People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

And every day, I still have to prove to the world that it is real.

There is nothing I would love more than a quick ride in the elevator without heart palpitations.

It is a real issue.

It's hard when people crap on that.

Redditor nitin_is_me wanted to hear about everyone's "invisible" fears, so they asked:

"What 'rare' phobia do you have, and people refuse to believe it?"

Hell No Flipper!!!

"You would never catch me swimming with dolphins. Too smart, too smooth, too many teeth."

- bubbarae91

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POP!!!

"Not me, but I had a friend who is afraid of inflated party balloons, which I learned about the hard way."

"One time for my birthday, my GF at the time had arranged for my housemate to let her in 2 friends and they spent a few hours blowing up balloons and filling my bedroom. The next day, my neighbor (the friend in question) asked me about the surprise my friends left in my bedroom, and told her to go check."

"She screamed and ran back home crying, which I did find odd. Wasn't until an hour later that her bf called me a c*nt for making her go into a balloon filled room. Only after I looked very confused did he ask if I knew about her phobia. I did not."

- uitSCHOT

Any stairs...

"I don't see mine yet. I have a fear of tall staircases with spaces between the steps or winding stairs where you can look over the rail and see straight down. It's not heights. It's stairs. Any stairs where you can see through them? So there's a tower in this state park we go to where you can see through the slats the whole way up, and I can't do it. Or I'll force myself to and then can't get down."

- Hedgehog_Insomniac

Bad Moves

"My brother is terrified of butterflies. He says it's something about the way they move. He found out when we went through a butterfly house at a theme park. They wouldn't let him go back out the entrance, so he was army crawling and sobbing through the whole place. It's super irrational. He's shoved his girlfriend into the street to get away from them, and he'll jerk his car out of the way."

- dumplingdoodoo

It Sucks

"I’ve had bouts of casadastraphobia, which is an irrational fear of falling into the sky, especially at night. It’s worse if I’m lying on my back. Yeah, I know it’s impossible, but it’s very similar to the fear of vertigo if you were to look down off of a tall building. It sucks."

- Killybug

"I have this. I didn't know there was a name for it. It was worse when I was a kid, and worse walking through an open area like a sports field where there were no other objects around me, especially on a clear day with no clouds in the sky. I can remember as a kid, I'd have to stop and touch the ground when I was walking through an open space. Weird feeling, like I'm about to fall upwards."

- Lace000

Bad Form

"Large human statues like the Statue of Liberty. It's a form of megalophobia. I can't even look at photos of them and not enjoying writing this.

- Roots_Manuka

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Bad Balls

"I knew this guy in high school who was absolutely jacked for the time and had some weird phobia of cotton balls. He ended up telling a friend somehow, and then he got pranked by people stuffing a bunch into his locker. When he opened it, he freaked out super bad, and it was a bit crazy to see. After he was done freaking out he got super pissed and wanted to fight his friends who did it. It was very unexpected to see."

- Lakiteflor

Disgusted

"Hair. I know it’s insane. I’m disgusted and so freaked out by hair that’s not attached to someone. I can’t touch my own hair out of the drain without some layers of paper towels. A pube or a leg hair in the bathroom from my husband makes me want to puke. Random hair in a public sink? I’ll have nightmares about it that night."

"Edit to add: what a revelation and relief to find out I’m not the only weirdo who would genuinely scream and puke if someone touched me with a random hair off a chair or something 🥹🤣."

- macaron1ncheese

It's about the BITE!!!

"Mine is arachnophobia, which isn't rare, but I believe it's much rarer than people claim. Most people claiming arachnophobia simply don't like spiders, or worry about their bite, or slightly fear them."

"I am truly phobic. There's no logic or reason. I am not scared of bites, even tho I grew up knowing multiple people who lost large amounts of tissue from brown recluses, & black widow bites are VERY common."

"The only thing I fear regarding the bits is the fact they'd be TOUCHING ME."

"And I actually try to avoid saying anything about it, b/c people think I don't like the creepy crawlers & so they WILL purposely put a daddy longlegs or harmless house spider on me as a joke."

"But I've been trapped in a room, helpless & crying, because a spider is between me and the door. I want to throw up when I see a larger one."

"And the hypervigilance means I see so many more spiders than other people. I'm constantly terrorized."

"I envy rare or even most others. You can easily avoid most fears like heights, clowns, drowning, etc. Other creature fears, like snakes, are rare. Spiders? I know exactly where the 5 are in my home right now. 🥺."

- ScribbleMuse

BUMPS

"Lumps. If there's a lump in food that's not supposed to be there (eg, lump in custard), I have an involuntary reaction where I spew whatever's in my mouth, with ungodly force. I don't think about it; it just happens.

"It's led to very embarrassing situations. Now I do my best just to avoid those potential landmines. Funnily enough, if the food is supposed to have lumps in it, then I'm fine. So I'm fine with sago pudding - as long as the sago hasn't clumped together into a bigger congelation."

- RonanH69

Waterworks

"Anything man-made in water. I can’t go to a swimming pool because of drains, ladders, those floating things that separate lanes, etc. I wouldn’t go in the water near a pier or bridge, or a boat. Even if someone put a plastic chair in a pool, I would get panicked."

- Jadeinda

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Hindsight

"I can't deal with anything eye-related. I can't use contacts or put in eye drops. I have to look away if others are doing it. Even watching my girlfriend put on make-up gets me."

"I can watch gory horror scenes, but when the second eyes are involved, I'm a total baby."

- Pissed_With_A_Boner

Jupiter

"I fear that at any moment, a space disaster could happen without warning. Like the sun exploding out of nowhere, Earth stops spinning all of a sudden, Earth colliding with another planet or an asteroid, killing me or something."

- Dunder6002

"If it makes you feel better (the asteroid part), Jupiter’s gravitational field affects us in a way that it actually averts most if not all asteroids that head our way :) Jupiter is like our protector in a way!"

- urlessies

Exposure

"Talking into phones, radios, speakers, etc. Idk what it is, it seemed to just develop around the age of 18, where I would burst into tears if a phone was ringing and nobody immediately answered it. Through constant exposure, I’ve managed to mostly get over it, I still feel uncomfortable and stressed, but I can deal with it now. I always keep my phone on silent, though."

"My Uncle has a phobia of buttons. Like, he could never wear a shirt with buttons because it just repulsed him."

- Sajiri

No Touch

"Bellybuttons. Seeing one isn't a problem, but seeing one being touched... I'm really not comfortable even writing this."

- MicroCosno

"My brother was watching The Matrix when I was pretty little, and all I remember seeing is the bug in the belly button scene. They’ve freaked me out ever since."

- annoying-sl*t

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Oh, bellybittons are weird.

They freak me out as well.

And don't get me started about eye drops.

Stay away from my eyes!

And my teeth.

I'm just going to stay at home alone.

This thread is freaking me out.