# So what are \*you\* afraid of? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794 "2002-12-10T17:30:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/41 "2002-12-10T23:59:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > **So fess up! If you don’t have one, I’m sure you can find one that fits you [here](http://www.psychnet-uk.com/phobia_list/phobialist.html).** Boy, that list is just begging for some satire: A Ablutophobia: Fear of washing or bathing. _But hopefully not too afraid of being really smelly._ Acrophobia: Fear of heights. Aeroacrophobia: Fear of open high places. _And this is distinct from acrophobia how? Do acrophobes panic when the elevator passes the third floor?_ Altophobia- Fear of heights. _Redundanophobia: fear of redundancies_ Amnesiphobia: Fear of amnesia. _Now I remember! **That’s** what I was afraid of!_ Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders. _Or really bad horror movies._ Automysophobia: Fear of being dirty. _Boy, would it suck to have this **and** ablutophobia, or what?_ Autophobia: Fear of being alone or of oneself. _In a car._ B Bacillophobia: Fear of microbes. Bacteriophobia: Fear of bacteria. _Virophobia: Fear of viruses. Retrovirophobia: Fear of retroviruses._ C Catagelophobia: Fear of being ridiculed. _Catagelophobophobia. Fear of being ridiculed for having catagelophobia._ Cibophobia: Fear of food. _Mmmm. Donuts._ Cyberphobia: Fear of computers or working on a computer. _I thought this was **normal**._ D Dishabiliophobia: Fear of undressing in front of someone. _I volunteer to assist any attractive women with this disease in some exposure therapy. (Heh-heh. ‘Exposure’ therapy. Heh-heh.)_ E Elurophobia: Fear of cats. _I’m afraid of really, really big cats. Does that count?_ Erotophobia- Fear of sexual love or sexual questions. _Heh-heh. Exposure therapy. God, I crack myself up._ F Felinophobia: Fear of cats. _Redundanophobophobia: Fear of redundanophobia._ Frigophobia: Fear of cold, cold things. _Frigogynophobia: Fear of cold, cold women._ G Gamophobia: Fear of marriage. _Much more common among married people._ Genophobia: Fear of sex. _Have I mentioned exposure therapy?_ Gymnophobia: Fear of nudity. _I guess this must be fear of being nude all by yourself._ Gynophobia: Fear of women. _Natural and positive, thank you._ H Homophobia: Fear of homosexuality or becoming homosexual. _Ahh! What if I became homosexual? Um, I guess I’d have to change the exposure therapy references to solicit ‘attractive men.’ Whatever._ Hoplophobia: Fear of firearms. _Hah! Your firearms don’t scare …[BANG!] meeeee … [rattle]_ Hydrophobia: Fear of water or of rabies. _Um, which?_ Hydrophobophobia: Fear of rabies._Hydrophobophobophobia: Fear of hydrophobophobia._ I Illyngophobia: Fear of vertigo. _Or of Hitchcock movies in general._ K Kolpophobia: Fear of genitals mainly female genitals. _Um, yeah, I have this. Anyone want to help **me** with some exposure therapy?_ L Lockiophobia: Fear of childbirth. _Hell, I’m even afraid of going into labor._ M Medorthophobia: Fear of an erect penis. _OK, **you** try to do something like this without a stupid running joke!_ N Numerophobia: Fear of numbers. _“So, how long have you been having this problem?” “Gee, doc, I guess … about … AAAAAAH!!”_ O Odontophobia: Fear of teeth or dental surgery. _I think I’ll have a root canal this weekend. Might as well live it up!_ Ophthalmophobia: Fear of being stared at. _A lot of women I stare at seem to have this problem. Well, either this or medorthophobia. Maybe I should try to determine which, by staring at some women **without** masturbating._ P Philemaphobia: Fear of kissing. _Tired of the exposure therapy joke yet? HA-HA-HA! You must read this post to the end!_ Pogonophobia: Fear of beards. _I promise my beard will not harm you in any way. It may, perhaps, tickle your chin. Or neck. Or upper thighs … Hey, where are you going?_ Potophobia: Fear of alcohol. _I’ll drink to that!_ R Rectophobia: Fear of rectum. _Supply the joke for this punchline: “Rectum? It nearly killed him!”_ T Tachophobia: Fear of speed. _Frankly, I’m a lot more afraid of Speed 2: Cruise Control_ U Urophobia- Fear of urine or urinating. _How long can you hold it? What if I play this recording of a waterfall? Bwah-hah-hah!_ V Virginitiphobia: Fear of rape. _WTF? Is this supposed to mean that only virgins are afraid of rape? Or something?_ X Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners. _Or Lucy Lawless. Come to think of it, she does kind of scare me sometimes._ Thank you! I’ll be here all week! