In our everyday normal lives, there are a lot of things to be afraid of – burglars, flying, and pain, just to name a few. Good, healthy fear is a good things in many circumstances because it keeps us out of trouble and minimizes our exposure to harmful things or situations.

That being said, there are some phobias or fears that are complete irrational, unusual, and downright fascinating to the average onlooker. Here are 9 of the most bizarre phobias around, as well as a description of each.

1. Somniphobia – Fear of falling asleep

Imagine having the fear of falling asleep! While some people just can’t do without their regular eight hours a night, sufferers of this phobia may associate going to bed with dying, or losing time while asleep, or may fear lack of control.

2. Pediophobia – Fear of dolls

While most people will admit that some dolls are definitely creepy, some people are afraid of any doll no matter how normal or weird it looks. These people have pediophobia and are even afraid of mannequins and robots. Luckily there aren’t enough robots to be a problem. Who knows about the future though?

3. Chrometophobia – Fear of money

I wish everyone around me had this phobia so they’d pass all their money to me! People who have this phobia fear having excess money on them.

4. Eisoptrophobia – Fear of Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the weirdest phobia of them all? This kind of fear can be pretty problematic for the people who suffer from it. It’s a phobia of a fairly common household item – the irrational fear of mirrors. Some cultures and people regard mirrors as a doorway into another dimension and believe that spirits can be pulled into, and drawn out of, the world behind the mirror.

5. Pentheraphobia – Fear of mother-in-laws

This is the discovery Indian bahus have been waiting for. The sufferers of this phobia have extreme fear of their mother-in-laws. Better start looking for an orphan partner then!

6. Anthophobia – Fear of flowers

And I used to think flowers are pretty and a refreshing sight! But for some people with this phobia, flowers are their worst fears come alive! Sufferers of this phobia have a fear of flowers or even of their petals or stems, even though they know that flowers pose no danger to them whatsoever!

7. Pogonophobia – Fear of beards

One thing is for sure, people with this fear will have a hard time finding girlfriends! Or if girls have it, they’ll have a hard time finding a guy! People who have this fear can have full blown panic attacks seeing people with beards.

8. Hylophobia – Fear of trees

Okay, no offence, but some trees actually do look really scary at times. Anyway, people who have this phobia fear trees, wood, and forests. It may be caused by watching all those fairy tales or stories which talk about the evil guys staying in the forests. So go easy with the fables, alright?

9. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia – Fear of long words

Quite an ironic name for a phobia of long words! It’s almost cruel. Ideally, this phobia wouldn’t matter much to people who don’t have to deal with long words in their daily routine. But if you aspire to be a spelling bee champ, god save you!

10. Ablutophobia – Fear of bathing