WHEN I saw a picture of the giant huntsman spider being found in a Hay-on-Wye cafe, my initial reaction was, "thank heavens that was not my back that it was crawling up."

Generally, I don't mind spiders, but even I would have been freaked out if the huntsman started to go up my back.

Arachnophobia is one of the most common phobias and I can understand why some people are scared of them, although I do struggle to know why some are even afraid of money spiders to be honest.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has to be the "knight in shining armour" when it comes to catching a spider, because the "damsel in distress" is too afraid to get it herself, especially if it has crawled under the bed and she won't be able to sleep in the knowledge that it's still at large.

Having said that, it’s worth remembering not all guys are the hero in this instance – let’s not forget it’s Jeff Daniels who can’t bear the sight of spiders in Arachnophobia.

So that got me thinking. What other things are people scared of?

We've all heard of claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) and acrophobia (fear of heights), but what other things are people scared of?

There is the obvious ones, like acrophobia (fear of heights) - vertigo is the dizzyiness that one feels not the actual fear - while some people can be scared of the dark.

But would it surprise you to know that one of the most common phobias is coulrophobia (fear of clowns).

Personally, I can't get my head around that as I can't see what there is not to like about a clown, but may be there is someone who is afraid of them and can explain to me why?

When you think about it though, you can be scared about absolutely anything.

Just looking at some of the most bizarre phobias is making me laugh.

Fear of crossing the street, fear of work, fear of cooking, fear of the mother-in-law and strangely, the fear of having peanut butter being stuck to the roof of oyour mouth.

All of these "fears" have names, so does that mean that they have been proved to be phobias?

I've read about a number of people who have a bizarre phobia, which seriously effects their lives.

What do you think?

Have you got a phobia that takes over your life? And what do your family, friends and work colleagues think of it?

If you're happy to talk about it, leave a comment below, email me at paul.rogers@herefordtimes.com, tweet me @podge1983 or send me a message to my Facebook blog page.