Food is the enemy

Today in Manchester I actually met somebody who has an irrational phobia of food....
Well that's not strictly true, they are afraid of cooking (Mageirocophobia ; yes I looked it up), but they do get twitchy around most foods and supermarkets and have to drink special milk shakes so that got me thinking, can you have an irrational phobia?

If you are afraid of something is it really irrational? I used to think no, if it frightens you it frightens you. I would never call a person irrational just because they are afraid of something. Would I?

The definition of an irrational phobia is something you fear in excess to the mean. What this means then that if someone fears something more than the average person they are irrational? I'm sorry but there is nothing irrational about being afraid of spiders...

Most spiders don't bother me in the slightest, they really don't (read:denial?), but there is one type that gets to me every time. They are the ones I like to call the H. G. Wells variety. You know the ones, tiny bodies, huge legs used for gouging your eyeballs out and teeth, teeth that bite; I don't care what anyone says they are not more afraid of me.

Anyway this prompted me to look up some REALLY 'irrational' phobias, and we're talking way out of left field here, check these out:

Fear of...

Bald People 
- Peladophobia 
Bogeyman or Bogies
- Bogyphobia
Step mother
- Novercaphobia
Shadows 
- Sciophobia or Sciaphobia (I'm sorry but does anyone else think that one would really suck?)
The Colour Purple 
- Porphyrophia (Barney DOES actually creep me out)
Hearing Good News
- Euphobia ("I'VE WON THE LOTTERY!" *Jumps out window* "AGGHHHhhhh" *Splat* *Dead*)
Jumping From High and Low Places 
- Catapedaphobia (Like Darleks, easily defeated by stairs (Yes they can fly now but that's artist licence I'm sorry. these days they are just not real Darleks))
Garlic
-Alliumphobia (I thought this was only Count Duckula)

Reading these started to sway me to the fact that yes there maybe just cause for calling some an irrational phobia...
...But I still wasn't convinced...
.........Until I found this one........

It's called Panophobia and it's the irrational phobia of...
EVERY MOTHER FUCKING THING!

Yes that's right folks there are people who are afraid of everything. Can you imagine how absolutely hilarious it must be to witness one of these people walking down the street? Screaming and pointing at other people, cats, cars, windows, prams, the sky, gravity (That one always gets me down), God, air, themselves etc.

Yes you can be irrationally afraid of something I must conclude but not, I hasten to add, all phobias are irrational (damn you War of the Worlds).
Anyway, should anyone ask me if I have an irrational phobia I shall answer "Yes! I have an irrational phobia of irrationality" and watch their heads explode.