Are You Afraid? 9 of The Most Common Fears In North Carolina

Author Melanie Day

March 5th 9:53 AM

What would you say your biggest fear is? I could easily rattle off 5 answers to that but I tend to say “birds” when I answer that question. Before you say “what?” and judge me I saw that Alfred Hitchcock movie at the age of eight. They allude to the birds eating a person’s eye out. I haven’t been the same since. Add on to that snakes (I don’t trust anyone who willingly goes around those noodles with teeth), doctors/needles, yeah I won’t bore you with the list. Outside of the birds, I feel like these are all pretty common fears. Though interestingly enough they aren’t among the most common fears in North Carolina.

At least according to research shared with us by our friends at BetCarolina. They analyzed Google searches around phobias to determine the most common fears (or most commonly searched) fears in North Carolina over the last 12 months. And they shared their research with us. So keep in mind that these are the most commonly searched fears which means they may be common, they may be a bit confusing, or in some cases, I bet people have spelling questions!  So keep reading to see the biggest fears that are of interest to your fellow North Carolinians.

• 9. Fear of being stared at

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  I can’t say that I enjoy being stared at. It can be uncomfortable. But listing it as a fear? Not so much. There is even a name for this- Scopophobia. There are 8,450 yearly searches for this fear in NC.

• 8. Fear of germs

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  This one is certainly amplified for some people since the pandemic. I always relate it back to the detective show Monk and the title characters intense fear of germs. I can’t say I relate to this one. But 8,640 of you show interest in Mysophobia.

• 7. Fear of large objects

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  This is something I’m not familar with. I mean I don’t want to be crushed to death by any large objects, but certainly don’t avoid them in the hopes that this rare situation comes up. 15,250 of you have wondered about this perplexing fear.
• 6. Fear of heights

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  A very, very common fear. And something you honestly should be afraid of at least to a degree. I’m ok with heights as long as I can physically see something keeping me from falling. But I know many people who can’t handle them at all. 15,600 searched this fear.

• 5. Fear of spiders

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  Another one that is extremely common. Though if you told me only one animal fear would make the list, my money would have been on snakes. Perhaps a lot of people (19,200 to be exact) search the “fear of spiders” in order to figure out how to spell arachnophobia?

• 4. Fear of confined spaces

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  Obviously some people have this a lot worse than others. A former coworker couldn’t get in an elevator with more than one other person. But to some extent is this a natural fear? Personally I’m “ok” with most small spaces, but am I going to go in a cave I have to lay down to fit in? That’s a hard no. Claustrophobia generates 34,800 searches in NC.
• 3. Fear of vomiting

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  Would I name this off as a personal fear. I can’t say that I would. Would I like to avoid it all costs? Also yes. Not fun, be fear inducing probably not. When I have a child I predict I’ll be afraid of them vomiting for multiple reasons. That being said it gets a lot of attention online with 43,200 searches.

• 2. Fear of deep water

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  Another one that has me questioning fear or just survival instincts? I get this fear especially if someone can’t swim. Though I had no problem jumping off a boat to go snorkeling in Jamaica last month so I guess I can’t relate to the 52,800 of you that looked into this fear.

• 1. Fear of small holes

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  This is definitely something that can be unsettling for sure. I’ve absolutely seen pictures of clusters of holes that give me the creeps and I don’t understand why. I was talking to a friend about this list, who actually the day before had to go around a truck because it has pipes on the back. My first thought at that was Final Destination but no it was the holes. I wonder what causes this and what it is that makes it so unsettling and feared? Add one to 177,600 searches because I may have to deep dive into the “why” behind this fear.

Thanks to our friends at BetCarolina for sharing their research with us.

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Author Melanie Day

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fears,Local,North Carolina