Phobias
13
The NHS (National Health Service) defines a
phobia as follows:
‘A phobia is an overwhelming and
debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal.
Phobias are more pronounced than
fears. They develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense
of danger about a situation or object.
If a phobia becomes very severe,
a person may organise their life around avoiding the thing that's causing them
anxiety. As well as restricting their day-to-day life, it can also cause a lot
of distress.’
The word phobia comes from the Greek ’phobos’ which means irrational
fear.
I suppose that most people are familiar with the more attention-catching phobias like arachnophobia, agoraphobia and claustrophobia, but there are many more, and some are very unusual. I came across one in a newspaper article recently. It was saltomaphobia, a fear of tomato products, usually ketchup. I could imagine how that might have arisen but would probably be wide of the mark.
Phobophobia is another strange one – it is a fear of phobias. Are people thus afflicted terrified by the thought that they might one day develop a phobia, without realising that that is the very thing they have acquired, and in spades, too?
I think many people suffer from nomophobia – a fear of being without their mobile ‘phone. So afraid are they that they cannot be parted from it at any point in their waking lives that a phobia results. This phobia develops in early life, almost the moment a mobile ‘phone is placed in their hands with the words, ‘Don’t drop it!’
I can understand how lilapsophobia might arise. If I lived in an area subject to tornadoes and hurricanes, I’d be afraid, too! I don’t think such a fear as that is irrational, at all.
Phobias are real and can be extremely distressing. The following list is not exhaustive and some of them don’t sound real. I haven’t checked them all. It is interesting that my spellchecker skipped some of them, so I take those to be legitimate. To the list I would add triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13 and pteronophobia, fear of feathers.
Do you know of any other phobias?
Ablutophobia: Fear of bathing
Achluophobia: Fear
of darkness
Acrophobia: Fear of heights
Aerophobia: Fear of
flying
Algophobia: Fear of
pain
Agoraphobia: Fear of
open spaces or crowds
Aichmophobia: Fear of
needles or pointed objects
Amaxophobia: Fear of riding
in a car
Androphobia: Fear of
men
Anemophobia: Fear of air
Anginophobia: Fear of
angina or choking
Angrophobia: Fear of anger
Anthrophobia: Fear of
flowers
Anthropophobia: Fear of
people or society
Aphenphosmphobia: Fear of
being touched
Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of peanut butter
Arachnophobia: Fear of
spiders
Arithmophobia: Fear of
numbers
Astraphobia: Fear of
thunder and lightning
Astrophobia: Fear of outer
space
Ataxophobia: Fear of
disorder or untidiness
Atelophobia: Fear of
imperfection
Atychiphobia: Fear of
failure
Automatonophobia: Fear of
human-like figures
Autophobia: Fear of being alone
Bacteriophobia: Fear of
bacteria
Barophobia: Fear of
gravity
Bathmophobia: Fear of
stairs or steep slopes
Batrachophobia: Fear of
amphibians
Belonephobia: Fear of
pins and needles
Bibliophobia: Fear of
books
Botanophobia: Fear of
plants
Cacophobia: Fear of
ugliness
Catagelophobia: Fear of being ridiculed
Catoptrophobia: Fear of
mirrors
Chionophobia: Fear of
snow
Chrometophobia: Fear of
spending money
Chromophobia: Fear of
colors
Chronomentrophobia: Fear of
clocks
Chronophobia: Fear of time
Cibophobia: Fear of food
Claustrophobia: Fear of
confined spaces
Climacophobia: Fear of climbing
Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns
Cyberphobia: Fear of computers
Cynophobia: Fear of dogs
Daemonophobia: Fear of demons
Decidophobia: Fear of making
decisions
Dendrophobia: Fear of trees
Dentophobia: Fear of dentists
Domatophobia: Fear of houses
Dystychiphobia: Fear of
accidents
Ecophobia: Fear of the home
Elurophobia: Fear of cats
Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting
Entomophobia: Fear of insects
Ephebiphobia: Fear of teenagers
Erotophobia: Fear of sex
Equinophobia: Fear of horses
Gamophobia: Fear of marriage
Genuphobia: Fear of knees
Glossophobia: Fear of
speaking in public
Gynophobia: Fear of women
Haphephobia: Fear of touch
Heliophobia: Fear of the sun
Hemophobia: Fear of blood
Herpetophobia: Fear of reptiles
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia:
Fear of long words
Hydrophobia: Fear of water
Hypochondria: Fear of illness
Iatrophobia: Fear of doctors
Insectophobia: Fear of insects
Koinoniphobia: Fear of rooms
Koumpounophobia: Fear of
buttons
Leukophobia: Fear of the colour white
Lilapsophobia: Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes
Lockiophobia: Fear of
childbirth
Mageirocophobia: Fear
of cooking
Megalophobia: Fear of large things
Melanophobia: Fear of the colour black
Microphobia: Fear of small things
Mysophobia: Fear of dirt and germs
Necrophobia: Fear of death or dead
things
Noctiphobia: Fear of the night
Nomophobia: Fear of being
without your mobile phone
Nosocomephobia: Fear of hospitals
Nyctophobia: Fear of the dark
Obesophobia: Fear of gaining weight
Octophobia: Fear of the figure 8
Ombrophobia: Fear of rain
Ophidiophobia: Fear of snakes
Ornithophobia: Fear of birds
Osmophobia: Fear of smells
Ostraconophobia: Fear of
shellfish
Papyrophobia: Fear of paper
Pathophobia: Fear of disease
Pedophobia: Fear of children
Philematophobia: Fear of
kissing
