20 Bizarre Real-Life Phobias

2. Omphalophobia

Definitely one for the stranger-than-fiction side of phobias, omphalophobia is a fear of belly buttons. While most of us aren’t really aware of our belly buttons most of the time, people suffering from omphalophobia actively fear this part of their body. They do not want to touch their belly button, or anyone else, and some cannot even stand the sight of the body part, on their body or somebody else’s. This kind of phobia usually develops from a traumatic childhood experience relating to belly buttons.

3. Hylophobia

Hylophobia is the fear of forests, woods or trees. This might not be such an unusual phobia when you consider that the forest is often a place where, in folktales, scary things happen and scary people or beasts live. The forest is also an easy place to get lost, and a childhood incident involving this could easily lead a person to develop this specific phobia to a location.