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/42 "2002-12-11T00:39:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chm \* > \*\*Telephonophobia - I’m irrationally afraid of calling people. I have to give myself “pep talks” before I pick up the phone, and reherse what I’m going to say. I convince others to make calls for me, even to call friends (there are very few people close enough to me that I will call them voluntarily) I made a pretty good subject for a psychology study once, because of this. > > I’m slightly afraid of flying, but that’s a more “normal” fear, and I do not alter my plans to avoid flying. I just take a few deep breaths during takeoff. 🙂 \*\* Me too. I won’t even call my friends. Mine, in order: 1-Snakes 2-Heights 3-Chickens 4-Being close to tall buildings 5-Dentists 6-Clowns ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/43 "2002-12-11T01:07:14Z")
The strangest phobia that I have encountered was a woman who had a fear of using her hands. She couldn’t write a check, pass an offering plate, etc. Can you imagine? > [@](#): > > Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places or leaving a safe place. > > I’ve had this one for a while. The most difficult thing is finding a way to do christmas shopping. I have a mild form of agoraphobia and did all of my Christmas shopping through catalogs and the internet. So easy! There is one slight problem. Since I have done this for years, I now receive and average of about ten catalogs a day. During the Christmas season, that jumps to about thirty. So, does anyone know the correct word for “fear of the mail arriving”? Or “fear of full recycling bins”? Or “fear of Bloomingdale’s models”? ---
**Author:** ![iconoplast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3d9bf3/32.png) [@iconoplast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iconoplast)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/44 "2002-12-11T01:40:30Z")
I’m afraid of talking to strangers on the phone, people without any morals, poisonous insects, and sleeping. I used to be afraid of driving, but I think I’ve moved past that one. ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/45 "2002-12-11T01:50:42Z")
Clowns Insanity The Dark Heights ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/46 "2002-12-11T02:22:32Z")
> [@](#): > > The strangest phobia that I have encountered was a woman who had a fear of using her hands. She couldn’t write a check, pass an offering plate, etc. Can you imagine? Was it truly a phobia? A lot of people who have tremors are self–conscious about using their hands in public. ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/47 "2002-12-11T02:31:10Z")
Oh yeah, I’m also deathly afraid of escalators (sp?) ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/48 "2002-12-11T02:33:43Z")
I am deadly afraid of learning how to drive. I’ve driven the car twice. It made me so nervous I could barely concentrate. It’s just the thought of having something huge and powerful and heavy in my control, when I have problems walking in a straight line and not running into things…I’m getting the shivers just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/49 "2002-12-11T02:35:35Z")
Lessee Fear of priapism. More a guilt thing than a fear thing, but there you go. Fear of going insane. Fear of bridges. I actually have recurring dreams about bridges, and it’s awful. Haven’t had one for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/50 "2002-12-11T02:47:31Z")
My mom has claustrophobia and fear of going under water, you should have heard that horrible pranks we played on her at the 20,000 leaguesa under the sea ride. ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/51 "2002-12-11T02:48:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SCSimmons \* > \*\*Acrophobia: Fear of heights. > Aeroacrophobia: Fear of open high places. \*And this is distinct from acrophobia how? \*\*\* Yup, they’re distinct, at least for me. I don’t mind heights: I go up in tall buildings, fly a plane, even climb to the top of cell towers (harnessed). No problem. But if it’s a cliff or a big open window in a tall building or similar… :eek: Even standing in front of a big glass window from high up in a tall building where it _looks_ like open space is kind of freaky for me. But if there’s a fence or wall - again, no problem. Maybe I don’t trust myself not to jump? (Yes, 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![IThinkNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ce73a5/32.png) [@IThinkNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IThinkNot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/52 "2002-12-11T03:00:53Z")