Philophobia: Fear of love
Phobophobia: Fear of phobias
Podophobia: Fear of feet
Porphyrophobia: Fear of the colour purple
Pteridophobia: Fear of ferns
Pteromerhanophobia: Fear of flying
Pyrophobia: Fear of fire
Samhainophobia: Fear of Halloween
Scolionophobia: Fear of school
Scoptophobia: Fear of being
stared at
Selenophobia: Fear of the moon
Sociophobia: Fear of social evaluation
Somniphobia: Fear of sleep
Tachophobia: Fear of speed
Technophobia: Fear of technology
Thalassophobia: Fear of the
ocean
Trichophobia: Fear of hair
Tonitrophobia: Fear of thunder
Trypanophobia: Fear of
needles/injections
Trypophobia: Fear of holes
Venustraphobia: Fear of beautiful women
Verminophobia: Fear of germs
Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches and witchcraft
Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners
Zoophobia: Fear of animals
Zuigerphobia: Fear of vacuum
cleaners
I don't have any phobias thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteCount your blessings:-)
DeleteThat's quite a list and there are some crackers in there.
ReplyDeleteThere are some strange ones there.
DeleteI have a young friend who has a fear of buttons (on your list). Even before he could speak it gripped him. Normally a great mate he took against me on one visit and his Mum pointed out it might be the buttons on the pockets of my cargo pants. Covered those and he was fine.
ReplyDeleteI've come across that one before. It doesn't seem possible, does it?
DeleteIt's certainly true there is a name for every thing. My fear is spiders.
ReplyDeleteI don't like spiders but it's not a phobia.
DeleteI think I am too normal, is that a phobia too ? But my father's sister suffered from Agoraphobia for years and was unable to leave her house. Couldn't even go to her mailbox.
ReplyDeleteAgoraphobia is terribly limiting - your poor aunt.
DeleteI think I may have obcursucelarophobia and I am sure that northsider Dave has Zuigerphobia!
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope no ceilings fall on you. Our late great big strong black Labrador had zuigerphobia, poor boy.
DeleteAcrophobia for me. I absolutely am terrified of heights. I keep both my feet firmly planted on the ground.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds quite a sensible phobia, really;-)
DeleteApart from being terrified of heights, I don't think I've got any phobias, although I might find an undetected one when I go through that list :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteFear of heights is quite logical, I think.
DeleteOops, I forgot I'm slightly claustrophobic too!
ReplyDeleteNo potholing for you, then! x x x
ReplyDeleteThat was very interesting and informative and I've been trying to think of any friends with phobias but can't. I don't like heights in that walking along a cliff top makes me uncomfortable. I think that that is a normal brain response against danger. However I will happily go over a cliff on a rope and abseil down it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what made you think of that post.
I think self-preservation is a sensible response to potential danger.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I thought of phobias as a blog subject. Something must have triggered it:-)
Socoraphobia is fear of the in-laws, but that doesn't sound irrational to me 😊
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha - love it!
DeleteThere are things I dislike, as with other commenters, but when does a dislike become a phobia? e.g. I don't like 13 or walking under ladders, and avoid if possible, but I can put up with them, so they are mere superstitions. None of the dislikes have taken over my life.
ReplyDeleteWhen dislike becomes fear it is a phobia, I think.
DeleteI have a very strong fear of vomiting, which I see made the list. I will go a long way to avoid being around someone with stomach flu and I worry about food poisoning, which makes me extremely conscientious about food safety . . . As for the rest of the things on my "fear" list, they make sense to me - fear of water (I can't swim well and we have a lot of water in and around Nova Scotia, also I hate the sensation of not being able to breathe properly, which, hello, drowning? nope) and fear of heights (I always get dizzy up a ladder, so why on earth would I want to voluntarily ascend one, only to fall and kill myself??)
ReplyDeleteI do note that there are different names on that list for fear of darkness and fear of the dark. I would like to know why!
Interesting and enlightening post!
I worked with someone who had a strong fear of vomiting. I also intensely dislike vomiting or being near someone being sick. I was lucky that my children were rarely sick.
DeleteI hadn't noticed the two different words for fear of the dark - well spotted! I wonder why.
Now that's quite a list! I really don't have any phobias, except perhaps for being a bit claustrophobic, but perhaps I need to take a closer look at the list. Another great post!
ReplyDeleteOne that was missed out was FOMO - fear of missing out;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Janice - well that was one long list ... I'm afraid I don't fall into those categories ... oh perhaps claustrophobia somewhat, and phobia about putting myself into a situation that would send me 'bananas'??!! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIt's a list that will continue to lengthen, I think, as we become ever more self-absorbed and analytical . . .
ReplyDelete