Rare Phobias

The following phobias are rare, but they would add complication to the life of one or more of your characters.

Allodoxaphobia is the fear of opinions. I’m sure that at one time or another, each one of us has experienced this phobia to some extent. Maybe you’ve been afraid to know what a specific person thought about something you wrote or something you did.

You have a character who has a serious case of Allodoxaphobia. He isn’t just afraid of the opinion of a certain individual, he is afraid of hearing everyone’s opinion on anything concerning his life. This started when he was a child and has continually worsened over the years. What event sent it spiraling to get worse?

Aphenphosmphobia is the fear of being touched. Seems as though a lot of small children think they suffer from this one. “Mom, Bobby touched me!” or “Mom, Jenny touched me!” Kids, for some reason, don’t want to be touched by their brothers or sisters. There are adults, though, who really have a fear of being touched. This fear could stem from a traumatic event where they were touched against their will, so it would probably be pretty common among victims of sexual crimes.

Your character has Aphenphosmphobia, but she wasn’t the victim of a sexual crime. She hasn’t been involved in any type of traumatic situation that would be a probable cause for her to fear being touched. What event has caused her to have this phobia?

Caligynephobia is the fear of beautiful women. Yes, there are those who fear beautiful women. Why? Maybe they have a fear of being rejected by one who they consider to be beautiful. Maybe a beautiful woman physically hurt this individual in some way. Remember, a woman who is drop dead gorgeous to one individual may just appear alright to another individual. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Your character, an artist, has Caligynephobia. It hasn’t caused him too much trouble, for what he considers to be beautiful in a woman is rather unique. You get to decide what that is. Broke and desperately seeking a job, he is approached with an opportunity by what he considers to be a beautiful woman with a job opportunity that would pay him a large amount of money, enough money to pay off his financial obligations. What is the job? Does he accept it, or does his phobia keep him from doing so?