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Unique Phobias

You have probably heard of people who have an unreasonable fear of snakes (ophidiophobia) or of airplanes (pteromerhanophobia). These are very common phobias. But some phobias might seem strange to you, such as:

• botanophobia: fear of plants • cacophobia: fear of ugliness • leukophobia: fear of the color white • papyrophobia: fear of paper • podophobia: fear of feet • selenophobia: fear of the moon • wiccaphobia: fear of witches

The full moon—beautiful or scary? Depends on whether or not you have selenophobia.

These phobias might seem strange. But remember, even a phobia that seems weird to you is still terrifying for the person who has it.

fears small spaces, and he or she may have a panic attack if forced to use an elevator. Feeling anxious about a certain situation does not necessarily mean you have a phobia. It is common for young kids to get anxious during thunderstorms, but that does not mean they have astraphobia (fear of thunder). And nobody likes getting a shot at the doctor’s office, but that does not mean we all have trypanophobia (fear of needles). When someone has a phobia, the feelings are much stronger than what most people experience, and those feelings can interfere with everyday life.