The human subconscious mind is a curious and complex beast and it’s the place where hidden desires and fears reside. Some fears such as the fear of falling or the fear of loud noises are inborn, while others such as the fear of failure or the fear of embarrassment are learned as young children. Some fears, are however totally irrational and troubling and these are called phobias and some of these phobias are just plain old WEIRD!
Below is the first of 10 weird phobias that will leave you in either a state of disbelief… or rolling around laughing!
#1 Ablutophobia
Ablutophobia is the fear of washing, bathing or cleaning. It is a situational specific phobia and tends to be more common in children and women than in men. It is a relatively uncommon phobia but is serious because in the most extreme can lead to a complete fear of all types of washing. The cause of the phobia can vary but usually involves some traumatic childhood incident involving water and bathing and it can surface much later in life, sometimes in to adulthood.
Left unchecked, sufferers can go weeks or months without washing, which can lead to skin infections, not to mention some serious, rather socially unacceptable body odour!
Treatment usually involves a mental health practitioner carefully taking the patient back to the original traumatic experience and then discussing why the fear is unfounded, how they can come to terms with the phobia and ways to deal with the symptoms .