There are common fears that lots of people have (spiders, am I right?). Many people are afraid of closed places or have a fear of open spaces. Then there are those people who have irrational fears of the most ordinary things. Imagine having a fear of ice cream, or a fear of the Dutch. Now imagine if these fears crippled your everyday life. Here are 25 phobias you never knew existed. If you have this fear, it’s probably best you don’t ask what someone is thinking. While the fear of gravity is a real phobia, we’re curious as to how someone would deal with this fear. There are probably plenty of adolescents in the world who will claim they have this. (We hope that no one was scared by reading this.) If someone has the fear of new drugs or medication, this is called Neopharmaphobia. Somebody with Oneirophobia has a fear of dreams. If someone has Omphalophobia, they have a fear of belly buttons. Thank goodness for audiobooks, right? In all fairness, they would probably be creepy looking … if they existed. But although some species of mole rats do exist, it seems there is no such thing as the great mole rat. Talk about irrational fears. The driver may have Tachophobia, which is a fear of speed or doing some activity too fast. People who have this disorder suffer from a fear of old people due to the deeper fear of getting old themselves. While many people are wary of meeting their in-laws, if this persists, you might have some relationship challenges down the line. Does that chocolate ice cream put you in full-time panic mode? You may have a fear of ice cream, also known as Pagotophobia. Perhaps this is caused by a really bad case of “brain-freeze” while eating that creamy, frozen goodness. If you suffer from this, which is highly unlikely, you suffer from a fear of responsibility. We don’t know if someone gets this fear the day they turn 20, or if they were always afraid of teenagers … even if at one point they were one. If you have a fear of the Dutch or anything Dutch-related, then you have Dutchphobia. Watch out for those Heinekens. If you have a fear of laughing, then you either have Geliophobia, or you are incredibly uptight. If somebody has Anablephobia, they have a fear of looking up. We can’t think of a worse phobia than this one. But there are more … Someone with Ebulliophobia probably can’t deal with the scene from The Wizard of Oz when Glenda the good witch appears in a giant bubble. If you are a thermophobe, you will most likely avoid hot soups, coffee, hot chocolate, and hot baths/showers. Even thinking about plants can make someone with Botanophobia extremely anxious. Since beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, it’s hard to say what will get them to panic. Don’t worry, this fear is probably cured by the right phone number from a beautiful woman. Consecotaleophobia is an irrational fear of chopsticks. A person with this phobia may feel highly anxious in the presence of chopsticks.
