Catherine Austen
Creative Writing
The Missing Phobias (Fearless February Catch-up)
Life got busy and I missed a week of blogging. That never had any effect before Fearless February, but now I’m many phobias behind. Let’s catch up quickly:
20. Public Spaces can be terrifying because they are full of people and maybe even zombies and you don’t have much control over either of those, hence Agoraphobia. (Not enough info? Check out this Medical News post for more.)
21. Sharks can be scary because they have big teeth that occasionally chomp off a leg, hence Selachophobia aka Galeophobia. (Check out this Animal Planet post for more info; it has the wonderful line, “Although sharks don’t want to eat you, you still shouldn’t try to make friends with them.”)
22. Going to Bed is scary because you must trust that everything will be fine both in your dreams and in the real world where you body lies in the dark for hours at the mercy of whatever is hiding under the bed, hence Clinophobia. (For more info, check out this National Sleep Foundation post on children’s fears of going to bed.)
23. Trees can be frightening because they tower over you and occasionally fall on houses and they look like they might reach out and grab you, hence Dendrophobia. (Check out this post to read the comments of people who suffer from a phobia of pine trees.)
24. Dolls are scary because they hold the trapped souls of humans, some of whom are able to animate the doll with their evil spirits and go on a rampage, hence Pediophobia. (For more serious info, check out this Serious Facts post.)
25. Dentists are scary because they drill into your mouth and you never know when a hand will slip, hence Dentophobia. (For more info, check out this Dental Fear Central post.)
26. Bears can be scary because they’re big and tough and they want to be left alone and they’re not afraid to tell you to bugger off, but there isn’t a proper name for Ursophobia. (For more info on the unfair demonization of bears, check out this North American Bear Center post and for entertaining thoughts on the lack of a word meaning “fear of bears,” check out this Compendium of Awesome Things post.)
27. Colours can be scary if one’s brain connects a particular colour with a terrifying experience, like Watson’s famously unethical experiments on poor Little Albert, hence Chromatophobia and the many colour-specific phobias. (You can read more about them, and how to cure them, on this Med-India post.)
28. Dancing is scary because people will see you and you’ll be dancing, and probably not well, and people might form a circle around you and point and laugh, hence Chorophobia. (For more info, see this Psychology Today post.)
You can read about how a 6th-grade boy was cured of his Chorophobia, sort of, in 28 Tricks for a Fearless Grade 6, my new middle-grade novel coming out with Lorimer next month. In this boyish companion to the award-winning 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, phobia-fighter Dave Davidson helps his friends avoid, evade and eventually overcome the greatest terrors of sixth grade: dances, dogs, public speaking, band practice, and the looming possibility of an alien invasion. For reluctant or enthusiastic readers of zany middle-grade comedy.
And now I’m ahead of myself on this month’s blogging.
Have a fearless day.
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Catherine Austen writes books for kids and teens, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. She lives in Gatineau, Quebec.
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Catherine Austen 
Just read about Little Albert. GAAA! Now I’m afraid of science.
Fear of psychologists – I have that one for sure. Those dudes are scary.