The world is full of many activities, items, creations, and structures that can either benefit us or cause us immense fear. Some fears are rational, but others are beyond reasoning. While medicine focuses on conditions that cause physical harm to the body, there is often little to no research on psychological disorders. A phobia is an uncontrollable fear, hate, disgust, or irritation with certain objects, animals, or activities. The presence of these objects triggers individuals, causing panic attacks, nausea, hyperventilation, and sometimes death. Here are the 45 strangest phobias shared by Redditors on a popular thread, Face Your Fears r/phobiastory. Buckle up and dive inside if you dare!

Pteronophobia – Fear of feathers

Topping our very long list of phobias is this Redditor’s fear of feathers. According to their story, the poster has a massive irritation for a specific pink feather boa as she recounted a vivid memory of her dislike for the feathers. Though most phobias arise because of a traumatic experience with the said feared object, it seems to be a unique case for this Redditor as her fear did not start from trauma but plain disgust.

Pteronophobia is the medical term for this condition and is believed to be associated with a traumatic experience with feathers or birds in general. A person with this phobia is disgusted with feathers and may not like feathered dresses, hats, or pillows containing feathers. It can also result from allergies and can be triggered when pteronophobes watch movies with numerous appearances of birds and feathers.