Hello, I’m a 16-year-old girl from India, and I have wanted to talk about this for a long time. So, from a very young age (around 4-5), I developed this fear of inks from pens, markers, sketch pens, highlighters, etc. I used to avoid pens at that time, but as years passed, our school’s no-more-writing-with-a-pencil-kiddos phase started, and obviously, I was a kid, so I couldn’t have argued. I began using pens. Now I’m used to it, but I can’t even dare to touch the ink inside it. For example, if the pen leaks, I throw it out at the speed of light. If even a single mark of ink gets on my skin, I rush to wash it. I’ve seen students keep capless pens in their bags, but I just get chills after seeing that because I fear it might leak and get on my hands. And the smell of that pen ink, yikes! They smell absolutely disgusting to me. Remember those blurry marks on the side of your hands when you used to write continuously before letting the ink dry? Yes, those marks. I hate them so much that I have to scrub my hands every now and then because I’m a student, and this happens no matter how much I try to avoid it (and mind you, I have OCD and maquillaphobia too). I tried to talk about this to people, but all I got was “crazy,” so I don’t talk about this anymore. I can’t even dare to open the last page of anyone’s notebook because that’s the very place where everyone’s creativity, doodling, scribbling, and all come out. It literally makes me wanna tear the notebook apart. And yeah, I hate ink stamp pads because obviously, who’s gonna their thumb into that deadly deep blue forest of ink (the ink doesn’t even leave the skin easily, so I’ll basically die a hundred times looking at my hands, lol). And at last, my dear brother, he’s obsessed with scribbling and making tattoos on this whole damn body with a PEN. Wherever he sits, you’ll see a hundred capless pens and markers lying next to him, so the bedsheets also start getting ink spots. Every time I see them chills run down my spine, and I feel like shouting so loud that everyone’s ears bleed because, you know, NOBODY CARES. I have never in my life used highlighters in my books because I just hate them for no reason. I never made my school projects using sketch pens or markers because I can’t even hold them, unlike pens. Many a time, I tried searching for it, but I never got any relatable answer, nor did I see anyone talking about this, so I decided to write this, thinking that some may be out there who could give me company. Please comment and tell me if there’s anyone out there who has the same issue because I’ve never met anyone with this problem except me.
Phobia of INK!
What Now?
Read comments from others who are dealing with this phobia or share your own experiences below. Remember, you're not alone!
It is ok. Having a phobia is really hard. I know because I suffer from emetophobia. It is really hard because when I try to research stuff about it, it comes up with pictures of people doing it (emetophobia is a phobia of vomiting/vomit). No phobia is stupid, and all phobias can be hard to deal with. My phobia makes me have massive anxiety and avoidance issues. I don’t want to go to parties because I’m scared someone will be sick or go to big crowds because if someone is sick, I cannot get away quickly. Or on buses, because I’m trapped and cannot get away if I need to. Or camps because of food poisoning. It is literally ruining my life!
I have the phobia too! Mostly getting ink on my skin and such, but I never met anyone with that either.
I’m so glad I found this I am the same way! I’ve never found anyone who related to me and I’ve been trying to search and see if there is a name for it.
Omigosh! I’ve been trying to find anything about a phobia of ink for YEARS, and now I’ve FINALLY found someone like me. I also have this fear, and people think I’m very weird for it. Pens, ink bottles, and tattoos freak me out, and if even the slightest dot of ink touches my skin, I have an anxiety attack. And the weird thing is, it’s only ink. I’m okay with other things like paint and charcoal marking me, but not ink. It’s good to know I’m not the only one with this phobia. Does anyone happen to know what this phobia is called, though?
Pentiliarphobia! It’s the phobia of ink or a pen marking you with its ink.
I’ve had this since I was a kid. I can’t even look at people who write on their skin. When people expose their tattoos, I just try to look at their faces (obviously, if they have no face tattoos). At school, the other kids would threaten me with a fountain pen. They thought it was hilarious. I’d always have an ink eraser pen for my hands and have never in my life deliberately written on my skin.
Like me. I hate these inks, etc. I told my sister about this, and now she scares me with this when I need anything from her. Is there any way I can overcome this?
I don’t have a fear of ink or even ink/paint/marker. But what bothers me is writing or drawing on the skin. I look away if someone writes a phone number on their hand or uses a marker to draw a flower. I don’t mind tattoos much, but I don’t like them either. My first girlfriend decades ago, she and her friend drew on me, and I had to grit my teeth.
Wow. I have never heard of anyone else with this phobia. I do not have a fear of tattoos. I do, however, break out into a cold sweat, and my heart tries to leap out of my chest if someone tries to write on me with a pen. I also have OCD and Apiphobia (fear of bees). I am glad to know that there are others out there who understand.