35 Weirdest Phobias You Didn’t Know About

Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud had a morbid fear of ferns a.k.a. “Pteridophobia.”

27. There is an uncommon phobia to balloons called ‘globophobia.’ Those who suffer from it tend to avoid parties and weddings.

28. Aquaphobia and Hydrophobia are two different things. Aquaphobia is an abnormal fear of water and Hydrophobia is actually a historical term for rabies that was used because victims would panic when presented water to drink.

29. Ophidiophobia or fear of snakes is the most common phobia, as one-third of adult humans have it.

30. Arachnophobia or fear of spiders may be an exaggerated form of an instinctive response that helped early humans to survive.

Nearly 6.6% of Americans suffer from paruresis, a phobia of urinating in the presence of others, such as in a public restroom.

32. David Bowie had a fear of flying a.ka. aerophobia. After a rocky flight to Cyprus in the early 70s, he preferred to do most of his traveling around the world by train or ship.

33. Thalassophobia is an intense and persistent fear of the sea and can include fear of being in deep bodies of water, fear of the vast emptiness of the sea, and fear of distance from land.

34. Basketball Player Tim Duncan was almost an Olympic level swimmer but had to quit due to Hurricane Hugo destroying his practice pool forcing him to practice in the Ocean. He quit soon after due to his fear of sharks a.k.a. galeophobia.

35. Fear of food touching another food is called brumotactillophobia.