Skip to main content

A List of Medical Terms for Phobias (Fears)

When was the last time you climbed a fifty story building and looked at your street from the very top? When was the last time you sat inside your well closed home, alone? When was the last time you crossed the street? Have you been frightened by any of these experiences? There are fears everywhere, and so the medical community has interesting terms to refer to each. There are fear of loneliness, fear for great heights, fear for darkness, and fears you may think far more ridiculous, such as the fear for naked bodies and sex.

In this article, let's delve into some of the technical terms for these fears. The fear terms are suffixed by phobia, which is the Greek term for 'fear'.

Acrophobia—Fear for great heights
Aerophobia—Fear of air drafts, flying, and some airborne substances
Agateophobia—Fear of insanity
Agyrophobia—Fear of crossing streets
Ailurophobia—Irrational persistent fear of cats
Algophobia—Fear of pain
Apiphobia—Fear of bees
Arachnophobia—Fear of spiders
Arrhenphobia—Fear of men
Astrophobia—Fear of stars or the outer space
Aurophobia—Fear of gold

Bacteriophobia—Fear of bacteria
Ballistophobia—Fear of missiles
Bibliophobia—Fear of books
Blennophobia—Fear of slime
Batrachophobia—Fear of amphibians, such as frogs, salamanders, etc.
Botanophobia—Fear of plants
Brontophobia—Fear of lightning and thunderstorm

Cardiophobia—Fear of the heart
Carnophobia—Fear of meat
Caulrophobia—Fear of clowns
Chaetophobia—Fear of hair
Chiraptophobia—Fear of being touched
Chorophobia—Fear of dancing
Chrematophobia—Fear of money
Chromatophobia—Fear of colors
Chronophobia—Fear of time
Chronomentrophobia—Fear of clocks
Claustrophobia—Fear of closed spaces
Cleptophobia (Kleptophobia)—Fear of theft
Climacophobia—Fear of climbing stairs or falling downstairs
Cridophobia—Fear for stings
Cryophobia—Fear for extreme coldness

Decidophobia—Fear for making decisions
Dendrophobia—Fear of trees
Dinophobia—Fear of whirlpools
Dipsophobia—Fear of drinking alcohol

Ecophobia—Fear of home
Electrophobia—Fear of electricity
Enetophobia—Fear of pins
Entomophobia—Fear of insects
Eosophobia—Fear of daylight or morning
Equinophobia—Fear of horses
Eremophobia—Fear of being lonely
Erotophobia—Fear of sexuality

Felinophobia—Another term for the fear of cats
Frigophobia—Fear of cold things or cold drinks

Gamophobia—Fear of marriage
Gerascophobia—Fear of being old
Gerontophobia—Fear of old folk or old age
Gymnophobia—Fear of nudity
Gynephobia or Gynophobia—Fear of women

Hadephobia—Fear of hell
Hemophobia—Fear of blood
Herpetophobia—Fear of reptiles or snakes
Heterophobia—Fear of the opposite sex
Hobophobia—Fear of beggars
Hoplophobia—Fear of firearms
Hydrophobia—Fear of water, associated with rabies

Iophobia—Fear of poison

Kenophobia—Fear of empty spaces or void
Keraunophobia—Fear of thunderstorms and lightning
Koniophobia—Fear of dust
Kymophobia—Fear of waves

Leukophobia—Fear of white color
Logophobia—Fear of words
Lygophobia—Fear of darkness

Maniaphobia—Fear of insanity
Mechanophobia—Fear of machines
Megalophobia—Fear of large things
Melanophobia—Fear of black color
Methyphobia—Fear of alcohol
Motorphobia—Fear of vehicles
Mottephobia—Fear of moths

Nebulaphobia—Fear of fog
Necrophobia—Fear of dead bodies or death
Nephophobia—Fear of clouds
Noctiphobia—Fear of nights
Nosophobia—Fear of becoming ill
Nudophobia—Fear of nudity

Oenophobia—Fear of wines
Ophidiophobia—Fear of snakes
Ornithophobia—Fear of birds

Pagophobia—Fear of ice
Papaphobia—Fear of the Pope
Papyrophobia—Fear of paper
Pedophobia—Fear of children
Phallophobia—Fear of penis
Phobophobia—Fear of fears or phobias
Photophobia—Fear of light
Placophobia—Fear of tombstones
Pharmacophobia—Fear of drugs
Pyrophobia—Fear of fire

Radiophobia—Fear of radiation

Satanophobia—Fear of Satan
Scopophobia—Fear of being seen
Selachophobia—Fear of sharks
Siderophobia—Fear of stars
Spheksophobia—Fear of wasps
Stygiophobia—Fear of hell
Symbolophobia or Iconophobia—Fear of religious symbolism

Taurophobia—Fear of bulls
Technophobia—Fear of technology
Thalassophobia—Fear of the sea
Triskaidekaphobia—Fear of the number thirteen

Urophobia—Fear of urinating

Verbophobia—Fear of words

Wiccaphobia—Fear of witchcraft

Xenophobia—Fear of strangers and foreigners

Zeusophobia—Fear of gods or the god
Zoophobia—Fear of animals

As you have seen in the list, most of these fears are strange and amusing. We may doubt if they even exist. But according to psychology, there are sufferers for each of these fears.

