Most people suffer from one sort of phobia or another. It’s not uncommon. In fact, a person without a phobia is probably in the minority. For example, a lot of people have a fear of heights. They have acrophobia. Children often need a nightlight, because they have a very real fear of the bogeyman. Although most kids will grown out of it, by the time they are adolescents, bogyphobia can be debilitating, and make it almost impossible to go to sleep every night. But, there are some phobias that are simply weird! For example:
The Fear of Colors
If you are a fan of the television series Numb3rs, then you know that one of the professors prefers to only eat white food. He doesn’t really explain this preference. He is not afraid of other colors. Maybe, he just thinks that white foods are healthier because of the absence of food coloring. Who knows?
But, there are people in real life that have a fear of certain colors or fear of colors in general. Chromatophobia is fear of colors. But, there are phobic names specific to certain colors. If you had a fear of the color blue, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make sure that there was nothing blue in your house. But, how could you go outside or to the grocery store?
Unhealthy Fears
In general, all unrealistic fears are unhealthy. But, there are some fears that can lead to poor health, and make it very difficult to coexist with family members. For instance, some people have a very real fear of taking a bath. Imagine how difficult it would be to live with someone who suffers from ablutophobia. Disregarding the odoriferous emanations, it would eventually cause a variety of serious health concerns.
Geumaphobia is the fear of taste. Think of your favorite food. Now try to imagine not wanting to taste it. It seems like it would be impossible to eat anything, even if you plugged your nose. If therapy couldn’t relieve this fear, I suppose an ear; nose and throat surgeon could disable the olfactory nerve, so everything has no real taste.
Even if a phobic could make it through a terrifying shower, or manage to choke down some food, without tasting it, what happens if he/she is truly hypnophobic? No matter how tired, just the idea of going to sleep is a nightmare.
However, for people with aerophobia, it would be almost impossible to breathe. They have a fear of swallowing air.