We all have fears. But do we all have phobias?
The main difference between a “regular” fear
and a phobia is the degree. For instance, someone with a “regular”
fear of dogs will get nervous if their neighbor's German Shepherd or
Husky barks at them. In contrast, a person with cynophobia won't take
their children to the park because there might be a dog there.
Counseling and/or "exposure therapy" can
go a long way in helping someone manage their fears.
Here are just some of the interesting and
sometimes-odd phobias I've heard of. Some of them have more than one
name, but I'm giving the name I've heard most often. I know this list
is rather long, but I hope it will prove to be interesting.
Acrophobia-fear of heights (guilty!)
Agoraphobia-Fear of open spaces or being stuck in
crowded outdoor places like markets or fairs
Ailurophobia-fear of cats, also called
elurophobia, felinophobia, galeophobia and gatophobia.
I found it interesting that there are many more
words for the fear of cats than for the fear of dogs. I would think
more people would be afraid of dogs than cats because of the sheer
difference in size, but that's just me.
Algophobia-fear of pain
Androphobia-fear of men
Anthropophobia-fear of society or people in
general
Arachnophobia-fear of spiders (again, guilty!)
Astraphobia
or Astrapophobia-fear of thunder and lightning
Astrophobia-fear of stars or celestial bodies in
general
Autophobia-fear of being alone
Bacteriophobia-fear of bacteria.
Barophobia-fear of gravity
Bathmophobia-fear of stairs or steep slopes
Batrachophobia-fear of amphibians (frogs, toads,
salamanders etc)
Belonephobia-fear of pins and needles.
Carcinophobia-fear of cancer
Carnophobia-fear of meat
Chiraptophobia-fear of being touched
Cibophobia-fear of food
Claustrophobia-fear of closed-in spaces
Clesiophobia/cliethrophobia-fear of being trapped
in an enclosed area, such as being buried or trapped inside your car
Climactophobia-fear of stairs, both climbing and
falling down
Coulrophobia-fear of clowns
Cynophobia-fear of dogs. Depending on what you
read, it's also the fear of rabies. I've had rabies shots, so this is
a quite valid fear!
Demophobia-fear of crowds (a type of agoraphobia,
also called enochlophobia)
Dendrophobia-fear of trees
Domatophobia-fear of houses in general
Dromophobia-fear of crossing the street
Dysmorphophobia-fear of deformity or abnormal
appearance in general
Entomophobia-fear of insects
Enissophobia/enosiophobia-fear of criticism or
having committed some sort of mortal sin or unforgivable offense
Eosophobia-fear of sunlight or sunrises
Ephebiphobia-fear of teenagers
Equinophobia-fear of horses
Francophobia-fear of France or French culture.
Frigiophobia-fear of cold or cold things
Gephyrophobia-fear of crossing bridges.
Glossophobia-fear of public speaking
Gerontophobia-Fear of growing old or of old
people.
Hemophobia-fear of blood
Herpetophobia-fear of reptiles or other
"creepy-crawlies".
Heterophobia-fear of the opposite sex in general
Hopolophobia-fear of guns
Hylophobia-fear of forests
Hypochondria-fear of illness in general
Iatrophobia-fear of doctors
Ichtyophobia-fear of fish
Insectophobia-fear of insects
Iophobia-fear of poisons
Mysophobia-fear of germs
Nosophobia-fear of having a specific disease. For
instance, sometimes a medical or nursing student might study a
disease and somehow become convinced that they have it. A person may
also opt for unnecessary medical procedures (i.e. removal of uterus
or breasts) if they're convinced that they'll get a genetic disease,
even if they haven't shown any symptoms in the past.
Nyctophobia-fear of the dark
Ophidiophobia-fear of snakes
Orinthophobia-fear of birds
Paraskavedekatriaphobia-fear of Friday the 13th
Stenophobia-fear of narrow spaces or things
Siderophobia-fear of stars
Thanatophobia-fear of death
Triskaidekaphobia-fear of the number 13
Trypanophobia-fear of needles
Xenophobia-Fear of strangers or foreigners
Xenoglossophobia-fear of foreign languages
Zeusophobia-fear of God or deities in general
For more phobias, visit http://phobialist.com.
If nothing else, you'll find it interesting.
