Phobias

[greenbeing]

I've been reading The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties by (no lie) Ronald M. Doctor, PhD, and Ada P. Kahn. It sounds like a con book by a fake doctor! But it's actually one of our consumer health books, and one of the more interesting ones, at that.

Here are several of the more interesting ones I've found so far:

Ablutophobia--fear of washing or bathing
Acarophobia--fear of small objects, living or not
Acerophobia--fear of sourness

(Keep in mind, these are legitimate, named fears that cause people anxiety attacks, panic attacks, shaking, sweating, fainting, running away etc, not merely a mild dislike. These are things that cause people to not leave the house out of fear, or to stop eating, etc.)

Acrophobia/hypsosophobia--fear of heights, as some feel and fear an uncontrollable urge to jump
Aerophagia--fear of swallowing air
Aerophobia--fear of air, drafts, gases, or airborne noxious influences
Gerontophobia--fear of aging, or a fear of old people
Agrizoophobia--fear of wild animals
Agyiophobia/dromophobia--fear of being in a street
Aichmophobia--fear of pointed objects, such as knives, nails, and forks. Usually avoid these objects because they fear using them on others.

There are six names for the fear of cats. I hadn't realized how prevalent this was! But apparently some people freak out just driving and seeing a cat, or eventually become so debilitated that they refuse to leave the house for fear, or even look out the window. Aelurophobia/Ailurophobia/Elurophobia/Felinophobia/Galeophobia/Gatophobia.

Albuminurophobia--fear of kidney disease
Methyphobia--fear of alcohol

One of my favorites:
Alektorophobia--fear of chickens

Algophobia--fear of pain
Alliumphobia--fear of garlic
Allodoxaphobia--fear of opinions (of hearing or learning opinions of others, or fearing one's own opinions, related to fear of criticism)

Phobophobia/Eremophobia--fear of being alone (peculiar to people of vacant minds and guilty consciences... pain of attempting to think or terror of thinking)

Amathophobia--fear of dust
Amaxophobia--fear of being in a vehicle
Amnesiophobia--fear of having amnesia

Another favorite:
Androphobia--a morbid fear of men

Ankylophobia--fear of immobility of a joint
Phagophobia--fear of swallowing
Anthophobia--fear of flowers
Anthropophobia--fear of people or human society (completely understandable! IMO)
Antlophobia--fear of floods
Myromecophobia--fear of ants
Anuptaphobia--fear of staying single
Panphobia--fear of anyting and evrything (also: Panophobia/pantophoboia/pamphobia)
Apeirophobia--fear of infinity
Aphenphobia--fear of being touched, or of physical contact
Aquaphobia--fear of water
Arithmophobia--fear of numbers
Arrhenophobia--fear of men
Gynophobia--fear of women
Astraphobia--fear of lightning (aka: keraunophobia)

A third fav:
Aulophobia--fear of seeing, handling, or playing a flute, or similar wind instrument

Autodysomophobia--fear or delusion that the individual himself has a vile or repugnant odor
Sclerophobia/Pavor Sceleris--fear of badmen (burglars, robbers, others who attack or annoy unsuspecting victims)
Phalacrophobia--fear of becoming bald
Peladophobia--fear of bald people

Those are my notes from mostly the A section. I'm through the C section (nothing to do with pregnancy) right now. But I'll stop here for now. These are just the highlights! I'm sure by the time I'm done with this book, I'll be scared to leave the house, too, never having previously thought of how frightening wind instruments were. Or grandparents. Eeek! (My grandpa is bald, and I used to play the flute. One of my friends gets mildly queasy thinking of giant chickens. She's also extraordinarily horrified by the oompa-loompas in the original movie of Willy Wonka. My best friend can be chased around the house with cans of olives, or mayonnaise, as he fears slimy cold foods. I posted in the cooking section about my fear of raw meat, which is a variation of one in the book! There is a fear of meat! I'm not just psychotic! I'm actually diagnosable! Cool!)

--GB

[bjobsessed]

Find anything for the fear of mustache's yet? I'd be interested to know what that's called. There must be one considering some you've already mentioned. I didn't know there was so many different fears--and that's only the 'A Highlights'

[Forensic Paws]

Wow. It seems like there's a fear for everything!!!