For me, I would be frightened if I find a goliath beetle, huge praying mantis, or the mantis crab on my desk. But I would not be frightened by a scorpion or tarantula. I may be frightened by a king cobra or a lion if I am in the midst of the jungle, but not by any of them when I am at a distance. I may be frightened if I look down from the very tip of the Eiffel tower, but not if I look down from a safe helicopter. But I am happy that none of my fears is any bit irrational.

If you ponder over these things, you will know that you too inherently have several of these fears. In fact, if you try, you can fear anything. Stephen King has taught us to fear even clowns, hasn't he? So, if you imagine well, you can fear insects, obesity, week days, deep sea, your computer, wife, relatives, brother, and what not. If you ask any ordinary housewife, you will know that most of them have this strange condition of xenophobia. The root of most of the fears are our own culture, behavioral patterns, and the way we are raised.

There is not a single person walking the earth without any fear, but the ones that need an appointment with a psychologist have an irrational fear of something. There are people, who can't face a beam of light, being locked away in dark rooms for months.

As I said, I fear the mantis crab and other such ugly insects, but I don't fear them irrationally. I may scream if I find a strange salamander in my room, but I still love these animals when I watch them on TV. The one thing that I can tell you is that you can love anything you hate or fear if you choose to. You are the master of your mind, and madness is the result of losing control of it, but my belief is that you can't lose control of your brain if you don't want to.

We don't yet know if all of these terms are standard medical terms or not. If you find any inaccuracy, please let us know in the comments section. Also, don't fear to share your own secret fears.

Comments

  1. very nice and informative post mate... I think you missed one.. FEAR OF MY WIFE... :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are fears everywhere, and so the medical community has interesting terms to refer to each. There are fear of loneliness, fear for great heights, fear for darkness, and fears you may think far more ridiculous, such as the fear for naked bodies and sex. Liz Woods

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated very strictly

Popular posts from this blog

Power of Short Sentences

Post dedicated to Thomas Hardy (see History Today below). There are monster sentences like the one you encounter as the first paragraph of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens . One of my friends, whom I am getting equipped for his IELTS ( what is this? ), told me that the examination recommends long sentences. In writing classes also, I guess it’s longer sentences most tutors promote. But indubitably shorter sentences are more powerful . We will see why. Take a long sentence for instance: Tom Cruise, one of the finest actors in the whole world, is perhaps the most powerful celebrity to exist ever according to Time Magazine, but many people still dispute this fact and point out that there are more powerful and popular actors than Cruise, though they were unsuccessful in providing the total number of fans, who liked the films of those actors. This is a long sentence and it is very confusing . Though it has a logical construction and conveys a meaning, it falters in many occasions and seems

Creative Writing: Crafting Characters With Emotional Appeal in Mind

When you read the greatest fiction works ever, have you ever asked what was so compelling about them that you not only kept reading it, but you ended up reading all other major works of the writer? It may well be because the writer touched your emotional quotient quite a bit. Every reader has a unique taste . Some like to read suspense thrillers , some tender love stories, and some others dark horror and bloodshed stories . That’s why there are all sorts of genres out there. When a writer gives you what exactly you want, you will keep reading. Here we come to the emotional appeal. Character Imperfection Perfect characters may not always be the upshot of a writer’s deliberation. It may well be due to ignorance . Usually the upcoming writers take it for granted that if they create perfect characters, they will be able to garner a bigger audience . It is not true. You have to ask yourself what a character would do in a particular situation. Perfect characters—perfect gunmen, perfect

Another Tiny List of Confusables

Earlier, you may remember we published a list of confusable words . Here we are again, with such a list of words. Abjure/Adjure: Abjure means "to formally renounce (give up) something" such as a position. Adjure on the other hand means 'to appeal to' or 'solemnly order'. The governor decided to abjure his position due to political pressure. Normally, adjuring to the subordinates doesn't give many results. Amount/Number: Use amount when you have uncountable subject. Use number when it is countable. The amount of love one gets depends on the number of friends one has. Appraise/Apprise: Appraise is the word applied to quantitative evaluation of something. Apprise means 'communicate' or 'inform'. Appraising diamonds is the work of an expert. Joe apprised me of the schedule of events. Attorney/Lawyer/Solicitor: These terms are highly misinterpreted and confused by many people. Let me clarify. In the US, an attorney is any member