I fear nothing. No, I’m kidding. 🙂 Although I am kind of out there—I have absolutely no problem with snakes, mice, clowns, the dark, small spaces, etc. I don’t know what the medical term for it is, but I know this: I am deeply afraid of being raped. It’s just something that’s always been kind of in the back of my head, and most of the time I don’t think about it, but when I see a creepy guy with more tattoos than teeth that paranoia just rushes up into my head and I’m scared all of a sudden. Or it could be just a phobia of creepy guys running the Ferris Wheel at small-town carnivals. You never know about them carneys. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/53 "2002-12-11T03:04:27Z")
Thank you flowergirl for saying you are afraid of the dark. I feel completely stupid for still being afraid of the dark at 36. I cope by leaving the TV in the bedroom on all night (no sound) such a comforting glow 🙂 As a kid I was deathly afraid of the loo…I thought a witch came out of there as soon as the flush ended. Made night visits to the loo verryyyyyy scary…ok I will stop there to save myself from pointing out where I usually peed (I was a kid!!!) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/54 "2002-12-11T03:06:17Z")
Grasshoppers. Not many other bugs. I can be around dragonflies. I can be around stinging insects. But grasshoppers scare the bejeezus out of me. Won’t go to a place that is known to get locust swarms. Afraid of being around agricultural areas where lots of them tend to live. ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/55 "2002-12-11T03:12:51Z")
I know the feeling of leaving the T.V on when you sleep. That reminds me of when My parents tried to get me a life by sending me to camp, I just couldnt sleep with all of the lights out and all of the cricket noises and stuff, complete misery. ---
**Author:** ![IThinkNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ce73a5/32.png) [@IThinkNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IThinkNot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/56 "2002-12-11T03:32:07Z")
I think part of the whole going-off-to-summer-camp fear thing is partly fear of being in a new place. I remember I went off to a sort of writing/journalism course a few summers ago, and it was a dorm thing, and it was all completely dark. There were no windows in my room, just bare walls and a desk, and it was DARK. No lights. No nothing. Just pitch black. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I was absolutely terrified. I went without sleep every night for five nights. Another thing about that camp: it took place in a prep-school sort of campus, except it was a Catholic school. I have nothing against that, don’t get me wrong, but there was this time when we passed around a notebook and wrote our schools on it. I WAS FROM THE ONLY PUBLIC SCHOOL. All the rest went to private religious schools, and they were all Catholic. They turned out to be really nice, and I met some really cool people, but I was the ONLY Lutheran out of about a hundred kids. I see I have gone off on the wrong topic. :smack: Many apologies for my long windedness. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/57 "2002-12-11T03:49:12Z")
Virginia Woolf. Seriously, though, I’m deathly afraid of fire. I have never used a lighter, and have only lit a match once. Didn’t even touch a stove until I was in my teens and can’t stand Fourth of July. Sparklers are the only things I can handle. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I don’t rush out of the room when my parents light the fireplace. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/58 "2002-12-11T04:32:11Z")
Not sure if it’s actually a phobia, since for so many reasons it feels perfectly rational to me, but I definitely am afraid of driving too. I just know I’d be a lousy driver, especially in any situation where I’d have to react quickly. I still remember damn near causing an accident on my first attempt at the driver’s test, and if I think about it too hard I still get a little upset about it. Nope, I don’t want to be the cause of an accident, nosirthankyouverymuch, the near miss was quite enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/59 "2002-12-11T04:54:21Z")
Acarinaphobia - the fear of Ticks. I made up the term just now…Acarina is the name of thegroup of creatures we call “Ticks”…and phobia means fear. Does anyone know an actual name for this specific fear? ---
**Author:** ![Spoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Spoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoc)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794/60 "2002-12-11T05:22:03Z")
Hey, OfBlinkingThings…are you going to look for a replacement phobia, now that Big Foot is dead? Off to the woods with you! :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-you-afraid-of/141794.md?page=4)