Definition of Phobia
Phobia is a term that comes from Greek and its application is linked to fear. To be in the presence of a phobic picture, as can be seen from its definition, one must register an irrational compulsive fear or experience an obsessive aversion, either towards an object, a situation, an insect or a person, among others.
In most cases, the person suffering from some type of phobia presents anxiety and stress because, despite being aware that the fear they experience in certain things or circumstances is excessive, they can not stop feeling it.
On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that the term can also be applied to other specific cases that are not necessarily linked to fear. The photophobia, for example, refers to a visual problem where light can lead to inflammation or pupil dilation.
In general, it can be said that phobias arise from a traumatic experience. In this sense, it can happen that a person who in his childhood has been scratched by a rabid cat, ends up being an ailurophobic, that is, phobic to that type of animal.
However, there is an extensive list of phobias, many well known and others not so surprising. Among that, we can highlight the acrophobia that is the fear of heights, the androphobia that is the fear of men, the astraphobia that is the panic of storms, the cynophobia that can be defined as the fear of dogs or the nyctophobia that It is the fear of darkness.
Among the most peculiar or singular phobias we can find the following:
- Aporophobia, which is hatred or fear of poor people.
- Aurophobia, which can be defined as the fear of money and gold.
- Coulrophobia It is that phobia that people who have real fear of clowns have.
- Erotophobia This is described as being the fear that a person has to ask questions of a certain sexual court.
- Lalophobia, is the fear of speaking.
- Levophobia This term can be defined as the panic someone feels towards what the left side is.
- Paraskavedekatriaphobia. Such a complicated concept of pronunciation is used to define the fear that some people feel towards what is the date of Friday the 13th.
- Postocaliptrophobia. The fear of condoms is what defines this term.
Among the most common phobias are agoraphobia (whose symptom is the fear of public places), arachnophobia (rejection of spiders), acrophobia (fear of heights) and claustrophobia (fear of closed places). On the other hand, terms such as xenophobia, Francophobia or homophobia cannot be framed within the scope of medicine since they are associated with a negative attitude towards a certain category of people.