By: Ia Balbuena- Nedrow and Wyatt Thompson- Sipporen

Everyone is afraid of something. Needles, spiders, and Mr. Wolff’s math tests

are just a few common, or so to say, rational fears of the general population here at

AHS. Although most people have a few understandable fears, others live with fears that

can only be described as outlandish or even laughable. Such fears are known as irrational

fears. Irrational fears are guessed to be resultants of environmental and genetic factors, but

the extent to which these phobias are understood is still limited.

In the spirit of Halloween, Rogue News explored some of the strangest fears known to man:

Friggatriskaidekaphobia

This tongue twister describes a fear of Friday the thirteenth. Although the origin of “Friday

the thirteenth” is a bit foggy, it has long been known that both Friday and the number

thirteen are “unlucky.” The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville

North Carolina reports that 17-21 million people in the U.S alone are affected by this

phobia- some are so petrified that they refuse to leave the house. As a result, an estimated

$800 to $900 million in business is lost on this day.

Pogonophobia

Deriving for the Greek word “pogono,” meaning beard, Pogonophobia is the name given

to those with a paralyzing fear of beards. This strange phobia is most-likely caused by

crippling traumas that somehow involved a beard.

Arachibutyrophobia

This is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Though it may be

understandable if one had a traumatic experience such as choking on a glob of peanut

butter, this fear goes as far as causing someone to go (pea)nuts whenever peanut butter

touches the roof of their mouth.

Geniophobia

The fear of chins. Chins come in all shapes and sizes- small chins, large chins, square

chins, round chins, double chins, and worst of all, scary chins. People who have acquired

this phobia most likely have an obsessive personality. This means that they are fascinated

by beautiful chins and, as you may have guessed, utterly horrified of disfigured or otherwise

unattractive chins.

Throughout history, fears have done a pretty swell job of keeping us alive. Fears of

enormous animals, high up places, swords, and guns have undoubtedly saved countless

lives of people who would have otherwise plunged to their death or been eaten. The

same argument can not be made for the fear of fridays, beards, chins, or peanut butter

unfortunately. However, even though these fears are a bit more…tame than lions, tigers,

and bears, it is important to be mindful of everybody’s fears and respect them no matter

how irrational.