Famous People with Phobias

Phobias are very common and it is not just the average man, woman or child that suffers from them. Famous people with phobias are plentiful. There is a difference between being afraid and being phobic.

John Madden

Phobias are largely unnatural fears of something of some event. The “something” can range from things that are a bit scary such as snakes or spiders to the fear of telephones or doorknobs. The fear, while seemingly unusual to the majority, can really be life threatening to the minority.

People that suffer from phobias typically will have severe anxiety attacks when presented with the thing that they are phobic of. These severe anxiety attacks can cause heart palpitations, chest pains, quickening of the breath, hyperventilating, profuse sweating, dizziness, stomach upset and can even cause the person to faint.

The Fear of Flying (Aerophobia)

Oddly enough the famous seem to be especially afraid to fly. This phobia does not seem to discriminate amongst athletes, artists, actors and other famous people even Presidents are not exempt from this phobia.

Whoopi Goldberg

Aretha Franklin, Whoopi Goldberg (pictured above), Muhammad Ali, Ronald Regan, Billy Bob Thornton and John Madden (pictured at top) all have Aerophobia in common. This phobia can be a real problem for people that are expected to move around quickly and travel from one place to the next in a matter of hours. Most of the famous people that suffer from this have to drug themselves with a sleep aid before boarding the plane to be able to get on and sleep through the fight or risk severed panic attacks.

Social Phobia (Agoraphobia)

Many people both famous and not suffer from Agoraphobia which is the fear of social situations. It can be so debilitating that some people do not leave their homes for years for fear they will have a panic attack and literally die.

Some famous people have suffered from this phobia include Barbara Streisand (pictured below), Donny Osmond, Shirley Jackson (the author), Paula Deen ( the cook), Kim Basinger, Brian Wilson (Beach Boy fame) Howard Hughes, Ricky Williams, Marilyn Monroe and many others.

Barbara Streisand

Most famous people that have been able to overcome their agoraphobia credit a combination of medication and therapy and helping them learn to cope with the fear. It is a bit ironic to think that people that seek fame by joining industries where social popularity dictates your success should develop such a phobia.

Some Strange Phobias of the Famous

Not all famous people with phobias fall into the most common categories. Pamela Anderson, the knock out from Bay Watch has a fear of mirrors or eisoptrophobia. Madonna, the femme fatale of the music industry, according to reports suffers from brontophobia or the fear of thunder. David Beckham (picture below) the soccer player extraordinaire is afraid of disorder and chaos as he suffers from ataxophobia. Orlando Bloom suffers from swinophobia which is an unusual fear of pigs.

David Beckham

Famous people with phobias often share their stories to help other people with their fears. Everyone is afraid of something but it would seem likely that the more famous you are the more you may suffer from the off the beaten path phobias.