We all know that person who is brave enough to take on an army of crusaders yet would have a shaky knee in front of a tiny spider. I too am very afraid of flying cockroaches but not of those that don't fly; no way!

Once I was on a rickshaw. And I think the puller had a phobia of traffic jams!  The instant he sensed even a faintest bit of possibility of a tiny bit of a jam ahead, he would either take a left or right or a straight u-turn to some of those rocky and stinky 'chipa galis (side roads)'.

It ended up taking more than an hour to reach the destination, which normally takes 30 minutes or so even with the jams.

I don't know and did not dare to ask how he manages to continue his life as a rickshaw puller with the phobia of traffic jam in Dhaka city.

Phobia is a form of anxiety disorder. The sufferer experiences intense fear for a specific thing or situation despite knowing that the object of fear seldom poses any real threat or danger. As author Stephen Richards rightly puts it, “fear can make a moth seem the size of a bull elephant.”

Phobias mostly develop due to some traumatic or painful childhood experiences.  And they can become as strong as to create panic attacks when in contact with the object or situation of fear.

There are phobics of literally everything and anything imaginable. 

Most of us are aware of the common phobias like Acrophobia - the fear of heights; Aquaphobia - the fear of water; Agoraphobia - the fear of public places; Claustrophobia - fear of confined places and so on.

But there are some very strange phobias that you may not be aware of. Take a look!

1. Anthrophobia or Anthophobia:

Fear of flowers.

2. Anuptaphobia: Fear of staying single.

In most cases single humans want to be in a relationship and are worried about staying single forever. But this worry for some becomes so extreme that it reaches the stage of becoming a phobia.

3. Caligynephobia: Fear of beautiful women.

I believe every woman on this earth is a form of beauty. If you couple this phobia with the one above, only one option will be left for us men!

4. Coitophobia: Fear of coitus.

Yes, you may find it hard to believe but this phobia exists. Some people are really afraid of having sexual intercourse. Damn!

5. Coprastasophobia: Fear of constipation.

Naturally, anybody would be afraid of having constipation. But it can even become a full fledged phobia when one is persistently anxious about having trouble to poop.

6. Eleutherophobia: Fear of freedom.

C'mon really!

7. Gamophobia: Fear of marriage.

Now, imagine your boyfriend or girlfriend having it! Unfortunately, I know how it feels.

8. Geliophobia: Fear of laughter.

Ha ha ha ha!

9. Pentheraphobia:

Fear of mother-in-law. You can't blame the phobic in this case. Nope.

10. Theophobia: Fear of gods or religions.

Interesting!

11. Omphalophobia: Fear of navels.

In this case the phobic just can't look or touch his/her belly button. They are constantly in fear of it. But why?

12. Papaphobia: Fear of the pope.

Yes, it is true! Some people are really afraid of the Pope. Presumably,  they avoid Vatican City from travel list.

13. Somniphobia: Fear of falling asleep.

I don't know how this works out but it exists.

The phobics are most likely to face sleep difficulties like insomniacs.

14. Chrometophobia: Fear of money.

There are some instances where beggers suffering from it prefered starvation instead of asking for money to eat.

15. Phobophobia: Fear of having a phobia.

Ironically in case of phobophobia the sufferers encounter fear from the possibility of developing a phobia. So, practically it is a phobia of phobias.

16. Philophobia: Fear of love.

It is opposite of Anuptaphobia, the fear of staying single. And in this case one simply can't stand love. 

17. Ithyphallophobia: It is the fear of seeing, having or even thinking about an erect penis.

I don't know how men with it manage to live their lives and I feel sorry for them whose counterparts have it.

18. Panophobia: It is a dread of everything.

Phobics tend to be constantly in a general state of anxiety and fear.

19. Alektorophobia: The fear of chickens.

Some people are really chickens about chickens. I also just came to know of this right now, just like you.

20. Nomophobia: Fear of being without mobile phone coverage.

Phobics may even faint if their coverage goes blank. I admit that I occasionally suffer from this but not as intensely as a phobic.

21. Amychophobia: Fear of scratches or being scratched.

It is comparatively common. You may also have encountered it when a screeching noise gives a very unpleasant feeling within you.

22. Selenophobia:

To tell you the truth, some people are really afraid of the Moon. And this phobia is called Selenophobia. 

However, I could not find any mention of traffic jam phobia despite looking. It seems the people responsible for discovering phobias don’t have those in their countries.

Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any of the phobias mentioned above or if you know the official term for the phobia of traffic jams.