Humans have lived for ages and faced many challenges. When people meet their fears, they often experience shaking and sweating, rapid breathing, and more. And while there are many true things to be afraid of, it is surprising that people still experience ridiculous fears. Well, folks, I’m going to be talking about fears that humans have.
Have you ever been frightened because you thought of ducks watching you? Then you have anatidaephobia!
Next up, we have Xanthophobia, the fear of the color yellow. This fear is so concerning because out of all the colors in the book, yellow is literally the happiest and brightest color. Xanthophobia is caused by family experience, genetics, and developmental factors. According to DrJoseph, the sun is certainly a possibility for Xanthophobia, especially if you have a history of trauma that involves the sun, like trauma from sun exposure.
Moving on to the next fear we have is globophobia. At first, I thought it was a fear of globes, but this fear is actually about balloons, honestly. I feel bad for people who fear balloons because what’s a birthday without balloons? The symptoms of having globophobia are intense anxiety, panic attacks, and avoidance behavior. However, approximately 7.5% of the population experiences a specific phobia, equating to nearly 5 million people. Globophobia includes all types of balloons: helium balloons, water balloons, hot air balloons, and deflated balloons.
This fear I’m going to talk about is relatable, and it’s called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – maybe you guessed it – the fear of long words. These are literally the words the teachers give us in a spelling bee contest. And yeah, and I didn’t read that word, and I bet you you didn’t read Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia either. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is considered a social phobia, and fifteen million Americans live with a social phobia. These symptoms include dry mouth, avoiding reading, and fainting.
We also have Arachibutyrophobia, and this is the fear of having peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth, like seriously. Having peanut butter stuck to the top of your mouth might seem like an unusual thing to be frightened about, but the prevalence of peanut allergies and how serious they can be make it clear why this phobia exists. Please, if you know anyone who has this so-called fear, just tell them to stop eating peanut butter. We have people going to war, and the last thing we need to hear is that you’re frightened of peanut butter getting stuck to the rooftop of your mouth.
The last fear we have is Plutophobia, and you will never believe it when I say that Plutophobia is the fear of money!? Like, come on now, how are you afraid of becoming wealthy unless you think someone is going to rob you?
