7 Common Phobia Causing Items Some People Have To Carry To Avoid Anxiety

By Andrew Alpin, 21 May 2018

Have you ever been in a situation where you venture out of your home and find you aren’t carrying a handkerchief? Does it bother you? You are traveling on a bus or public transport and don’t have small change, does that make you mentally uncomfortable making you curse yourself saying something like “oh crap I don’t have change now what do I do” Even as you see others handing large currency to bus conductors or taxis etc, it never really bothers them, yet it makes you anxious. You hate going out with chapstick and if you forget it, what happens then??

Phobias and OCD go hand in hand

It isn’t that you are a loony but you may just be phobia centric and surprisingly there are hundreds or even thousands just like you with the fear of common things in life. You aren’t alone. It may also mean that you are way more intelligent than others to preempt such situations which make you over-anxious as studies have found out. With that said, let’s explore how anxious these situations mentioned below make you. Here are 7 common things every phobia centric person must carry to avoid those bouts of anxiety. 

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1Toilet paper

Do you worry about being in a public toilet and there’s no toilet paper? Imagine even if you didn’t and you have to go but after starting your business, you find there is no toilet roll. What do you do?? Did you know that the fear of running out of toilet paper is listed as a phobia called endrollphobia? 

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You may have had a traumatic experience in the toilet

Most cases of endrollphobia start from traumatic experiences or experience of having being stranded in a bathroom without toilet paper and since it is an unpredictable occurrence, this is what makes it even worse and a cause for anxiety at the last, moment when you have to clean your butt. Such people are comforted in carrying a toilet roll on them at all times. 

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2A Handkercherchief

Can you picture yourself unable to go out anywhere without a handkerchief?? If so, then welcome to the club. Believe it or not, there are many like me who just cannot do without a handkerchief. Perhaps the compulsion to carry a handkerchief may stem from the fear of a cold and not having something to sneeze into. Or!! Do you find that you just cannot bear a situation where you do not have a handkerchief to wipe your face in case it gets sweaty in summer? It’s an annoying feeling and there are many who just can’t contemplate wiping their nose or face on their sleeve or using someone else’s handkerchief. 

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Carrying a hanky can be obsessive

This must-carry- a hanky-habit bothers on the brink of OCD no doubt, but then, you just can’t help it. The only way out is to always make sure you carry a handkerchief and that will never make you feel anxious. 

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3Chapstick

Yes!! Do you agree with me when I feel that chapstick can be a real issue with some and the moment you don’t carry yours or forget to do so, you suddenly feel more conscious of your dry lips and start sliding your tongue over them more than often? What you don’t want to do is exactly what you will be doing all because you don’t have your chapstick with you. This creates a psychological focus on your lips making it overly sensitive to the situation.

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The phobia of not having chapstick or dry lips

There is also a phobia listed for fear of not carrying chapstick or rather dry lips and it is called siccuslabiaephobia which translates into the fear of dry lips. 

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4Being in darkness

Do you dread being in darkness? Such fears may not crop up at home because you know you may be well prepared being the person you are. But! What happens when you are on a lonely street or happen to cross a dark alley?

 

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The fear of the dark

Those afraid of the dark could be suffering from Nyctophobia or fear of the darkness and the night. As OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and phobia usually go hand in hand, not having a torch could possibly give you a panic attack which is why you should carry a mini torch in your bag at all times. Fortunately, today’s Smartphone’s come with built-in flashlights.

 

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5Pen

For many people an item like a pen may seem trivial but believe this when we tell you, there are many who can’t bear to be without one. There are several incidents or occasions where you may find the need for a pen such as a post office or a bank and dislike borrowing one from others. 

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Your pen is important for you

Believe it or not, there are some people who are so obsessive about pens that you may find fifty pens in their purse. The urban dictionary terms this as Lack-of-ink-o-phobia. 

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6Small change

Are you one of those people who have some sort of fear of offering a large bill to a bus conductor or at the subway ticket counter? You just can’t bear to not have change on you and if you could, you would tender the exact amount for a ticket at all times. In fact, before you are always ready with your exact fare in hand even before you board a bus. 

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Many people who fear being without change collect change at home

You make sure you have a box of change ready at home where you can dip into when you have to travel on the bus. Not having change can even cause anxiety for some. 

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7A cell phone

In this day and age, a cell phone has become an extension of ourselves where many just can’t do without one. While psychologists have termed selfitis as a new age obsession for taking selfies, nomophobia is also a modern phobia or the fear of not being without a cellphone. 

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Research by psychologists says nomophobia is increasing

The condition abbreviated from the phrase No-mobile-phone-phobia has been researched to prove that some people even suffer anxiety when not having access to a cell phone. The fear is more prevalent in students and is a growing problem say, psychologists.

 

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