Weird phobias anyone?

[Mewithane]

I wanted to see if I am alone in this, as my friends and family think I'm mental, but I have an awful fear of......

BUTTONS!!

Even typing it like that makes me cringe. I can't wear them, touch them, be in the room with them! DD and DS cannot have clothes with them on. If there is one on the loose I will leave the house and not return until it is dealt with.

(note: only clothes buttons that need threading are terrifying. Remote control buttons, push buttons etc are all fine.)

Is this a real thing? Has anyone else got any weird phobias they want to get off their chest?

Long fingernails. False fingernails. I have to cut mine every two or three days. They just make me so squeamish!

Ladybirds 😂🙈
It's those wings when they fly at you

Wardrobe doors.
Enough said!

I’m with you on ladybirds maid1306! One landed on me when I was young and must have got scared, it emitted a horrible smell and wouldn’t get off!!

You are not alone. I hate buttons too. They gross me out. And I hate it when people say "button" but miss out the t's.
My mum had an old tin box full of buttons. I couldn't bear to look at it.
I can just about sew on a button. But random ones lying around - yuck... shiny ones and dirty ones are the worst.

holes.
now MNHQ will have to put a trigger warning on

Koumpounophobia is the name for this! You are not alone OP. I just googled it in order to spell it correctly and it said that this is surprisingly common.

My SIL has it.

Fear of holes isn't weird - it's absurdly common.
(I have it myself, thanksnothanks for the epic )

I have a fear of skin conditions. Anything that makes skin go funny gives me the willies.

(I think based on having skin issues as a child)

I have the holes ones too. It's different from my arachnophobia though, they turn my stomach in disgust more than causing fear. Really strange!

Curcubita, I'm not sure that was enough said.
Why wardrobe doors?

Slugs
Holes
Sick

I also have the holes one. Thanks for the pic!

Terrified of balloons, corks and bridges!

I GOT the holes one from a mumsnet thread! Really, don't google trypophobia unless you want to spend the next three months gagging at the most random things. It has worn off a bit now but never back to before I clicked on that fateful thread.

I think many other posters have had this experience as well as me.

My first partner had a phobia about buttons.

He was born in 1959 and vividly recalled sitting in a high chair being fed runny boiled egg and it dripped on the buttons of his romper suit. That’s how the phobia developed and he avoided wearing shirts as best he could.

As an adult he became a mechanic/engineer for Mercedes and one day an unmarked white van cane in and he opened the rear doors to ‘hell’ as the van belonged to the ‘Button Man’ who went round all of the local markets! The inside of the van was festooned with buttons.

Celery. The look of it, the smell, the sound it makes when people crunch it and those horrible stringy bits 🤮🤮🤮 Even when I see pieces of it cooked in a casserole or soup I want to simultaneously cry and vomit. I can't even look at a photo of a dish that contains celery without shuddering and feeling nauseous.

I'm scared of a particular kind of cake. I can't look at pictures of it, can't walk down that aisle of a supermarket. I know two people that are terrified of peas.

Sparklers.
Can’t go near them. Once I ordered a cocktail and it came with a lit sparkler. I genuinely nearly died. Hideous

Worms, slugs, snails, maggots, grubs etc. I now need to go vomit 🤢

I have tried to get help with my arachnophobia but all failed.

One attempt was being part of a small group with other people who had phobias. Four of them were terrified of birds, but there were two who had unusual phobias.

One was a lovely lady, she was German and a teacher. She could not eat or drink in front of anyone.

In the staff room at work she could not pick up a cup or mug and drink from it if other staff/people were in the room. She could never go out for a meal etc. She found it very debilitating.

The second was a young man who had a fear of lamp posts. Nothing has happened to warrant his fear but he was unable to walk past one on a pavement and he drove everywhere as he felt safer in his car when he went past lamp posts. He could not explain what it was about them only that he was terrified of them. It made him very anxious and he was very embarrassed about it.

Walking on mud and/or grass barefoot. I’m fine on a sandy beach, but mud and grass (especially wet mud between my toes) makes me feel sick. In Summer I very rarely wear sandals if I think I may have to walk across grass as I even hate stray blades of grass tickling my feet. Don’t ask me where it comes from as I’ve no idea!

So pleased it's not just me! It's not even just disgust, it's real fear, and completely unexplainable.

I can deal with all sorts of bugs and insects, I am the resident spider catcher. Have no fear of heights and will go on ALL the fast rides at the theme parks but cannot deal with one tiny single thingwhichmustnotbenamed.

Man made water courses!! I love lakes and the sea but if I have to drive/walk over a ditch or drain I can't bear to look it gives me the shivers

Long/dirty/bitten/false nails.