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| Lilapsophobia | |
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| The 1997 Jarrell tornado near the Double Creek Estates in Jarrell, Texas during the 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak. The image is infamous for being described as a "dead man walking". | |
| Specialty | Psychology |
Lilapsophobia is an abnormal fear of tornadoes or hurricanes. Lilapsophobia is considered the more severe type of astraphobia, which is a fear of thunder and lightning. [1]
Mental and emotional symptoms of lilapsophobia include
Physical symptoms of lilapsophobia include
Many lilapsophobes also suffer autophobia, fear of being alone. Sufferers often make arrangements with people they know to help soothe the fear. [1]
Like many phobias, lilapsophobia is caused by an unwanted experience, specifically tornadoes or hurricanes that cause injuries, destruction, or loss of loved ones to self or others they know. People who survive those storms are advised to seek professional advice, especially to determine if a person is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. [1] This phobia can even be caused by learning news about tornadoes or hurricanes using the media, like television, internet, radio, or newspaper, even though they happened far away from homes. [2]
If a person learns that someone in the family has the phobia, then that person is more likely to suffer from it. [3]
Lilapsophobes spend a lot of time watching the weather or checking weather online to keep an eye out for oncoming storms. When a storm hits, sufferers either watch for severe weather alerts constantly or take cover, like under the bed or in the windowless room. In the extreme cases, sufferers take tornado shelter as soon as rain starts falling, [1] usually in the basement or storm shelter. Sufferers who have weather radio or mobile phones can watch the radar and alerts using it while hiding.
Like many other phobias, lilapsophobia can often be treated using cognitive-behavioral therapy, but if it stems from post-traumatic stress disorder, then alternative therapy may be more recommended. [1]
The Greek basis word is λαῖλα|ψ -απος laíla|ps -apos for which reason the term should strictly have been *lailapophobia – like myrmecophobia from mýrmē|x -ēkos. Greek words ending in ψ (ps) and ξ (ks) would regularly become -pos / -kos (respectively) in oblique cases, conventionally given as the genitive form. This rule also obtains for Latin, cf. pax, pac|is, and it is from the accusative form pacem that all Romance languages have taken their words for “peace”. Historically this rule has been “forgotten” – one result is the fallacious neologism “lilapsophobia”.
How the i came into the picture instead of ai remains to be settled. Hypothesis: Since the Greek word lailaps would reflect American usage in pronouncing *lilaps [laílæps] – it is in the US that tornadoes are commonplace – the latter “hypercorrect” version became the written form.
Like astraphobia, lilapsophobia is a common fear for children, although less common. Because children are just learning to distinguish between fantasy and reality, major storm broadcasts on television or discussion by parents can cause fear that the storm is coming with a tornadic potential or a hurricane. [1]
Because fear is a part of normal child development, this phobia is not diagnosed unless if persisted for more than six months. Parents should conquer the child's fear by telling them how rare the major storms that hit hometown area are. [1]
In the 1996 film Twister , Dr. Jo Harding (Helen Hunt), while becoming a storm chaser, suffers from lilapsophobia due to her father's death in a tornado when she was a child. [1]
A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avoid the situation or object, to a degree greater than the actual danger posed. If the object or situation cannot be avoided, they experience significant distress. Other symptoms can include fainting, which may occur in blood or injury phobia, and panic attacks, often found in agoraphobia and emetophobia. Around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias.
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal functions are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physical and cognitive symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, easy fatigue, difficulty concentrating, increased heart rate, chest pain, abdominal pain, and a variety of other symptoms that may vary based on the individual.
Claustrophobia is a fear of confined spaces. It is triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms with a lock on the outside, small cars, and tight-necked clothing can induce a response in those with claustrophobia. It is typically classified as an anxiety disorder, which often results in panic attacks. The onset of claustrophobia has been attributed to many factors, including a reduction in the size of the amygdala, classical conditioning, or a genetic predisposition to fear small spaces.
Herpetophobia is a common specific phobia, which consists of fear or aversion to reptiles, commonly lizards and snakes, and similar vertebrates as amphibians. It is one of the most diffused animal phobias, very similar and related to ophidiophobia. This condition causes a slight to severe emotional reaction, for example anxiety, panic attack or most commonly nausea. Herpetophobia is a common phobia Phobia and comes in many forms. Some people have fears of just looking at a reptile, some have fears of touching a reptile, and some cannot even stand knowing a reptile is in their space. Due to the specific type of phobia, there are no individual statistics for those who suffer from herpetophobia. Not everyone who is scared or has a fear of reptiles has herpetophobia.
Astraphobia, also known as astrapophobia, brontophobia, Ceraunophobia, or tonitrophobia, is an abnormal fear of thunder and lightning or an unwarranted fear of scattered and/or isolated thunderstorms, a type of specific phobia. It is a treatable phobia that both humans and animals can develop. The term astraphobia is composed of the Greek words ἀστραπή and φόβος.
