Are you scared of one aspect of Halloween, or the entire holiday all together? Then you better learn the name of the phobia you might have. Check them out in the video above.
A phobia is a type of an anxiety disorder, and phobias are divided into three categories: specific, social and agoraphobia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Specific phobias are distinguished by an intense and "irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger" and limited to a very specific thing or situation. Approximately 20 million Americans suffer from a specific phobia, which can be limited to an animal type such as dogs or spiders, situations such as confined spaces, and environmental factors such as heights and thunderstorms.
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Specific phobias also include irrational fears of specific supernatural creatures such as vampires, witches and ghosts. The names of all phobias are derived from Greek, combined with the Latin "phobia," meaning fear, at the end. So the fear of spiders becomes arachnophobia from the Greek word "arachne," meaning "spider." If you are afraid of one aspect of Halloween, there's probably a name for it.
Halloween-themed phobias:
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders
Astraphobia - Fear of thunder and lightning
Bogyphobia - Fear of the boogeyman
Chiroptophobia - Fear of bats
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns
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Hemophobia - Fear of blood
Lupophobia - Fear of wolves and werewolves
Maskaphobia - Fear of masks
Necrophobia - Fear of dead things
Nyctophobia - Fear of the dark
Phasmophobia - Fear of ghosts
Placophobia - Fear of tombstones
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Samhainophobia - Fear of Halloween
Sanguivoriphobia - Fear of vampires
Selenophobia - Fear of the Moon
Skelephobia - Fear of skeletons
Teraphobia - Fear of monsters
Wiccaphobia - Fear of witches
The formation of specific phobias is still not well understood, though they are twice as common in women. While the fear of harmless, or even completely fictional things may seem silly, specific phobias can become disabling if the feared thing cannot be avoided, or if treatment is not pursued.