Everyone's afraid of something, so what are you scared of? While some of your fears might be more common than you realized, some might be incredibly unique and rare. To get an idea of the general population, here are 10 of the most common phobias and 10 pretty weird ones that can be pretty problematic to have.
1. Acrophobia - Fear of Heights
That feeling you get when you're standing on the balcony of a 20-story building? That shaky feeling you get that you might just fall over? Yup, that's something a lot of people also experience, so don't worry about feeling alone. The fear of heights is incredibly common, and it'll vary from person to person.
2. Arachnophobia - Fear of Spiders
These creepy-crawlies just get on everyone's nerves! The fear that sets in the moment you see one of these little eight-legged creatures in the corner of the wall is incredibly intense. Who would ever want to get near one of them?
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3. Aerophobia - Fear of Flying
Although it's how you get to travel and see the world, for some people, the fear of flying is too much to handle. It's thinking about how you're traveling miles high in the sky in essentially a tin can! Well, not really but you know what we mean. And with the fear of bad turbulence always being a possibility, flying is simply too much for some individuals.
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4. Nyctophobia - Fear of the Dark
Whether it's worrying that there's something there in the dark with you, or simply just not being able to see anything freaks you out, having a fear of the dark is a pretty common phobia. In the more extreme cases, it can create serious troubles for kids or adults trying to get even the slightest bit of sleep!
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5. Ophidiophobia - Fear of Snakes
There's just something about snakes that is so unsettling! Whether it's the weird way they slither around without any legs or just how dangerous these reptiles can be, having a fear of snakes makes sense to us! They can be downright terrifying.
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6. Cynophobia - Fear of Dogs
In contrast to snakes, despite commonly being referred to as man's best friend, many people around the world do have a fear of dogs. It could be because of a traumatic or terrifying experience or simply being scared of aggressive, mean dogs. Whatever it is, it's safe to say not everyone wants one as a pet.
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7. Trypanophobia - Fear of Needles
Considering this long and sharp thing is meant to inject your body with something, yeah, it makes sense why some people would be scared of needles! There's just something unsettling and uneasy about having this puncture your skin.
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8. Claustrophobia - Fear of Close Spaces
For people with claustrophobia, tight spaces might feel incredibly restrictive and confining, leading them into a state of panic. It can vary from person to person how intense this fear is.
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9. Astraphobia - Fear of Thunder & Lightning
Pretty commonly found in children, it's no surprise that thunder and lightning can come across as very scary. Not only is it visually terrifying seeing that strike of lightning rain down from the sky, the loud boom that comes from thunder is strong enough to create fear in anyone.
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10. Glossophobia - Fear of Public Speaking
Remember back in high school when you had to give a speech to the class, or at work when you had to give a presentation to your boss? Having to stand in front of people and speak can be incredibly anxiety-inducing for a lot of people, so much so that it's become a fear.
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1. Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of Peanut Butter Sticking To The Roof of Your Mouth
When we say the 10 weirdest phobias, we mean weird. This unique phobia moreso has to do with the feeling of choking or having to deal with sticky, uncomfortable textures in the mouth. So really, it has much less to do with peanut butter than you think.
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2. Arithmophobia - Fear of Numbers
For some people, this phobia of numbers might have to do with specific ones (like 13 being an unlucky number for example), or it might just be related to all numbers because they're associated with stressful events or bad memories. We're sure it can become quite problematic though since numbers are involved in many aspects of life.
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3. Optophobia - Fear of Opening Your Eyes
You can probably see how this phobia might be incredibly debilitating for people who have it. If their fear has to do with opening their eyes and essentially being able to see, how do they go about their day? This phobia is an incredibly unique one and might stem from having seen terrible or traumatic instances with their own eyes.
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4. Pogonophobia - Fear of Beards
Sadly, for people with this phobia, it'll be difficult for them to be around people because beards are everywhere! In more extreme cases, anxiety or even panic attacks might occur even from just seeing someone with a beard in a photo or video.
5. Vestiphobia - Fear of Clothes
Given that clothes are a must have for everyone if they want to go out into society, we can definitely see how this fear will prevent people from living a normal life. For some, it might have to do with feeling restricted by what they're wearing, but for others, it might simply just be a fear of clothes itself.
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6. Ergophobia - Fear of Work
Perhaps the result of having experienced serious burnout or stress in a professional environment, ergophobia is a strange fear that people have regarding work. Given that everyone needs to work to survive and provide for themselves, this can be very debilitating.
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7. Decidophobia - Fear of Making Decisions
You know your girlfriend or boyfriend who never seems to know what they want? Those moments when they don't want Chinese food, Mexican, Vietnamese, or any cuisine on the planet it seems? Well, imagine that but times 10. People with this phobia aren't just not able to make a choice, they're scared of it! They might get full on panic attacks just having to make a big decision.
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8. Lachanophobia - Fear of Vegetables
This is pretty troublesome considering we all need vegetables to have a healthy diet and keep our bodies in the best shape. People who have a fear of vegetables can vary in how intensely they feel. It might have to do with eating them, but for some, just seeing veggies might be enough to scare them away!
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9. Nomophobia - Fear of Not Having Your Phone
Sounds pretty typical of our time, right? Also known as no mobile phobia, this irrational fear has to do with someone getting anxious not having a working phone that's connected to the internet, or just being separated from it. It's definitely a fear that has developed in recent years given how dependent we've grown to the internet and our smartphones.
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10. Hippoptomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - Fear of Long Words
Seems pretty ironic that the fear of long words is a very long word. This strange and irrational phobia has to do with people who feel embarrassment or shame from not being able to pronounce long, complicated words. In reality, it's the fear of getting made fun of more than the words themselves.
