# Odd and Irrational Phobias **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2004, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448 "2004-06-15T10:51:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Emony\_Dax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Emony\_Dax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emony_Dax)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/61 "2004-06-17T02:20:18Z")
Balloons. I think it has to do with the possibility of a surprise POP!, which scares the shit out of me. Also, others that have been mentioned here (glad to know I’m not alone!): fear of vomiting, fear of water that’s too murky to see bottom. Seven years of therapy and I can’t touch a freakin’ balloon :smack: … ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/62 "2004-06-17T02:46:28Z")
Loud sounds scare me. I can’t stand them even when I know they’re coming, like at a fireworks show or someone firing a gun. I’ve never fired a gun myself or had any desire to shoot one. I think it has something to do with my older brother who really loves fireworks. I think he probably scared the hell out of me when I was really little. Oddly enough, loud cars, such as at a race track don’t bother me at all. I actually like them, even though they’re sometimes as loud as a shot. But if a car backfires, I’ll jump ten feet up in the air. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/63 "2004-06-17T03:01:57Z")
I’m afraid of getting shocked. I’ll ask other people to plug things in, and I have nightmares about electric fences. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/64 "2004-06-17T03:43:36Z")
I have a fear of things that pretend to be alive, but aren’t. Talking toys, for example, scared the crap out of me when I was a child, and I still find them vaguely disturbing. I’m usually okay with puppets, because I know that there’s a human being making it work, but when it’s moving or talking by itself, it just feels _wrong._ For similar reasons, I have trouble dealing with the notion of talking computers, or talking _to_ computers. Even chatbots or Eliza simulations give me the creeps. It’s a COMPUTER. It’s made of wires and silicon and plastic. You USE a computer, you don’t CONVERSE with it. I’m not sure what pop-culture name to give this fear. Chuckiephobia? HALophobia? I’m-sorry-Dave-I’m-afraid-I-can’t-do-thatophobia? ---
**Author:** ![fizzestothetop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e79b87/32.png) [@fizzestothetop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizzestothetop)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/65 "2004-06-17T04:47:41Z")
> [@counsel wolf](#): > > Phoning people I’ve never spoken to before. It’s fine if they phone me but I cannot bring myself to phone someone else unless I’ve spoken with them previously. Yes, this does interfere with my working life but luckily only rarely. Ohh! I have the exact same problem! I’m horrible with making appointments and calling clients. I just hate phoning people in general. I can handle people I know but I still don’t like it much. I have no problems talk on the phone if someone calls me however. I’m glad I’m not the only one with this fear! ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/66 "2004-06-17T04:50:11Z")
I’m another one with a phobia with snails. Hate them. And slugs by proxy. I have a feeling it’s stemming from a childhood memory of someone running them over and me looking at the twitching mess. Perfectly rationalised, but they still give me the freaks. To put it bluntly, I don’t even tell me friends about it - in case they use it as a practical joke. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/67 "2004-06-17T06:46:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > **Aesiron** - Hives and _hives_ eh? Interesting. I never thought of it that way but yeah, I suppose so. That _is_ interesting. > [@clairobscur](#): > > It’s not a phobia since I can bear it, but I too have an irrationnal and deep dislike of hives, and more generally of hive-like structures or anything which is full of holes (an example would be a clay hemispheric item intended to display flowers at a friend’s home). That freaks me out too. I once made myself sick to my stomach by grabbing a large bag of straws, compacting them until they were in a roughly circular shape, and then staring at their ends. It reminded me so much of a hornet’s nest that I dropped them immediately and made a mad dash to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Daftbugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Daftbugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daftbugger)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/68 "2004-06-17T12:03:23Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I hate movies. But not just any movie: specifically any movie that involves 1) seriously explored terror or 2) humiliation. > > 1. Sitting through “Sixth Sense” gave me a panic attack, but I can watch, say, action or horror movies as long as they’re campy. Actually, I have rather a taste for bad action movies (I liked “The Art of War” and “Kiss of the Dragon”(?).) For some reason, this