Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

Phobia: a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.

Now we all have our fears but the names that doctors have given phobias are amazing! Where do they get these names, I’m thinking they’re a mix of Latin and doctor speak so that’s interesting. Here’s a list of my top 10 favorite phobias and maybe your phobia will make the list!

1. Aurophobia- Fear of gold: What? How can anyone be afraid of gold? Find me at least two people who have this fear and I’m sure a trip to Tiffany’s could cure it!

2. Bacteriophobia- Fear of bacteria: Totally understandably, this is why so much of the population carries around hand sanitizer all the time and we all know it only kills 99.9% of germs!

3. Zoophobia- Fear of animals: Ha ha! Fear of animals, what like dogs and cats? That I’ll never really understand but fear of lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

4. Verbophobia- Fear of words: CAUTION: please do not continue reading if this happens to be one of your fears

5. Urophobia- Fear of urine or urinating: What do these people do when they have to go to the restroom? Honestly now…. Tell me this one is a joke!

6. Triskaidekaphobia- Fear of the number 13: This is a favorite purely for the name, try saying this five times fast! Bet you have a little trouble with that!

7. Nosocomephobia- Fear of hospitals: Because I totally have this fear and it sucks! It’s just that hospitals are so final, it’s just very “once you check in you may never check out!!!” Makes me nervous!

8. Hobophobia- Fear of bums or beggars: Because living in Austin will either enhance or cure this phobia

9. Osmophobia or Osphresiophobia- Fear of smells or odors: I actually knew a girl that had this phobia. She was afraid of the smell of oranges! So just for kicks I would bring one in my lunch to school everyday to watch her freak out! Needless to say she stopped sitting at our lunch table, which was the plan from day one!

10. Batophobia- Fear of heights or being close to high buildings: Because this is the biggest fear of my life! I hate heights! We should all be on the ground where we belong! Not up in the air dangling out of machines! It’s not natural! I even hate second and third story buildings. They just make me uncomfortable in the extreme!