Research has revealed the UK’s most bizarre fears, with buttons, balloons, and even the colour yellow making the list. A poll of 2,000 adults found an eclectic mix of phobias.
From trypophobia, the fear of small holes, to nlaiguphobia, the fear of tin openers, the range of fears was far more varied and life altering than you might expect. In fact over a third of people, 36%, said their fears hindered their ability to socialise.
Topping the list of fears were the most common phobias including heights, spiders, snakes, and enclosed spaces - as well as dentists, ghosts and the dark. Another increasingly prevalent fear was nomophobia – the fear of being without your mobile phone.
Arachibutyrophobia – the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth - also made the list. With 77% of adults suffering from some sort of fear, and 15% believing their feat is unusual, it’s no wonder there were some obscure phobias revealed.
Other bizarre phobias include the fear of belly buttons, called omphalophobia, the fear of trees,dendrophobia, and fearing the colour red, erythrophobia. Do you relate to any of these aversions?
A spokesperson for Beavertown, the craft beer maker which commissioned the research, said: “It’s no secret that fears like spiders and heights are common. But knowing that things like peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth and being without your phone top the UK’s list of fears really is revealing as to what we now find scary. And what better time to find out than Halloween?”
The study also identified some of the challenges of living with a specific fear. Over a third, 35%, of those surveyed worried their phobia makes them appear too weak to others.
This may explain why 24% of those with a phobia said they have attempted to keep it secret from loved ones. Of those surveyed 23% had sought professional help to overcome a fear.
Carried out through OnePoll, the study also found that 30% of adults consider the Halloween period to be the scariest time of the year. Here is a list of some of the most common phobias and fears the survey uncovered.
The 30 most common fears in the UK
1. Heights
2. Spiders
3. Snakes
4. Enclosed spaces
5. Dentists
6. Ghosts
7. The Dark
8. Needles
9. Clowns
10. Flying
11. Blood
12. The devil
13. Water
14. Being home alone
15. Old houses
16. Birds
17. Small holes
18. Halloween
19. Being without your mobile phone
20. Aliens
21. Balloons
22. Large / open spaces
23. Tin opener
24. Belly buttons
25. Numbers
26. The colour yellow
27. Buttons
28. Peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth
29. Trees
30. The colour red
