Unusua Phobias

Phobia is an irrational fear of some object or situation. Many people suffer from phobias of various different kinds. They fear objects and situations like spiders, dogs, snakes, social gatherings, crowded places and thunder. These are the common fears that most of the people have. Apart from these there are people who suffer from unusual phobias that greatly affect the normal living of an individual.

Almost all the common and unusual phobias are caused as a result of environmental conditions or personal experiences. These are mostly developed during childhood and often lead to anxiety, panic attacks, sweating, nausea, dry mouth, breathlessness and the feeling of helplessness.

Unusual phobia mostly includes the fear of real things or imagined things and events. The most common of these phobias include :

• Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one's mouth.

• Automatonophobia: Fear of ventriloquists' dummies.

• Geliophobia: Fear of laughter.

• Myrmecophobia: Fear of ants.

• Ochophobia: Fear of being in a moving automobile.

• Motorphobia: Fear of automobile.

• Pediculophobia: Fear of lice.

• Peladophobia: Fear of bald people.

• Pentheraphobia: Fear of mothers-in-law.

• Triskadekaphobia: Fear of the number thirteen.

• Urophobia: Fear of urinating or fear of urine.

• Gnomophobia: Fear of garden gnomes.