Phobias and Fears—Can You Literally Be Scared to Death?

What is the weirdest thing you're scared of?

I’ve mentioned before that I have a very illogical fear of giant squid. Maybe it’s the sharp-toothed suckers on the ends of their tentacles or the fact that their eyes are the size of frisbees (!!), but more likely it’s about the scale of their ocean habitat. So it’s less about teuthiphobia (fear of squid) or ommetaphobia (fear of eyes) and more about thalassophobia (fear of the vast emptiness of the sea). More than 80% of the ocean is unexplored, a fact that is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Giant squid lurk so far below the surface that they were only first observed in their natural habitat in 2012. Most of our knowledge of them comes from after their deaths when their carcasses float to the surface. Creepy. 

I’m not the only one afraid of something that will most likely never harm me in my life.

I’m not the only one afraid of something that will most likely never harm me in my life. (Note, I said “most likely” because you never know—we’re not entirely sure where giant squid like to lurk!) I have a friend who has coulrophobia (a fear of clowns) and another with ophidiophobia (a fear of snakes). (Okay, that second friend is me again.) I’m also pretty sure my husband suffers from nomophobia (a fear of being without your phone).

It’s hard to imagine feeling any lutraphobia (a fear of otters) or turophobia (a fear of cheese). But if a phobia has a name, it means someone at some point needed to identify that phobia, even if not clinically.

What is the definition of a phobia?

Phobias are also irrational by definition. According to the American Psychological Association, a phobia is:

... a persistent and irrational fear of a specific situation, object, or activity which is consequently either strenuously avoided or endured with marked distress.

Our most common phobias are things like spiders, snakes, storms, heights, needles, social situations, or being alone. Women have long been observed to show a higher prevalence of phobias than men. 

How is a phobia...

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