Are you afraid of cheese, strings, or bald people? No, I am not kidding! We all have heard of common phobias, like the fear of being bitten by a snake and spiders or falling off cliffs. However, there are many people around the world who have an excessive and irrational fear of the strangest things in the world. From the fear of peanut butter sticking to the mouth (I am sure this one can be remedied, unless you are a dog, of course) to the fear of mothers-in-law (I am sure all married women can relate to this), phobias are more common than we realize. Classified under anxiety disorders, nearly 12 percent of the US population is affected with this psychological problem. Although they might sound strange and funny, they can be life-inhibiting for the person dealing with it on a daily basis. In fact, if you do a little research, you will probably find that there is a phobia for everything. Check out this list of phobias to find out about some of the most uncommon, weird, and downright funny phobias that people around the world are hung up on. Ambulophobia: The fear of walking is often confused for a person, who is downright lazy and just does not want to walk. Pteronophobia: This is for all those people who are morbidly fearful of being tickled by a feather. Wonder, from where did that fear originate? Selenophobia: It refers to the fear of the Moon. Well, hopefully we do not have too many aspiring astronauts with this problem. Gamophobia: This refers to the fear of marriage. I think most men around the world have it. Even if they don't, be wary, you may soon be hit with this excuse, "Sorry honey, it's not that I don't want to marry you. I'm afraid I have an incurable case of gamophobia." Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: I know it may sound like a joke, but people afflicted with Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia are ironically afraid of long words! Personally, I believe that there should be an award for people who can correctly spell it. Linonophobia: This has got to be the silliest phobia ever. A morbid fear of strings! I am sure, all the cats in the world do not have it. Euphobia: This is the fear of hearing good news. Now why in the world would anyone be fearful of that, beats me! Vestiphobia: Commonly known as the fear of clothing. Well, for all those people getting ideas, the phobia does not really seem to affect single, young, athletic women. Syngenesophobia: The fear of relatives could certainly be more common than we think, especially if you have those zany aunts and uncles. Aphenphosmphobia: The fear of being touched. I am sure my cat suffers from this. However, I am not sure that a person afflicted with this phobia would be good romance material. Cacophobia: The fear of ugliness, cacophobia, can easily gain sympathetic ears. The people suffering from this will withdraw, react strangely, or limit their responses to ugly characters, people, inconsistent or asymmetric objects, and other strange items that they may encounter. I am sure this phobia makes many plastic surgeons around the world very happy. Novercaphobia: Also known as the fear of stepmother, Novercaphobia, is an unusual phobia that may have originated from fairy tales. I guess the people with this phobia read 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' a few times too many. Epistemophobia: This is also referred to as the fear of knowledge. I am assuming these people took the words 'Ignorance is bliss', quite seriously. It can also be a very handy excuse for all those people in high school who want to cut class. Panophobia: I think we should all spare a thought for the people with a fear of everything. Well, what can I say, phanophobes seem to fear everything, from fearing the fear to the fear of managing the phobia. And you thought only you had the bad days? Although the list of weird phobias may sound hilarious to us, people affected by these strange phobias experience elevated level of stress and will have a strange-seeming fear of the object, place, situation, or experience. They may start avoiding it as much as possible. In a majority of the cases, phobias are rooted in deep childhood anxiety and situations where the person experienced something overwhelmingly uncomfortable. However, it still does not justify, why someone would fear STRINGS!