Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, which ironically, is the name for the fear of long words. Now, at first, I didn’t believe this, so I looked it up, and there it was, my answer – yes, the fear is real and quite common. Now, looking this phobia up didn’t just answer my question, but it also brought me down a rabbit hole of considerably unusual phobias. Though that is not me saying that these phobias do not have their explanations, because they definitely do, and that is something I searched for. Now, despite what I or anyone else thinks, everyone has an irrational fear of their own.

First, ablutophobia, the fear of bathing. Yes, this does exist, and I fear it is more common than you might hope. The good thing is that this fear is more common in little kids than adults. However, there are still adults who have it, generally carried on from childhood. Thankfully, it is very rare that someone would be afraid of such a basic human task.

Now, at first it might seem funny, but this phobia can – and normally does lead to agoraphobia. This is the fear of being in places where there are a bunch of people, which is similar to social anxiety, but far more extreme, since many people won’t even leave their house. 

These phobias can be dangerous in many ways, but especially mentally, since they often lead to people feeling that they cannot be around others. When this happens, many people tend to refuse to leave their homes. Overall, not good, but this is still a weird phobia, especially in adults, if you ask me.

Another example of a bizarre and rather concerning phobia is anthophobia, the fear of flowers. While this fear, at first glance, is comically absurd, it is actually quite concerning. This fear usually stems from bad experiences, such as being bitten or stung by bugs, or even just severe allergies. These experiences often lead to fear or anxiety, especially if they have happened more than once to a person. So, essentially, these people will start distancing themselves from plants, but that isn’t the only reason; they might also associate flowers and plants with severe allergies. In this case, I will use the most common, hay fever. About 10% of adults have it, and 20% of teenagers. Despite its reasoning, I still believe it is a silly and irrational fear.

Now getting into the more unreasonable phobias that I can find reasons for, but refuse to believe exist. Paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th. This fear makes almost no logical sense, yet it does, of course, have its reasons for existing. 

Though it has its own phobia, this fear has a strong connection to triskaidekaphobia, more commonly known as the fear of the number 13. It is an old fear, yes, but people to this day avoid the number 13 because it holds a bad reputation and is seen as problematic. 

I won’t dive into that, though; that’s a whole other article. Mix it in with the movie Friday the 13th, and you get a group of paranoid people with a silly phobia. This phobia comes with many side effects, such as fewer people outside on the day. Bad and good: on the one hand, you have fewer car accidents; on the other, you have businesses losing money. Because of the small number of people out on this day, places lose money, since there’s no one to buy from them as usual, or fewer people are working. Now, with the car accidents, it has decreased not only because there are fewer people out, but also because many people are more cautious about what is happening around them.

Now, on a different note, here are some more common, less unusual phobias. These would include acrophobia, the fear of heights. Which is a very normal and reasonable fear (in my professional opinion of having it). One of the most common phobias, it falls on a spectrum of how severe you have it. Some people can’t go to high places without freaking out, while others are more uncomfortable and unsettled by heights. For me, I get dizzy and uncomfortable at heights, and I still refuse to fly because of it. Now this fear isn’t generally caused by something, more of anxiety and fear of falling from said height.

Another example is arachnophobia, a more common phobia, the fear of spiders. Which is reasonable to have, with their many legs and everything about them, unsettling to many. This fear is often associated with bad experiences with spiders from when you were younger. Even with that, there are many cases where it’s just the unsettling looks and nature of the arachnid. This fear is also on a spectrum, where you can be scared of them in both the visual and the real world. Fortunately for some, they can look at a picture but are uncomfortable seeing them in person.

Just to sum it up, there are way too many phobias out there. Whether these phobias are funny and concerning, or just straight irrational, you can find a reason for their existence. Though that doesn’t keep more normal fears out of the picture. What’s your unusual fear, or normal fear? Personally, I hate mascots; they freak me out.