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Phobias are defined as a persistent irrational fear of specific objects, activities, or situations
that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.
Almost all phobias are the result of a bad past experience, usually during childhood,
and can be treated or managed with help.
10.
Somniphobia - Fear of Sleeping Sleep is a basic necessity to survive just
like eating, drinking and breathing, with most people showing cranky or irritable symptoms
before being up twenty-four hours.
However, there are some people in the world who suffer anxiety disorders related to sleep,
including Somniphobics, who have a fear of sleep.
Related to the fear of the unknown, sufferers of Somniphobia are terrified of what might
happen if they fall asleep.
Those who have this phobia often avoid sleeping as long as they can, showing signs of daytime
fatigue and drowsiness, irritability and mood swings.
Sleep deprivation, through animal research, shows that death could occur, but no human
being is known to have died from lack of sleep.
9.
Mysophobia - Fear of Germs The fear of microbes or getting contaminated
with germs, Mysophobia is also known as germophobia.
People with Mysophobia believe the world is a "filthy place" and as a result are constantly
washing or cleaning.
Mysophobics are mainly concerned with contamination and sterilization, and not so much about being
tidy or orderly.
Panic attacks, shaking, dry mouth, sweating, nausea, and rapid and irregular heartbeats
are among the symptoms a person suffering from Mysophobia could have.
Several celebrities were or are known to have Mysophobia, including Michael Jackson, Howard
Hughes, and Howie Mandel.
Samantha Hancox, 40, suffered from Mysophobia, showered 20 hours a day, and died of dehydration
and a skin infection from this condition.
8.
Iatrophobia - Fear of Doctors There are people out there who really hate
going to hospitals or seeing doctors, mostly due to the inconvenience of the matter or
embarrassment.
For Iatrophobic sufferers, or those who fear doctors, just seeing a doctor causes panic
attacks, elevated blood pressure, rapid breathing, nausea, or gastrointestinal distress.
People who have Iatrophobia tend to put off visiting the doctor no matter how much they
are suffering from a medical condition.
This phobia is quite common in children, though many adults are known to also suffer from
this condition, too.
John Dart, a pensioner, father of two and Iatrophobic, committed suicide when he convinced
himself a blemish on his nose was cancerous in 2009.
7.
Counterphobia - Fear of Not Facing Your Fears While most people with a phobia tend to avoid
the thing they fear, Counterphobics do the opposite.
Sufferers of Counterphobia tend to seek out what they fear because they might feel invigorated
or excited when encountering these things they fear the most, and is equivalent to an
adrenaline rush.
Counterphobics still exhibit anxiety, fear, trembling, frustration, shortness of breath,
and sometimes a full blown panic attack.
Jeb Corliss, an American professional skydiver and BASE jumper, was diagnosed with counterphobia
when he was very young due to complications at school and issues with this father.
Over the course of Corliss's fear seeking, he has performed numerous death defying feats
with more than a few close calls.
6.
Ablutophobia - Fear of Washing or Bathing A fear of washing or bathing, Ablutophobia
is very common in women and children.
This disorder can cause a severe and persistent fear of normal, everyday tasks like washing
one's hair and cleaning the body, often triggered in different ways.
Falling or slipping in the shower, or other incidents could've caused the disorder to
develop for some, but the implications of this phobia aren't readily apparent.
Besides being frowned on by society for having an odor or dirty complexion for lack of personal
hygiene, Ablutophobics consume food prepared by their unclean hands which could cause serious
illness or even death.
People with Ablutophobia, often have employment and relationship problems due to their uncleanliness.
5.
Phagophobia - Fear of Swallowing For some, the fear of swallowing, or Phagophobia,
is an all encompassing emotion that can render eating joyless.
This phobia manifests in various symptoms, wreaking havoc on their normal eating patterns,
as they will avoid certain foods or textures, hyper-masticate or over chew their food, exhibit
difficulty getting the swallow started and often lose weight.
All of these symptoms can create elevated levels of anxiety, often causing patients
to socially isolate themselves at mealtimes.
Like other phobias, Phagophobics either experienced a single or series of traumatic events that
involved the act of eating.
As drinking and eating are essential for life, it isn't hard to see the health implications
Phagophobia can have.
4.
Heliophobia - Fear of the Sun Those who have Heliophobia, a fear of the
sun, may show symptoms of breathlessness, dizziness, extreme sweating, nausea, dry mouth,
heart palpitations, and the inability to speak when in direct sunlight.
Some people develop this phobia because they are scared that being in sunlight may give
them cancer.
Most suffering from Heliophobia go to great lengths to cover every opening in their homes
from sunlight with black plastic or similar products.
Lack of sunlight causes a Vitamin D deficiency, which can cause bone pain, weakening of the
bones, osteoporosis, rickets, osteomalacia, and increased risk of fractures, heart disease,
bowel and breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and ultimately, death.
3.
Rhypophobia - Fear of Defecation Bowel movements are a normal bodily function
that everyone has to perform.
For most of us, it is a relief, but for those suffering from Rhypophobia, defecating can
be a traumatic experience.
A fear of painful bowel movements or defecation, Rhypophobics avoid going to the bathroom,
often due to a terrifying experience in the past, such as a physician manually extracting
hard stools, or their feces causing rectal bleeding, among other potential reasons.
Initially, stool softeners and laxatives are prescribed, but aren't a permanent solution.
Emily Titterington, a sixteen year old girl died from constipation after going eight weeks
without defecating.
The girl when into cardiac arrest caused by a condition known as "stool withholding".
2.
Cibophobia - Fear of Food Cibophobia is the excessive and persistent
fear of food, for which the phobic could suffer debilitating and serious health implications.
Patients are typically teenagers and young children, sometimes with their fears continuing
on into adulthood, and often misdiagnosed as anorexia, bulimia, and other behavior and
eating disorders.
The fear and avoidance of food, chewing or swallowing fluids usually stems from a negative
or traumatic episode of choking or vomiting, and in some cases, specific to certain products.
Cibophobia is often mistaken for the fear of eating in public, which is a social anxiety
disorder where the individual doesn't eat with others because they fear embarassing
themselves.
Given that food is essential to life, Cibophobia can result in adverse health effects, with
death being the bottom line.
1.
Panophobia - Fear of Everything Panophobia, while sounding bizarre, actually
exists and is the fear of everything.
Also known as Omniphobia or Pantophobia, those who suffer from this phobia tend to suffer
multiple kinds of fears, and remain in a constant state of dread, believing there is a "persistent
evil" or "something terrible about to happen".
Having this phobia can be detrimental to their success in life and certainly impacts their
day to day activities, often being triggered by negative news, events or traumatic episodes
in the past.
Panophobia is different with every person, but will generally increase over time adding
more phobias, both tangible and intangible.
Living in a constant state of fear that something bad is going to happen eventually will take
its toll on the human body.