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19 March 2024

Revealed: 10 weirdest phobia cases in UAE

A file picture of Elmar Weisser of Germany, after winning first place of the Full Beards Freestyle category during The Beards and Moustaches World Championship 2011 in the northern city of Trondheim. Pogonophobia is the fear of beards. (AFP)

Published
By Maryam Al Yammahi

Phobias are emotional and physical reactions to feared objects or situations. It is an abnormally fearful response to a danger that is imagined or is irrationally exaggerated.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Dr. Raymond Hamden, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist here in the UAE, explains that phobias affect people of all ages, from all walks of life, and in every part of the world.

“The symptoms that people get when they suffer from a phobia is a feeling of panic, dread, horror or terror. Those people also recognise and realise that the fear goes beyond normal boundaries and the actual threat of danger.

“They can have reactions that can range from automatic to uncontrollable and these attacks practically take over the person’s thoughts.

“Those who suffer from phopias get rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, and an overwhelming desire to flee the situation — all the physical reactions associated with extreme fear. These people also take extreme measures to avoid the feared object or situation.”

Dr. Hamden assures that not all cases require medication.

“Those who are psychotically diagnosed and suffer from some personality disorders, endogenous depression or anxiety, for example, need to take pills to overcome their conditions. Most psychological cases can be treated without psychiatric prescriptions.”

He pointed out that when phobias interfere with a person's life, treatment can help, and usually it involves a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapy called desensitisation or exposure therapy.

“In this, patients are gradually exposed to what frighten them until the fear begins to fade. Relaxation and breathing exercises also help to reduce anxiety symptoms.

“There is currently no proven drug treatment for specific phobias. However, in some cases, certain medications may be prescribed to help reduce anxiety symptoms before someone faces a phobic situation,” he said.

Dr. Hamden added that there are many common phobias like animals (spiders), activities (flying), or social situations (simply being in a public environment).

He added that there are also some uncommon phobias that one might not believe people can get. Here are 10 of them:

•     Xanthophobia: Fear of the colour yellow. Sufferers of xanthophobia may fear anything yellow, including the sun, daffodils and yellow paint.

•     Turophobia: Fear of cheese.  From cheddar to mozzarella, turophobes often have to run away if they so much as see a slice of cheese.

•     Somniphobia:  Fear of falling asleep. Comprises irrational and excessive fear of sleep. Somniphobes may fear falling asleep because they associate going to bed with dying.

•     Hylophobia: Fear of trees. Involves an irrational fear of wood, forest or trees. It is often caused by exposure to films and fairy tales which involve scary woods in childhood. Many sufferers don't grow out of the phobia and any walk in a scenic setting can trigger anxiety.

•     Omphalophobia: Fear of the navel. The fear of belly buttons. Sufferers are afraid to have their belly buttons touched, or to touch another person's belly button.

•     Nomophobia: Fear of being without mobile phone coverage. The name for the phobia of being without mobile phone coverage was coined five years ago after researchers discovered the phenomenon. According to recent surveys, more than half of people in the UK suffer from it.

•     Ombrophobia: Fear of rain. Ombrophobes have an abnormal fear of rain which can cause severe anxiety attacks.

•     Uranophobia: Fear of heaven. Sufferers of uranophobia fear the sky and the afterlife. It can be triggered in religious believers who fear the idea that they will be judged after life.

•     Pogonophobia: Fear of beards. The term pogonophobia has been used since the 1850s to describe a strong fear of beards.

•     Triskaidekaphobia: Fear of the number 13. Many people are superstitious about the number 13 but few have a fully-fledged phobia. It is closely associated with the fear of Friday the 13th. Sufferers take great care to avoid using, or doing anything related to the number.