Ornithophobia is the abnormal and irrational fear of birds, as well as a type of specific phobia. [1] [2] The term may also refer to strong dislike of birds. People with ornithophobia are often afraid of specific types of birds, for example chickens, ducks, and/or pest birds in grain-producing areas. [3]
The prefix ornitho- signifies "of or pertaining to birds", from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (órnis, "bird").
Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions and ticks. The word Arachnophobia comes from the Greek words arachne and phobia.
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.
Specific phobia is an anxiety disorder, characterized by an extreme, unreasonable, and irrational fear associated with a specific object, situation, or concept which poses little or no actual danger. Specific phobia can lead to avoidance of the object or situation, persistence of the fear, and significant distress or problems functioning associated with the fear. A phobia can be the fear of anything.
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.
Erotophobia is a term coined by a number of researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s to describe one pole on a continuum of attitudes and beliefs about sexuality. The model of the continuum is a basic polarized line, with erotophobia at one end and erotophilia at the other end.
Ergophobia is described as an extreme and debilitating fear associated with work, a fear of finding or losing employment, or fear of specific tasks in the workplace. The term ergophobia comes from the Greek "ergon" (work) and "phobos" (fear).
Zoophobia, or animal phobia, is the irrational fear or aversion towards animals. Zoophobia is the general negative reaction to animals, but it is usually divided into many subgroups, each being of a specific type of zoophobia. Although zoophobia as a whole is quite rare, types of the fear are common. As mentioned before by Sigmund Freud, an animal phobia is one of the most frequent psychoneurotic diseases among children. Zoophobia is almost never towards mammals, but instead towards non-mammalia creatures. A list of common zoophobias is shown below.
Aquaphobia is an irrational fear of water.
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.
Fear of needles, known in medical literature as needle phobia, is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. This can lead to avoidance of medical care and vaccine hesitancy.
Entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia, is a specific phobia characterized by an excessive or unrealistic fear (disgust) of one or more classes of insect, and classified as a phobia by the DSM-5. More specific cases include katsaridaphobia, melissophobia, myrmecophobia, and lepidopterophobia. One book claims 6% of all US inhabitants have this phobia.
Phonophobia, also called ligyrophobia or sonophobia, is a fear of or aversion to loud sounds —a type of specific phobia. It is a very rare phobia which is often the symptom of hyperacusis. Sonophobia can refer to the hypersensitivity of a patient to sound and can be part of the diagnosis of a migraine. Occasionally it is called acousticophobia.
Nosophobia, also known as disease phobia or illness anxiety disorder, is the irrational fear of contracting a disease, a type of specific phobia. Primary fears of this kind are fear of contracting HIV infection, pulmonary tuberculosis (phthisiophobia), sexually transmitted infections, cancer (carcinophobia), heart diseases (cardiophobia), and catching the common cold or flu.
Blood phobia is an extreme irrational fear of blood, a type of specific phobia. Severe cases of this fear can cause physical reactions that are uncommon in most other fears, specifically vasovagal syncope (fainting). Similar reactions can also occur with trypanophobia and traumatophobia. For this reason, these phobias are categorized as blood-injection-injury phobia by the DSM-IV. Some early texts refer to this category as "blood-injury-illness phobia."
Ailurophobia is the persistent and excessive fear of cats. Like other specific phobias, the exact cause of ailurophobia is unknown, and potential treatment generally involves therapy. The name comes from the Greek words αἴλουρος, 'cat', and φόβος, 'fear'. Other names for ailurophobia include: felinophobia, elurophobia, gatophobia, and cat phobia. A person with this phobia is known as an ailurophobe.
Gerascophobia is an abnormal or incessant fear of growing older or ageing (senescence). Fear is characterised as an unpleasant emotion experienced as a result of some perceived threat or source of danger, in the case of gerascophobia that threat is ageing. This fear is irrational and disproportionate to any threat posed and persists even in the case that the individual is in perfect health.
Medication phobia, also known as pharmacophobia, is a fear of the use of pharmacological treatments. In severe, excessive and irrational cases it may be a type of specific phobia.
Trypophobia is an aversion to the sight of repetitive patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps. It is not officially recognized as a mental disorder, but may be diagnosed as a specific phobia if excessive fear and distress occur. Most affected people experience mainly disgust when they see trypophobic imagery. A minority of people experience the same level of fear and disgust, and a few express only disgust or fear.
Masklophobia is a specific phobia used to classify a general and in some cases an irrational fear of masks, people in costumed clothing and mascots which is common among toddlers and young children. The common cause for masklophobia is not known. Coulrophobia can sometimes be associated with masklophobia.
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