The Cyber Archive.
From bizarre phobias that can affect your daily life to being afraid of fear itself,
we count 15 phobias that you may already have.
Number 15.
Barophobia. The fear of gravity. Individuals suffering from barophobia can either have
the fear that gravity might crush them, the fear of falling because of gravity or the
fear that gravity might cease to exist and they just float away. Not much you can do
about this one unless of course you live in deep space, but then again everything with
mass, including your own body has gravity so really there's no escaping this one.
Number 14.
Coulrophobia. The fear of clowns. Clowns have been around for years and we all know how
freaky they look but this phobia only surfaced in the 1980s. That's around the same time
the Stephen King horror novel IT was published. IT was about a demonic clown that feeds on
the fear of children. Then in 1990 they thought it would be a great idea to make a film of
IT. This film probably scarred most kids for life and going to the circus has never the
same again.
Number 13.
Triskaidekaphobia. The fear of the number 13. This phobia and superstition is thought
to originate from the 13th person at the Last Supper being Judas, who was said to have stabbed
Jesus in the back. There are a few events in history related to 13 being unlucky, like
the Apollo 13 mission. They safely landed back on earth but not before having an Oxygen
tank rupture on April 13th.
Number 12.
Gerontophobia. The fear of the elderly. Gerontophobia comes from the Greek geron phobos meaning
old man fear. This irrational fear or hatred of the elderly is associated with that fact
that someday all young people will grow old and that age is associated with grumpiness,
ill-health and death. The only way to avoid aging is to stop your metabolism, which of
course would mean you'd be dead, so unfortunately everyone will eventually grow old and wrinkly.
Number 11.
Papaphobia. The fear of the Pope. Yes it may seem like the same thing as the previous one
but this is slightly more specific. This intense dread of the Pope comes from a combination
of traumatic events and genetics. Sufferers can be overwhelmed by nausea, excessive sweating
and panic. Specific phobias like this can normally be traced back to a single triggering
event, which is usually a traumatic experience at a young age.
Number 10.
Ablutophobia. The fear of bathing. This phobia tends to be more common in women and children.
The fear generally dissipates in kids when they realize they don't need to scream their
head off every time they get dunked in the bath. However for women it's thought to originate
from yet another movie scene, like the iconic shower scene from Psycho. Now women all over
the world are afraid they'll get stabbed to death in the shower.
Number 9.
Lilapsophobia. The fear of tornadoes or hurricanes. Like most phobias, lilapsophobia is caused
by an unwanted experience, specifically a tornado or hurricane. Sufferers of this phobia
tend to spend a great deal of their day watching the weather and checking the forecast. When
a storm hits they'll run for cover or hide in a storm shelter. I'm no expert in medical
science but this doesn't even seem like a phobia and more like just common sense.
Number 8.
Gymnophobia. The fear of nudity. Admittedly some people don't like undressing or showering
in public, but people with this phobia are so afraid of showing their naked body or seeing
someone else naked, they try to avoid nudity all together. I'd imagine this one's quite
difficult to avoid being that you have to be naked to shower or when you change your
clothes. I expect sufferers of Gymnophobia would just have a heart attack if they came
across a naturist beach while on holiday.
Number 7.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. The fear of long words. Honestly, it took me about
5 minutes to actually work out how to pronounce this. I'd be gutted if I had this phobia.
How on earth would anyone get treatment for this? When you go to the Doctor saying you
had a fear of long words and they turn around and tell you that you have Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia,
you'd just think they were taking the piss.
Number 6.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. The fear of the number 666. Yes another stupidly long
word, this phobia originated from the Bible which indicates the number 666 is the number
of the beast, which is linked to Satan or the Anti-Christ. More recently it comes from
watching yet another film, called The Omen which was about a devil boy called Damien
who had a birthmark in the shape of the number 666. Many women even expressed their concern
about giving birth to a child on June 6, 2006.
Number 5.
Chronophobia. The fear of time. More specifically the fear of time moving forward. People with
this phobia are afraid that time is running out or they wish they could stop time or even
reverse it. This is another one you can't really do much about. Unless you've invented
a time machine and can reverse the aging process, you may just have to avoid clocks and walk
backwards.
Number 4.
Tetraphobia. The fear of the number 4. This is most common in East Asia, mainly because
the Chinese word for four 'si' and the word for death 'si' sounds exactly the same. In
China and Japan they'll often skip the number 4. Floor numbers in buildings are often skipped,
any floor with a number 4 anywhere in it including 14 and 24, and also the number 13 are skipped.
With some very tall skyscrapers, this means they end up with quite a few empty floors.
Number 3.
Trypophobia. The fear of small holes and repeating textures. This phobia is caused by a primitive
association of something dangerous, ranging from bee hives to disease. Many people suffer
from this fear and it can make you feel physically sick, make your skin crawl and you can even
experience severe panic attacks. I can't imagine why.
Number 2.
Phobophobia. The fear of phobias or of fear itself. If you have Phobophobia, congratulations
for making it this far through the video. This phobia does in fact create a terrible
paradox. If you're afraid of becoming afraid, you'd be afraid to become afraid, which would
make you afraid of yourself becoming afraid of becoming afraid. To put it simply, this
could easily develop into a never ending spiral of fear.
Number 1.
Panphobia. The fear of everything. Unfortunately there is no cure for this all-encompassing
phobia. Thought to be an extremely complex mental disorder, people with panphobia would
literally be afraid of everything. Not only would this include every phobia in this video
and more, they'd also be afraid of breathing and even their very existence.
And that's it for this fearful countdown. Don't forget to like and share this video
if you enjoyed it and as always thanks for watching.