There’s nothing embarrassing about being scared. Fear is a core part of being a human being, and it protects you from potential risks. That being said, some fears are irrational and make your daily life much harder than it should be. If you’re frightened by butterflies, party balloons, flags, and cotton wool, it’s going to raise some eyebrows if you mention it aloud.
In a fascinating thread on AskReddit, netizens spilled the beans about the rarest phobias they have or that someone they know struggles with. We’ve hand-selected the most bizarre ones to share with you, and you can check them out below. Some of these might sound fake, but they are completely real!
Meanwhile, be sure not to miss Bored Panda's interview with the author of the intriguing thread, u/nitin_is_me, who shared their thoughts about phobias.
#21
Anything man made in water. I can’t go to a swimming pool because of drains, ladders, those floating things that separate lanes etc. I wouldn’t go in water near a pier or bridge or a boat. Even if someone put a plastic chair in a pool I would get panicked. .
Report
14points
What phobias do you have, dear Pandas? How do they affect your daily life? How do people typically react when they learn about your fears? Have you ever successfully conquered one or more of your phobias?
This is a sensitive topic, we know, but if you find the courage and you’d like to open up about your experiences, feel free to do so in the comments at the bottom of this post.
#22
I'm scared of vomiting and diarrhea. If I'm feeling like I'm gonna have either of them it's full on panic attack. Having IBS does not help.
Report
14points
#23
Lumps. If there's a lump in food that's not supposed to be there (eg lump in custard) I have an involuntary reaction where I spew whatever's in my mouth, with ungodly force. I don't think about it, it just happens.
It's lead to very embarrassing situations. Now I do my best just to avoid those potential landmines. Funnily enough, if the food is supposed to have lumps in it, then I'm fine. So I'm fine with sago pudding - as long as the sago hasn't clumped together into a bigger congelation.
It's lead to very embarrassing situations. Now I do my best just to avoid those potential landmines. Funnily enough, if the food is supposed to have lumps in it, then I'm fine. So I'm fine with sago pudding - as long as the sago hasn't clumped together into a bigger congelation.
Report
14points
#24
Escalators. I had a traumatic experience on one and I still have a physical anxiety response when I get on a fast-moving downward escalator. I thought it would go away over time but 20 years later it hasn't subsided.
Report
13points
#25
Down escalators. I’m fine going up but I just can’t go down. I think it’s because the step is moving away from me and I’m frightened I’ll fall. It stems from when I was little my parents were watching the local news and a child was wearing wellies and they got caught in the machinery when he didn’t step off quickly enough. Strangely a good friend and I were talking about this one day and he said you aren’t going to believe this but that was me!
Report
13points
#26
I could not drive over bridges as a teenager.
My school was quite far and across the river but there was a little car ferry you could take. I took that, even though it took longer.
It was that way for a long time until, one night, was going out with friends and I was following them (pre cell phones so you just had to follow). They must have driven me over every bridge there was. I went from absolutely freaking out to more or less being ok with it. However if traffic is bad and we’re stopped on the bridge… and you can feel it “bouncing” I still shudder.
My school was quite far and across the river but there was a little car ferry you could take. I took that, even though it took longer.
It was that way for a long time until, one night, was going out with friends and I was following them (pre cell phones so you just had to follow). They must have driven me over every bridge there was. I went from absolutely freaking out to more or less being ok with it. However if traffic is bad and we’re stopped on the bridge… and you can feel it “bouncing” I still shudder.
Report
13points
#28
Cotton wool, whenever I see it I think about the feeling between my teeth, and if I try to avoid thinking about it I think about it expanding until it is.
Report
12points
#30
Cockroaches
Not on a normal level my heart rate jumps i hyperventilate and panic i wont even go inthat room even a picture scares me.
Not on a normal level my heart rate jumps i hyperventilate and panic i wont even go inthat room even a picture scares me.
12points
#32
I'm genuinely repulsed by long (usually fake) fingernails. And I'm not talking about "long" like most would define it, I mean basically anything that goes past the fingertips. To the point where if I'm paying for something with cash, and the cashier has those kind of nails, I will move and contort my hand in a way so when they give me my change the nails won't touch me. I could see a woman that literally checked every box on the list of features I'm attracted to, and if she has the nails, I'm immediately 100% disinterested. I know it's irrational, I know it's stupid, but it hits me on a primal level that I cannot explain.
Report
12points
#33
You would never catch me swimming with dolphins. Too smart, too smooth, too many teeth.
Report
11points
#34
Large human statues like the Statue of Liberty. It's a form of megalophobia. I can't even look at photos of them and not enjoying writing this.
Report
11points
#35
I don't know if it's rare, but bees/wasps/etc. My sister and I broke a hornets nest when I was a year or two old and I got covered in them. Don't have a memory of it, but my subconscious remembers. It's not as bad around bees anymore as long as they don't get too close, but wasps are still public enemy number one. Just the sound of them buzzing triggers a fight-or-flight response. I've had full-blown panic attacks when they've gotten into the house and no one else was around to k**l them for me.
And I guess it's not so much that people refuse to believe it, more than they get exasperated whenever I react to one being too close. Like, yeah, I know it's probably not going to sting me, but my brain doesn't care about facts and logics, it has identified that thing as a threat and acts according 🤷♀️
Fun fact, though: the only time I've been stung since that incident is when I stepped on a dead bee while I was walking barefoot in my kitchen in the dark.
And I guess it's not so much that people refuse to believe it, more than they get exasperated whenever I react to one being too close. Like, yeah, I know it's probably not going to sting me, but my brain doesn't care about facts and logics, it has identified that thing as a threat and acts according 🤷♀️
Fun fact, though: the only time I've been stung since that incident is when I stepped on a dead bee while I was walking barefoot in my kitchen in the dark.
Report
11points
#37
Not rare per se but I absolutely hate flying, and it surprised me how dismissive and even sometimes cruel people can be about it.
Report
11points
#38
I don’t like listening to heartbeats for example whenever they put it as sound effect in movies . Also for the other person eg my significant other to lie her head on my chest and thus me “feeling “ that she listens to my heart.
Weird thing is now that we listen to our baby’s heartbeat I can listen to it the whole day :).
Weird thing is now that we listen to our baby’s heartbeat I can listen to it the whole day :).
Report
11points
#39
I fear that at any moment, a space disaster happens without warning. Like the sun exploding out of nowhere, earth stops spinning all of sudden, earth colliding with another planet or an asteroid k*****g me or something.
10points
#40
I’m mycophobic. I will cry and scream if I have to touch a mushroom in the outdoors or clean out something with mold. Especially those pancake looking mushrooms on trees, or the weird ones that like ears, the jelly ones, ones that look like nets…. NO
The only thing I can tolerate is clean, cut mushrooms from the store. And ONLY certain kinds. I’m still not a fan of eating them though.
The only thing I can tolerate is clean, cut mushrooms from the store. And ONLY certain kinds. I’m still not a fan of eating them though.
10points