Necrophobia is a specific phobia, the irrational fear of dead organisms as well as things associated with death. With all types of emotions, obsession with death becomes evident in both fascination and objectification. In a cultural sense, necrophobia may also be used to mean a fear of the dead by a cultural group, e.g., a belief that the spirits of the dead will return to haunt the living.
Emetophobia is a phobia that causes overwhelming, intense anxiety pertaining to vomit. This specific phobia can also include subcategories of what causes the anxiety, including a fear of vomiting or seeing others vomit. Emetophobes might also avoid the mentions of "barfing", vomiting, "throwing up", or "puking."
Genophobia or coitophobia is the physical or psychological fear of sexual relations or sexual intercourse. The term erotophobia can also be used when describing genophobia. It comes from the name of the Greek god of erotic love, Eros. Genophobia can induce panic and fear in individuals, much like panic attacks. People who suffer from the phobia can be intensely affected by attempted sexual contact or just the thought of it. The extreme fear can lead to trouble in romantic relationships. Those afflicted by genophobia may stay away from getting involved in relationships to avoid the possibility of intimacy. This can lead to feelings of loneliness. Genophobic people may also feel lonely because they may feel embarrassed or ashamed of their personal fears.
Heliophobia is the fear of the Sun, sunlight, or any bright light. It is a type of specific phobia.
Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among Toddlers, children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness most toddlers and children outgrow it some stay with this phobia from anxiety fear or post traumatic disorder from intense past physical or sexual abuse in the dark abuse from a parent or caregiver in early childhood in the dark. When waking up or sleeping, these fears may intertwine with sighting sleep paralysis demons in some people. Some degree of fear of the dark is natural, especially as a phase of child development. Most observers report that fear of the dark rarely appears before the age of two years and roughly peaks around the development stage of four years of age. When fear of the dark reaches a degree that is severe enough to be considered pathological, it is sometimes called scotophobia, or lygophobia.
Mysophobia, also known as verminophobia, germophobia, germaphobia, bacillophobia and bacteriophobia, is a pathological fear of contamination and germs. It is classified as a type of specific phobia, meaning it is evaluated and diagnosed based on the experience of high levels of fear and anxiety beyond what is reasonable when exposed to or in anticipation of exposure to stimuli related to the particular concept. William A. Hammond first coined the term in 1879 when describing a case of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) exhibited in repeatedly washing one's hands.
Spotligectophobia, scopophobia, scoptophobia or ophthalmophobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by an excessive fear of being seen in public or stared at by others.
Telephone phobia is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, "fear of telephones". It is considered to be a type of social phobia or social anxiety. It may be compared to glossophobia, in that both arise from having to engage with an audience, and the associated fear of being criticized, judged or made a fool of.
Chronophobia, also known as prison neurosis, is considered an anxiety disorder describing the fear of time and time moving forward, which is commonly seen in prison inmates. Next to prison inmates, chronophobia is also identified in individuals experiencing quarantine due to COVID-19. As time is understood as a specific concept, chronophobia is categorized as a specific phobia.
Genuphobia is the fear of one's own knees or someone else's knees or the act of kneeling.
Balloon phobia or globophobia is a fear of balloons. The most common source of fear is the sound of balloons popping, but individuals can also be triggered by their texture and smell.
Ancraophobia, also known as anemophobia, is an extreme fear of wind or drafts. It is rather uncommon, and can be treated. It has many different effects on the human brain. It can cause panic attacks for those who have the fear, and can make people miss out on regular everyday activities such as going outside.
Hedonophobia is an excessive fear or aversion to obtaining pleasure. The purported background of some such associated feelings may be due to an egalitarian-related sentiment, whereby one feels a sense of solidarity with individuals in the lowest Human Development Index countries. For others, a recurring thought that some things are too good to be true has resulted in an ingrainedness that they are not entitled to feel too good. Sometimes, it can be triggered by a religious upbringing wherein asceticism is propounded.
Mageirocophobia is the fear of cooking. It is spectral and can take on several forms, although it is not considered severe enough for treatment unless a person is severely afraid or impacted. Most frequently, it is a common social anxiety disorder caused by negative reactions to common culinary mishaps, post-traumatic stress episodes from cooking or the fear of others' cooking for the phobic person that either prevents them from eating, eating only pre-prepared foods and snacks, or causes them to eat food from eateries that can result in unhealthy diets associated with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.
Submechanophobia is a fear of submerged human-made objects, either partially or entirely underwater. These objects could be shipwrecks, statues, sea mines, animatronics as seen in theme parks, or old buildings, but also more mundane items such as buoys, chains, and miscellaneous debris.