Ten weirdest phobias people can have. Do you have one?

Many of us feel uncomfortable around certain objects, situations or animals. We may not like spiders or elevators, but we can tolerate them. We might loathe public speaking, but we can do it when we have to.

However, for some of us, a certain thing or situation causes so much fear that we go to great lengths to avoid it and suffer the consequences. In this case, we may have a specific phobia. Experts say it is healthy to face our fears, but we need to be careful about this. We wouldn’t want to have a heart attack while eating vegetables.

Ergophobia

Ergophobia is the fear of work or the workplace. No one particularly likes to work, but some people actually fear it. Psychologists believe it is a combination of fears such as failing at tasks, social anxiety and public speaking.

Somniphobia

Also known as hypnophobia, it is the pathological fear of falling asleep. It can often be the result of people feeling that they are losing control in their sleep, and nightmares are also known to cause this.

Trichophobia

Some people may be terrified of hair on their own body. People with this phobia are often afraid of other people’s hair and sometimes even animal hair. They may avoid people with thick, curly locks or simply fear thin hair. Some may believe that hair is dirty and that contact with it could make them ill. Others develop this phobia after struggling with scalp problems or hair loss.

Ecophobia

It is the fear of houses, of being in a house, of the surroundings of a house, and of certain items in a house – be it the toaster, the oven, the refrigerator, or the dishwasher.

Panphobia

This generalized fear describes the condition of being afraid of everything and is often described as a constant fear of a “vague and persistent unknown evil”.

Ablutophobia

Ablutophobia is the persistent, abnormal and unjustified fear of bathing, washing or cleaning.

Spectrophobia

It is the fear of mirrors. This fear may stem from superstitious ideas about mirrors, self-image problems, or scenes from horror movies.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

This is the fear of long words. Whoever coined this term had a “fun” sense of humor. Also known as sesquipedalophobia, this fear can be better explained as social phobia, as it often involves the fear of embarrassing yourself when you say long words.

Lachanophobia

It is the fear of vegetables. No, that doesn’t describe your five-year-old refusing broccoli on your plate until you give him dessert. People with this phobia can endure extreme anxiety when they see or even think about vegetables. A lachanophobic person may have had to eat vegetables as a child, even if they didn’t like the taste (e.g. spinach) and may even have been punished for not eating their vegetables. So, however, don’t force your child to eat vegetables if they don’t want to, they may develop this phobia later as an adult.

Homophobia

Fear of being without a phone. Lately, we’re becoming more and more connected with our phones, to the point of addiction. This is a phobia that most of us can empathize with, though we probably don’t feel intense and persistent anxiety about the mere idea of being without a phone, a dead battery, or no cell service.