The 20 rarest human phobias
Evolutionary psychologists say that many of the phobias we have are holdovers from our prehistoric ancestors. For example, vertigo made hominids with a fear of heights less likely to just walk along cliff edges. This increased our ancestors' chances of survival.
But this does not explain the entire list of phobias that exist today. The human being is the most incredible, and so are the fears that he may have. In this article we will see which are the rarest human phobias.
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The 20 strangest fears of the human being
Fear generally gives an instinctive response to avoidance behavior, sometimes being very irrational. In many cases it can be understood. For example, the phobias associated with some animals (spiders, snakes, etc.) are due to the fact that in the past it was very dangerous to approach them.
What is not so easily assumed is that one is afraid, for example, of a color (chromophobia). Without a doubt, there are truly surprising phobias, and next we will see the rarest phobias of the human being.
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1. Omphalophobia
The person suffering from omphalophobia expresses great discomfort and even fear of having to touch a belly button. If already thinking about them would be difficult, the rejection of the idea of touching one is total.
2. Pogonophobia
It's about a irrational fear of beards. In recent years, beards have been in fashion and that must not have liked the pogonophobes at all.
3. Chionophobia
There are people who have fear of snow, so in winter or in certain regions they have a very bad time. The feeling of anxiety or even nausea is generated when you see it fall or touch it.
4. Anablephobia
Anablephobia is the afraid to look up. People who manifest this phobia never tilt their heads towards the sky because of what there may be and because of the feeling of smallness. It is one of the strangest phobias.
5. Caetaphobia
This is the hair phobia. People with kaethophobia find the idea of coming into contact with other people's hair from other people or animals horrifying. Others don't even want to think about their own hair.
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6. Phalacrophobia
This phobia is in absolute contrast to the previous one. Its about fear of bald people. Touching, looking at, or even thinking about a bald person is a source of anxiety for phalacrophobes. It is also fear of going bald.
7. Chromophobia
Chromophobia is the fear of colors. Irrational aversion to colors is associated with traumatic experiences to certain colors, with aversion to certain colors being possible. For example, cyanophobia (fear of the color blue) or xanthophobia (fear of the color yellow).
8. Lacanophobia
Lacanophobia is another really rare phobia. It's about the food phobia. This persistent and inexplicable fear of fruits and vegetables causes the lacanophobic to have a very inadequate diet.
9. Linophobia
Linophobia is an irrational fear of threads, cords, ropes and chains. It is undoubtedly another strange phobia that is difficult to understand. Knitting or any activity that involves these items creates a great dislike.
10. Clinophobia
Also known as somniphobia or hypnophobia, clinophobia is the fear of falling asleep. It is a kind of fear of disconnecting from reality, and logically leads those who suffer from clinophobia to suffer from sleep disorders.
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11. Alliumphobia
Not only are vampires terrified at the thought of garlic, there are humans who also have nightmares about them. Who suffers from alliumphobia has fear of garlic.
12. Parthenophobia
Where we find some of the rarest phobias is in those of sexual typology. For example, parthenophobia is the fear of virgin girls. Any young girl is potentially a virgin, so anxiety can be felt anywhere.
13. Cathisophobia
Catisophobia refers to afraid to sit. It is an exceptional phobia that is directly associated with a traumatic experience. This can range from hemorrhoids to being held hostage to kidnapping or being tortured.
14. Mageirocophobia
Mageirocophobia describes an irrational fear of cooking. People who suffer from this phobia are unable to prepare food that involves some type of cooking, as it generates a very acute anxiety.
15. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
This phobia with this complicated name explains a response from authentic fear of angel number 666. This figure is the one that identifies with Satan, and people who believe in his existence are terrified every time they see him or associate something with this number.
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16. Penteraphobia
Many will miss a smile when discovering this phobia, but those who suffer from it do not like it. Its about fear of mother-in-law. There are those who really suffer a lot with the idea of having to relate to the mother of their partner.
17. Omatophobia
Omatophobia is the fear in the eyes. People who suffer from this phobia are afraid of looking at images with their eyes. In some cases these people are only afraid of certain iris colors.
18. Numerophobia
Nerophobia is suffered by people with fear of numbers. These people can develop obsessions and fears towards certain numbers or numerical sequences, and they generally fear everything related to mathematics.
19. Ceraunophobia
This phobia consists of the fear of being struck by lightning. In reality, in addition to this fear, the person is also used to being afraid of storms, tempests, thunder and lightning.
20. Barophobia
Barophobia is the fear of gravity. It might seem like one of the rarest human phobias because we cannot escape gravity, but these people fear the compression that gravity can put them through. They avoid elevators, escalators, amusement parks, etc.
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Bibliographic references
Edmund J. B. (2005). The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications
Christophe A. (2006). Psychology of fear. Fears, anxieties and phobias. Barcelona: Editorial Kairós.
Craske, M., Martin M.A. and David, H.B. (2006). Mastering your fears and phobias. Oxford: Oxford University Press.