia of wigs.

Pentheraphobia is the also known as fear of mother-in-law. So if you ever felt unease or fearful around your mother-in-law now you have a scientific name to call your condition.

Another unusual phobia is called Gnomophobia which is of course the fear of garden gnomes. Many people have this phobia and it is similar to Automatonophobia which is the fear of ventriloquists’ dummies.

For whatever reason there are also some individuals out there with Dendrophobia which is the fear of trees. People with this phobia have a hard time waling in parks or traveling through the forest. Usually a few trees is not enough to trigger this phobia though and individuals with Dendrophobia have to be around a lot of them to be scared.

Basophobia is a surprisingly unusual fear because it is the fear of walking. There is also Kathisophobia which is the fear of sitting down. You can tell if someone has both of these phobias as they will tend to roll everywhere they go.

The next totally legitimate but highly unusual phobia is that of Eleutherophobia which means the fear of freedom. There is no real evidence of where this name came about. However it is highly likely that it was invented by an American.

The next phobia proves that there really is a phobia for every single thing you could possible think of. This is of course Levophobia which is fear of objects that are to the left side of the body.

Linonophobia is something that very few cats have and that is the fear of string.

Another fascinatingly unusual phobia is Ophthalmophobia which is the fear of opening one’s eyes.

Finally, the hardest phobia to treat of all time is Panophobia. Panophobia is the fear of everything and so is the phobia of every phobia making it the ultimate phobia to have.

Reference:

• www.listofphobias.org/