I know there's names for fear of different colors (like yellow, purple etc), I can't imagine being afraid of a color!
I know a suprisignly large number of people who are chicken-phobic! It's bizarre. They have no problem with other birds. It's just chickens!!!

I'm needle-phobic (go into a full-blown panic attack whenever I need an injection, last one I had was when I was 10 and I needed 3 nurses and my mum to hold me down while the doctor gave me the needle! I go into a blind panic, run around and crash into walls etc).
HOWEVER, I'm not scared of holding or administering needles..... I vaccinate my horses myself each year and have given Insulin injections to one of my pet rats in the past. Doesn't make sense really but I guess not many phobias do!

Also terrified of Clowns and Spiders. And not being able to scream/talk (death doesn't scare me, but the idea of dying and NOT being able to scream about it terrifies me. Always fun when I lose my voice). And drowning. I can't even have my head under the shower for too long otherwise I'll panic and have to gasp for air. Swimmng? Forget about it!

[greenbeing]

Let me see if I can get this to work right.

If you are gelophobic, dromophobic, and alektorophobic, you will be in big trouble. You will be terribly afraid of the joke: Why did the chicken cross the road?

gelophobia--fear of laughter
alektorophobia--fear of chickens
dromophobia--fear of crossing streets

There is a fear of humor, but they don't have a proper name for it. Boo on them. But I think it still works with the lesser phobia!

--GB

[spoony]

I almost fear the colour orange

[awlrite4now]

I don't fear any colours, but those neon pink, green, or orange plastic drafting triangles give me a migraine. I can't handle looking at them for any length of time. I found this out accidently in one of my design classes when I borrowed someone's neon 30/60 triangle. I almost got nauseous using it. Very strange.

[greenbeing]

Modified:

One of these days, perhaps, one shall pick up a gardening magazine and say, hey, that story sounds rather familiar... And one shall ponder that question for many a day. My slug sagas have gone away because publishers don't like things to be posted anywhere, a pre-violation of copywrite laws, so I have taken them down to work on the non-fiction article I planned. I left a few of the slug posts, but not the big story ones.

Apologies!

--GB

[mlm828]

It's a good thing you didn't go to UC Santa Cruz, GB. Their mascot is the banana slug:

[rducasey]

GB, I just got up and I am laughing so hard over your slug escapade. Do you really think you can wipe out the whole slug population that way? Keep us informed. (and entertained.)

[anna]

GB, just plant a garden. That way, you won't have to run all over the yard. All of the slugs will come to one place - yes, your garden, the better to munch on your plants. The beer does work, but I have one piece of advice. Empty the containers in the morning. You don't want to deal with beer-slug soup after it sits in the sun all day. Trust me.

[inuvik]

Monk's website has a huge glossary of phobias.

www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/webexclusives/dictionary/

[hoosier]

We have tried slug traps and beer with some success. We have also used salt which zaps them quickly--they sort of sizzle like something out of a bad sci-fi flick! I try not to do that since I do feel sorry for them, I know it must be extremely painful.

I agree with traipsing through the yard and coming across them. They are as slippery as ice or mud if you happen to step on one!

[carl1951]

Is there a fear of fear phobia. Or to put it another way,
a phobia of fear. Or a phobia of a fear of a phobia.

It could go on and on and on.

I thought this subject needed a light moment.

It's not really a laughing matter.

Later, Carl

[greenbeing]

carl1951 said:

Is there a fear of fear phobia. Or to put it another way,
a phobia of fear. Or a phobia of a fear of a phobia.

It could go on and on and on.

I thought this subject needed a light moment.

It's not really a laughing matter.

Later, Carl

Actually, yes, Carl, there is a fear of fear. I don't remember what it is off the top of my head, but I'll find it for you tomorrow. It might be Agoraphobia, which is something you really really don't want to have. Meeting my 'rents and uncle and grandma for dinner, so I'll cross-reference everything tomorrow. There's also a fear of everything, which I believe is called Panphobia.

A phobia can be a laughing matter if you're in the right frame of mind. As scared as I am of slugs--eeew!--I can still see the humor in the situation. I make fun of myself so no one else has to!

--GB

[awlrite4now]

I take it that we will NOT be seeing GB on "Survivor" any time soon.