- Telephonophobia = the fear of talking on the phone - texting truly is a god sent
- Testophobia = the fear of taking tests - I get major test anxiety
- Xenophobia = fear of strangers - this was worse when I was a kid and I thought that the lady at the McDonalds would tear my face off if I tried to order more fries. Needless to say it's gotten better with age. Now I only think that she will slap me, but I take my chances. This should not be mixed up with the word "Xenaphobia" meaning the "fear of Xena Warrior Princess"
- Glossophobia = fear of public speaking - this used to be much much worse, many time resulting in shaking, dizziness, sweating, momentarily blacking out, and vomiting. But since I was required to get in front of people all the time at USGA, I have been able to conquer it. Well...I still sweat a lot.
- Hypnophobia = fear of sleep - this is actually closely connected to my Insomniphobia, or fear of not being able to sleep. I tend to avoid the whole subject all together, or take medicine.
- Cucuyphobia = fear of under the bed - there are alligators under my bed at all time and in all things and in all places. I usually take the bed frame off so it's just a box and a mattress on the floor. No space = no alligators. Until you can prove that they are never there, they are always there.
- Kakorrhaphiophobia = fear of failure - this mostly manifests itself in academic ways, such as not being able to start homework without going into crippling fits of hysteria and anxiety attacks first, because I know before I start it that it won't be "A+ material". C's get degrees, right?
- Auchlocaustrophobia = fear of closets - not always meaning the figurative one that I came out of (closets are scary and I'm never going back!), but also just the regular kind you hang clothes in. I think this is fear that has been with me since childhood. If there is an open closet door somewhere in the room, especially at night time, I will get very very anxious. Sleep will not occur until they are all closed.
- Lygophobia = fear of being in a dark place - I am currently 24 years old and I still sleep with a teddy bear, and I will still find any excuse to fall asleep with some light on. It was not an uncommon thing, during high school, for me to fall asleep with the light on in my room and my parents would turn it off later. Since college that turn into getting to sleep before my roommate and making her turn the lights off when she comes to bed. I have also purposely slept in the living room so the TV could be on, fallen asleep reading to have an excuse to have a lamp on, and unashamedly used a penguin-shaped nightlight. This fear is usually greatly lessened when I am with someone, because they will either protect me from the scary darkness, or distract it long enough for me to get away.
Also known as: Nyctophobia - fear of the night
Achluophobia - fear of the dark
Scotophobia - fear of darkness - Trypanophobia = fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles - they once had to strap me in a straight jaket on a plank of wood with ropes so I would hold still long enough to get the Novocaine so they could fill in a cavity.
Also known as: Aichmophobia - fear of sharp points
Belonephobia - fear of sharply pointed objects
Enetophobia - fear of pins and needles - Arachnophobia = fear of spiders - this is a crazy legit fear for me. I have had reactions that range from full-on panic attacks and uncontrollably crying for hours after seeing a spider, all the way to wetting my pants and fainting. I once saw a spider in my room that crawled away before I could get a shoe and my parents came home to find everything I owned thrown into the hallway and me sitting in an empty room rocking back and forth. I never found the spider, and didn't sleep for several days after that. Over a long time, and out of a basic need for survival, I have been able to train myself to react quickly and kill the evil mother f***ers, and then let myself freak out. As long as it was still smaller than a penny. I have been known to call a friend to make them come over and kill one for me.
Things I think BYU students are afraid of:
- Pogonophobia = beards
- Anuptaphobia = staying single
- Doxophobia = expressing opinions
- Hereiophobia = challenging, or deviating from, accepted doctrine
- Phronemophobia = thinking
Fears I found funny:
- Dikephobia = Justice
- Barophobia = Gravity
- Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia = Long words
- Lipophobia = Fats in food
- Nomophobia = Being out of mobile phone contact
- Omphalophobia = Belly buttons
- Panphobia = Everything
- Papaphobia = The Pope
- Phobophobia = Having a phobia
- Aibohphobia = Palindromes
- Anachrophobia = Temporal displacement (for those Doctor Who fans out there)
- Anatidaephobia = Somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you
