Phobias and Their Medical Names

There are more phobias in this world than most people would think. It is important to note that for every person, their own fears are particular to them and while people in general may feel that the fear is somewhat bizarre – or even phoney – that the person suffering from the phobia has no choice but to take it seriously. After all, it is this fear that is causing them so much strife that they have had to take big steps to avoid it.

Often, a person who keeps themselves to themselves may be marked out by those who know of them as being a little bit weird, or having something to hide. They may in actual fact suffer from Anthropophobia, a condition which causes them to fear being in the company of other people. It is a form of social anxiety, and a very real phobia, as are Androphobia and Gynophobia, fears of men and of women respectively. All of these conditions are often mistaken or misunderstood for rudeness or aloofness, and in some cases sexism. In fact, the sufferer simply has a very real fear of people, or at least a certain group of people.

An increasingly common fear, and one which is actually frequently exploited by makers of horror films and TV series, is Catoptrophobia. Meaning the fear of mirrors, or of one’s own reflection, this condition can occur for a number of reasons, including in many cases the very real fear that when you look in the mirror, you will see more than your own reflection staring back at you. This is a fear that can seriously infringe on a person’s activity, as they are reluctant to go out due to the perceived necessity of looking in the mirror while getting ready.

The same problem may befall a sufferer of Decidophobia, the fear of making decisions. Sufferers of this phobia may well not even know that it is a genuine condition, and may be mistaken for simply indecisive people or, worse, for someone who leaves other people to take the flak when a decision goes wrong. In actual fact, what a decidophobe often fears most of all is the consequences of the wrong decisions – not the criticism arising from the consequences, but that a serious and even fatal occurrence could arise from even the most banal choice.

There are numerous other phobias, and among them are Pyrophobia (fire), Emetophobia (vomiting), Panphobia (a fear of everything, or an all-encompassing fear) and perhaps most confusingly, Phobophobia (a fear of having a phobia). What every condition mentioned in this article has in common is that they have been identified and diagnosed by medical professionals, and present to their sufferers a serious degree of fear and concern which, left unchecked, can ruin a person’s life. They can also be affected by an individual looking to exploit the ambiguity that has been allowed to arise with regard to phobias. However, it is important to give people the benefit of the doubt in this respect – a real phobia can be a very damaging thing to live with.

Five Animal Phobias

Among the most common phobias, a fear of a specific animal can seriously infringe upon the life of an individual. As children, we are often scared of animals because we suspect they are liable to attack us. Even the most docile of the breed can be a worry to us, but as we grow older we usually come to the realization that next door’s spaniel, for example, is no more likely to attack us than a rabbit would be. Phobias by their nature are, however, irrational, and if you are scared of something, it’s not just something you can get over simply by logic.

Ailurophobia is the fear of cats. To many people this may seem a bizarre one. As cats are most commonly compared with dogs in keeping with their standing as domestic pets, people will often wonder why someone who likes dogs is actually scared of cats. They are generally smaller than dogs, they do not bark loudly and aggressively, and they are naturally reluctant to place themselves in the personal space of someone they don’t know.

However, this reticence can be seen by some people as something to back up their fear – a sign that the cat is less social and therefore potentially more dangerous. Someone who has had an early negative experience with a cat may be more likely to suffer.

Cynophobia, the fear of dogs, may seem more logical. After all, as mentioned, dogs are somewhat more likely to draw attention. They are often large, they are louder than cats and they are also less likely to distance themselves from humans. Because of the way they carry themselves and the shape of their bodies, they are considered to be more threatening than cats.

However, this does not make them more aggressive, and dogs vary every bit as much as humans – so next door’s golden labrador is no more likely to bite you than your aunt’s shih tzu. Someone with prominent cynophobia may well not make this distinction, of course.

Equinophobia, or Hippophobia is the fear of horses. This, again, is understandable. Horses are larger than humans and there are many ways in which they could harm someone if they were so inclined. Some people develop the fear after falling from a horse or being bitten at an early age. Some people develop the fear without such experiences, and even having never seen a horse in real life. Whether logical or illogical, the fear of horses is understandable – and also treatable.

Entemophobia and Arachnophobia are often grouped together, and although in a strictly scientific sense insects and arachnids are not animals, they fit in the bracket of creatures that are not human. There are, again, perfectly good reasons why a human may be scared of insects (they may well sting) and spiders (some may bite and some have toxic venom). As many people again have a fear of one or both because of their appearance and their size, which makes them easier to miss until they are right up close. At this time the old advice that “they are more scared of you than you are of them” is unhelpful and may well be inaccurate in many cases.

Exposure therapy has been proven effective in many cases of animal-related phobias, but can be difficult to implement in severe cases. Nonetheless, there is treatment out there for those looking to conquer their fears