Woman with crippling fear of stickers trembles whenever she sees them in shops

06 October 2023 , 10:39

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The phobia stemmed from her childhood, but she has now found comfort in knowing it's a real condition (Image: Caters News Agency)

A woman has opened up about her debilitating phobia of stickers - and it all started from a wardrobe covered in stickers she inherited as a young child.

Affecting her day-to-day life, Anna Smith Higgs lives in constant fear of coming into contact with them, and would "feel sick" when her son would come home from school covered in stickers - she even once shouted at one of his teachers for trying to give her a sticker at parents evening. However, she has now found comfort in finding out it is a real condition - albeit a rare one - called Pittakionophobia.

The mum finds herself feeling incredibly scared while out and about in case she comes into contact with stickers. She explained: "My son Henry started coming home with stickers from nursery - on him and on bits of paper. He wanted to come indoors with them, but I couldn't let him have stickers indoors because they made me feel sick. It's the nasty, sticky stuff that you get on the back that makes me feel ill."

She once shouted at her son's teacher for trying to give her a sticker (Caters News Agency)

She has to check all food as she can't come into close contact with any stickered items (Caters News Agency)

The 44-year-old mum from Harlow, Essex, shared how it all started as a child when her parents got divorced and she had to move into a new bedroom - and inherited two wardrobes "covered in stickers". Because of this, she has now made sure to avoid them in her everyday life and even avoids foods with stickers on, such as bananas.

"I inherited the wardrobes and I had to try and get the stickers off. I think that's where it started from. It took a long, long time. I tried everything. Lighter fluids, washing up liquid - everything. And there was still some sneaky bits of it left," she explained.

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Anna, a disability campaigner and burlesque dancer, hasn't sought treatment for her sticker phobia, although she has found comfort in her diagnosis. "I couldn't believe it when I found out that it's a real phobia. I've just kind of just got on with it," she admitted.

Even her family know to keep them away from her, as she revealed: "My sisters have young children, and they know that they're not allowed to give me stickers or stick them on me because it makes me shudder, so there are no stickers around when I see any of them."

The incident as a child has impacted Anna's day to day life and she is often left upset and trembling due to her fear. Recalling an incident from when her son was at school, she shared: "When I went to Henry's school, one of the teachers tried to put a sticker on me and that was really scary. I shouted at him 'I don't like stickers, please remove it!' He just looked at me strangely."

Anna hopes that she can raise awareness of the unusual phobia, as people never seem to believe or understand her when she tells them. People often ask the mum how she can't like them and she struggles to get people to understand it's a real fear.

Niamh Kirk