Here is a list of very weird phobias that can really hinder people from living a normal life. Although phobias are a relatively present aspect in most people’s lives, the ones that we are about the present are truly bizarre.
Automatonophobia – Fear of a Ventriloquist’s dummy
Ventriloquism is anyway a pretty bizarre and scary (to some) act, making this fear of the ventriloquist’s dummy quite acceptable and normal. Of course, some sufferer’s reactions are taken to extremes, anxiousness and discomfort reaching high levels, the people dealing with this disorder having to leave the room to be able to relax. But, as mentioned before, ventriloquism is considered quite spooky by many, so Automatonophobia requires no actual treatment.
Cathisophobia – Fear of sitting
Cathisophobia or Kathisophobia (with a K) is the fear of sitting down is usually caused by previous violent cases of physical abuse relating to sitting down on sharp or painful surfaces or objects or simply a severe case of hemorrhoids. In other situations, the fear of sitting can also originate in harsh school punishments or refer to a phobia related to sitting in front of influential people. The symptomatic effects of cathisophobia are sweating, quick breathing and anxiety.
Arachbutyrophobia – Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth
As funny as it sounds, this phobia is actually real. And we can imagine that this can only appear in someone who was forced or had to ear peanut butter every day of his/her childhood. Known reactions of sufferers are sweatiness and body convulsions, together with the sensation of the roof of the mouth becoming coarse and itchy, even in some situations culminating in a full panic attack.
Pentheraphobia – Fear of Mothers-in-Law
Of all the previously mentioned phobias, Pentheraphobia is probably the most common, and as usually depicted in movies, generally in people within the Western society.
Demonophobia – Fear of demons
Demonophobia sufferers are the people terrified with the abnormal and permanent idea that there are evil supernatural beings roaming the earth to cause harm. As in the case of eisoptrophobia (fear of mirrors) sufferers, they too are perfectly conscious that this fear is absolutely irrational, yet they become extremely nervous and are taken over by anxiousness when discussing the demon subject, when being alone in the wood or a dark or abandoned house, or even when watching horror movies about demonic possession and exorcism, being firmly convinced that it can also happen to them.
Eisoptrophobia - Fear of Mirrors
Eisoptrophobia or the Fear of Mirrors, mainly refers to the idea of mirrors representing a pathway to a spiritual world and making contact with this world. This phobia strongly originates in superstitions, and sufferers usually experience anxiety when seeing a mirror, although conscious of the fact that this reaction is irrational. Usually the superstition that breaking a mirror will bring bad luck or that looking through a mirror will establish a connection with a supernatural being are the main fears the eisoptrophobia sufferers deal with.
Deipnophobia – Fear of dinner conversation
Usually introverts develop this phobia, as conversation in front of other people is already quite terrifying to them. The fear of dinner conversation is nevertheless a bizarre disorder, most sufferers avoiding dining out situations because of it. In the past, this wasn’t such an issue, as the strict rules of etiquette did not imply a necessary dialogue over dinner, but those rules are long forgotten unfortunately.
Pediophobia – Fear of dolls
Of course some dolls are downright creepy, but this phobia doesn’t include just these dolls, pediophobia sufferers being extremely terrified by any type of dolls, based on the actual fear of any “false representation of sentient beings”. Of course this disorder also implies the fear of robots and mannequins, but it should not be confused with pedophobia, or the fear of children, as they are two completely different things. Pediophobia may originate in the fear of the doll coming to life, or the idea that the more human-like a thing becomes, the scarier and repellant its non-human aspects become, leading thus to a utter horror towards such things.
Mageirocophobia – fear of cooking
Originating in the Latin term mageirokos meaning skillful in cooking, Mageirocophobia or the bizarre fear of cooking is a disorder that can severely alter the eating habits of the sufferers, who feel intimidated to a high extent by people presenting good cooking skills.
Agyrophobia – Fear of crossing the street
Now this is something you don’t see every day. Sufferers of agyrophobia are severely terrified of crossing streets, highways and other thoroughfares, making it quite difficult or even impossible for them to live in an urban area. The term also originates in the Latin gyrus meaning turning or whirling, and there are actually various types of agyrophobia, some of those affected by it fearing only wide roads or narrow single street lanes, to such an extent that they could even refuse crossing the street in designated areas, such as cross-walks. However, this phobia has nothing to do with the fear of cars, so the reasons behind it are still not well-known.
