Weird Phobias
Phobias are the most common type of mental illness in the United States, but there are some really weird phobias that are quite unique and unusual. Like all phobias, weird phobias usually develop from some type of negative or odd experience with a certain object or situation.
Most of the time, weird phobias are not seriously harmful or disabling. A person with a phobia generally just avoids whatever it is they are phobic of and gets on with their life without requiring years of therapy. When a phobia does become disruptive to a person's life, however, it can be treated with therapy designed to ease the person into becoming comfortable with the focal point of their phobia.
The basic definition of a phobia is the irrational fear of something that is not likely to cause harm. These weird phobias are the perfect example of that explanation:
Amaxophobia is the fear of riding in a car. A person with this phobia would do best living in a big city with an excellent public transportation system.
Anthrophobia is the fear of flowers, which is almost unimaginable.
Aritmophobia is the fear of numbers. People with this phobia may have difficulty keeping their checkbook balanced and will rarely taking a job in accounting.
Ataxophobia is the fear of things being messy or untidy. This could be considered a refreshing change for a compulsive slob.
Bibliophobia is the fear of books. If a person is hurt in some way by a book, perhaps the fear could be more properly focused on the person wielding the book rather than the book itself.
Cacophobia is the fear of ugliness, and sufferers will generally avoid anyone or anything they perceive as asymmetrical, not pleasing to the eye or just plain ugly.
Dendrophobia is the fear of trees. A person with this phobia will have a fairly difficult time on camping trips, hikes in the woods and other common outdoor activities.
Gamophobia is the fear of marriage. People who have been divorced more than a few times may be more susceptible to this particular phobia.
Heliophobia, or fear of the sun, can be quite inconvenient as it would prevent the phobic from enjoying pretty much anything that involved being in the sun.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words, and whoever made up that name is seriously not right.
Hydrophobia is the fear of water. This can be understandable when talking about the ocean or a pool; not so much when it includes the bath or a drink.
Leukophobia is the fear of the color white, which more than likely results in a very colorful home life.
Melanophobia is the other end of the spectrum - fear of the color black.
Octophobia is a fear of the figure 8, so it will probably never be found in an ice skater.
Papyrophobia is the fear of paper and could be seriously problematic for any office worker.
And our all time favorite is: Phobophobia, the fear of phobias.