doesn’t apply to anime either. > > 2. Humiliation, though, I can’t stand under any circumstances – when they’ve been building it up for the last five minutes as movies are frequently wont to do. I have to leave the room; I can’t bring myself to watch it unfold. > > I never know when these things are gonna come out of nowhere, so I scarcely ever watch movies. I get this too, less of a phobia though, more something I don’t like. I flick channels until the cringe worthy bit is over. I also don’t like large insects, where you can see all the markings, or just close up photo’s. Errrghh. They just look so alien and mindless somehow. I didn’t have a bath or shower once for 3 days until someone removed the large spider from the bath. Luckily I now have a boyfriend who doesn’t mind them and removes them for me. I just take my glasses off until he does! ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/69 "2004-06-17T12:12:49Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > I’m not sure what pop-culture name to give this fear. Chuckiephobia? HALophobia? I’m-sorry-Dave-I’m-afraid-I-can’t-do-thatophobia? I’ve consulted with my jury of brain cells (more than 12 in number, I assure you all), and we’ve decided to go with Pinocchiophobia. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/70 "2004-06-17T15:05:42Z")
> [@Emony Dax](#): > > Balloons. I think it has to do with the possibility of a surprise POP!, which scares the shit out of me. I _hate_ sudden loud noises like that. I stopped going to the county fair because of all the POP! POP! POP! The high-pitched _whoosh_ of certain helium tanks (such as the ones at the county fair) get on my nerves, too, as does the _squeek_ from a balloon being rubbed. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/71 "2004-06-17T19:47:25Z")
Some of my worst fears, like Anemophobia(which is what **vivalostwages** has too), I know exactly why I developed the phobias. It’s the milder fears I can’t explain… I’m afraid of horses, but not as much as I used to be- although one did a pretty good job making me nervous in October…fyi, if you’ve just come from the fair, and had eaten fried dough, horses can smell the powdered sugar you didn’t even notice spilled. Even dumber, I sometimes fear that the bathtub will fall through the floor while I’m taking a shower, and not only will I be hurt or dead, I’ll also be _naked_. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/72 "2004-06-17T21:08:58Z")
A couple that no one has mentioned yet… I absolutely hate having the inside of my elbow (you know, where they take a blood sample from) touched. It feels somehow very wrong and vulnerable to have that area touched. Not quite a phobia, and I’m getting better after having many blood tests recently (I still couldn’t donate blood, though) Also, I can’t look at the moon for very long. It gives me a very strange, almost terrified feeling, like I might fall off the earth. Very difficult to explain. This is quite strong, I would call this one a phobia. When I go out after dark, I look up very quickly to find where the moon is in the sky so I can keep my gaze away from that part of the sky. Oh boy, I need therapy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/73 "2004-06-17T21:20:55Z")
I’m also intensely afraid of fire. I suppose that’s not so strange, but I can’t bring myself to use something as simple as a lighter or matches. I do use one of those long lighters that people use to light fireplaces, but only because the flame is away from me. Basic lighters and matches still scare me. I can’t stand those little fireworks and even sparklers make me nervous during Fourth of July. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/74 "2004-06-17T21:25:39Z")
> [@Ultraviolet](#): > > Also, I can’t look at the moon for very long. It gives me a very strange, almost terrified feeling, like I might fall off the earth. Very difficult to explain. This is quite strong, I would call this one a phobia. When I go out after dark, I look up very quickly to find where the moon is in the sky so I can keep my gaze away from that part of the sky. You wouldn’t happen to have an aversion to silver as well, would you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/75 "2004-06-17T21:39:51Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > You wouldn’t happen to have an aversion to silver as well, would you? 😉 \ Well, although I am naturally hairy 😃 I have never sprouted fangs or claws. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448/76 "2004-06-17T21:54:59Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > Does anyone else have the intense adversity to eye contact that I experience? I can’t look straight into anyone’s eyes for more than a few seconds, period. Me too. So bad in fact, I can only manage a quick glance. I can’t have eye contact with anyone that has really green or light blue eyes. They just weird me too much. I get away with by starting at their nose or the forehead. I also won’t park next to a rusty car. I’m afraid the rust will hop of their car and infest mine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-and-irrational-phobias/250448.md?page=3)