The world can be a huge and scary place, especially nowadays where it seems like hate is spewed by groups on a daily basis. So it is no surprise when many people experience fears in their everyday lives. Fear is very interesting in the way it affects our bodies and the chemicals induced from it causes us to go into a fight-or-flight mode if we encounter someone or something that poses some sort of threat to our lives. Under extreme circumstances, our body produces a great amount of adrenaline and releases energy that has since been preserved. Consequently, our body is capable of doing great things—like lifting a car off of someone—and we become Superman, in a sense. Our will to live eradicates many impossibilities as we gain superhuman strength in order to save our lives and the lives of others. This was seen in the incident with Tom Boyle Jr., who saved the life of a bicyclist pinned to a Camaro by lifting the 3,000-pound vehicle off of him. Fears can be rational, especially ones that are related to life or death; however, there can be irrational fears, known as phobias.

Phobias are classified as an anxiety disorder and those who suffer from it can go to great lengths to avoid the object or situation that they are in fear of. It has been found that about 8.7% of people in the United States suffer from a type of phobia. Phobias are often developed at a young age and can develop due to experiencing trauma related to their phobia. Phobias can be divided into three classifications: specific phobias (irrational fears of specific objects or situations), social phobias (fear and anxiety stemmed from being in certain social situations that can impair certain functions of the body), and agoraphobia (fear of the surrounding environment and believing it to be unsafe). Some of the most common specific phobias are fear of public speaking, fear of heights, and fear of certain animals—like spiders or snakes. Ultimately, those who are constantly exposed to their phobia, can endure panic attacks and other anxiety-related symptoms. Psychologists state that the best way to overcome a phobia is to face it head on with exposure therapy. It is hard for people to cope with phobias and lead a productive life depending on the phobia and the severity of it.

Here are 12 unusual phobias that people can face in their day-to-day lives.

1. Coulrophobia

Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns and can make its first appearance in childhood. Even though the goal of clowns is to make children laugh, their overly exaggerated facial features can cause more of a fearful response than a pleasurable one. Clowns have become main characters in literature and movies within the horror genre, with the most notable being Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's "It". The fear of clowns is so popular, that people have been dressing up as killer clowns (similar to Pennywise) to give people a good scare in the Creepy Clowns hoax that is sweeping the nation.

2. Nomophobia

Nomophobia is the fear of being without a mobile phone. People who have a constant need to be on their phone 24/7 tend to do so based on other factors, like those with a low self-esteem or those who have an extroverted personality and feel the need to be connected to their peers constantly. Nowadays, it does seem like people have some kind of addiction to their phones as I know I can't go 10 minutes in public without seeing someone glued to their phone screens.

3. Euphobia

Euphobia is the fear of hearing good news. Contrary to most people (who prefer to hear good news as opposed to bad news), people who suffer from euphobia tend to hate hearing good news and would like to flourish in their misfortune. People usually develop this phobia from a past experience of hearing good news that turned out to be false. An example would be a woman who found that she had received a life-changing job opportunity, but then later was told that the job was given to her by mistake. Others with this phobia prefer to live in a chaotic world and find comfort in it since they see goods news as an equivalence to a lack of control, surprisingly.

4. Geliophobia

Geliophobia is the fear of laughter. Those who suffer from this phobia most likely had a traumatic event—related to laughter—happen to them in the past. For example, someone may have endlessly been teased and laughed at as a kid or another person may have experienced a situation where they inappropriately laughed at some event that caused great embarrassment. Thus, those with geliophobia can find themselves to experience anxiety-like symptoms when in the presence of people who laugh.

5. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of long words. The phobia name is indeed a long one, which must bring great distress to those who need to describe their phobia to others. Those who suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia suffer from extreme anxiety when they are faced with long words. The phobia is not hereditary but is often gained through some type of childhood traumatic event. In fact, those who have this phobia cannot recall the cause of it or its inception. However, in order to overcome this phobia, those with the disorder have to recall the factors which lead up to them having a fear of long words. Here is a quirky little song about the phobia created by Bryant Oden.

6. Hypengyophobia

Those who suffer from hypengyophobia have a fear of responsibilities. People with this phobia tend to never uphold their responsibilities irregardless of it having a negative effect on others. Sometimes those with hypengyophobia, when blamed for something, will push the blame and responsibility onto someone else and will not take full responsibility for their actions. Hypegiaphobia is developed early on in life after experiencing a traumatic event related to responsibility. Perhaps a person took on a responsibility and failed, causing them to be fearful of taking on any new type of responsibility ever again. Although it seems most young adults suffer from this phobia, as well....

7. Phobophobia

Phobophobia is the fear of phobias or the sensations felt when phobias or anxiety are present. Those who have this phobia have a fear of letting themselves be subjected to fear. Those who already have many anxiety disorders or other phobias are more prone to developing phonophobia. Like other phobias, those who have phobophobia tend to suffer from anxiety-like symptoms, which is what they fear, to begin with. Thus, this phobia is cyclical and self-replicating.

8. Politicophobia

Politicophobia is a fear of anything that has to do with politics—anywhere from fear of politicians to fear of voting. Those with social anxiety or agoraphobia may find the voting experience to be daunting as they have to wait in long lines in order to cast their votes. Others who suffer from hypengyophobia, or fear of responsibility, mentioned above may have a fear of being responsible for casting the wrong vote. Nonetheless, voting is very important in shaping the future of any country and it is our duty as citizens to vote for the leaders that will represent us. Voting has never been as important as it is now so I urge anyone reading this to go out and vote this coming Tuesday.

These are some of the many phobias people struggle with in this world. They may seem irrational at times but they are still fears that negatively impact those who have them. Phobias affect about 19 million people in the United States and many more worldwide. If you want to read and discover more about phobias, go here and here.