The definition of a phobia is a great irrational fear to something. It is different from a fear because a fear is something controlled by your emotions and is rational. Phobias are particular, specific fears . There are many uncommon phobias that you may or may not have heard of, that are presented here.

Siderophobia

This is a phobia of stars. A person who has siderophobia has a strong dislike or fear of stars. The word “sidereal” comes from the Latin word “sidus”. This means celestial body. The starry night is hard to avoid but it is not only stars but elements related to the the night or dark and open spaces. 

Plutophobia 

Plutophobia is the fear of money or wealth. The name comes from the Roman god Pluto, who was the god of wealth and fortune. People with this phobia are afraid of becoming rich or scared of rich people. Generally, they just worry about have to deal with money or anything financial. 

Xanthophobia

If you have Xanthophobia it means you are afraid of the color yellow or even the word yellow. For people with this phobia, it is almost impossible to be around this color. Life would be very hard for them as everywhere they go they will see this color and could be affected by this because of past events. The person could have had an accident with a yellow vehicle or could have stung by a bee. Just seeing this color could take them right back to that experience, which causes people to have a fear of this color. 

Octophobia 

This is a fear of the number eight. As you may know, “oct,” means eight and phobia means fear. This fear is not very common in America because the number 8 isn’t an unlucky number. If you are afraid of all numbers you have Arithmophobia, but Octophobia is specific to the number 8. 

Paraskevidekatriaphobia or Friggatriskaidekaphobia 

This is the fear of Friday the 13th. As you may know Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck in western cultures. In any month, if the 13th lands on a Friday it is considered an unlucky day, and strange or terrible things may happen day. It makes  sense why people are afraid of this day. About 12 million people suffer from this phobia. 

Phobias affect millions of people everyday. Though it may be irrational, serious phobias give people anxiety and cause depression. People with phobias have to constantly try to avoid these things.