Names of Phobias.

The word Phobia comes from the Greek Phobos which means fear or great fear. In my researches I have found lists of the names of dozens and dozens of phobias and it appears you can be phobic of just about anything.

Some of the more familiar names of phobias are: Agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces), Arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), Acrophobia (the fear of heights), Ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes) and Claustrophobia (the fear of confined spaces).

Some of the more unusual include: Asymmetriphobia (the fear of asymmetrical things), Pediophobia (the fear of dolls), Anglophobia (the fear of Englishness), Barophobia (the fear of Gravity), Acarophobia (the fear of itching), Geliophobia (the fear of laughter), Politicophobia (the fear of politicians) on second thoughts perhaps that ones not so unusual, Dextrophobia (the fear of things on the right side of the body), Kathisophobia (the fear of sitting down), Phronemophobia the fear of thinking), and even Phobophobia (the fear of phobias).

Apropriately enough the longest name for any phobia that I have found so far is Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - the fear of long words! It certainly scares the hell out of me !