Brontophobia and Astraphobia. The fear of thunder and lightning, respectively. These two phobias usually go together, often combined with Lilapsophobia, the fear of tornadoes and hurricanes. (It's not often someone is afraid of thunder but totally cool with tornadoes.) We'll call them all Astraphobia. Storms are by nature violent. They can kill us. (If you're… Continue reading Who’s Afraid of Storms? (Fearless February Day 13)
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Who’s Afraid of Squirrels? (Fearless February Day 12)
Sciurophobia. The fear of squirrels. Are you serious? While some of us are charmed by these little cuties, others can’t get past the orange teeth and fleas. If you suffer from Sciurophobia, your skin crawls and you just want to die when a squirrel scrabbles down a tree with a “chhkk—chhkk—mwa-ha-hah.” All rodent-phobia sufferers experience… Continue reading Who’s Afraid of Squirrels? (Fearless February Day 12)
Who’s Afraid of Germs? (Fearless February Day 11)
Mysophobia. The fear of being contaminated by germs. It's what Howard Hughes, Howie Mandell, Saddam Hussein and Joan Crawford had in common. (And probably the only thing they had in common.) Ever since Louis Pasteur discovered the germ theory of disease, humans have cleaned up and lengthened our life spans. Doctors no longer go digging… Continue reading Who’s Afraid of Germs? (Fearless February Day 11)
Who’s Afraid of Spiders? (Fearless February Day 10)
Arachnophobia. The fear of spiders. This is the most common animal phobia - which goes to show how irrational phobias are, since dogs and horses kill way more people each year than spiders. Spiders are creepy, I'll admit. Those fangs, those eyes, the clicking of their little clawed feet, the way they drop from a… Continue reading Who’s Afraid of Spiders? (Fearless February Day 10)
Who’s Afraid of Confined Spaces? (Fearless February Day 9)
Claustrophobia. The fear of being in a confined space. Most statistics claim that upwards of 10% of people are claustrophobic. If you're not one of them, you might think this is a fear of small spaces. But it's more complicated. It's an irrational fear of being somewhere you can't escape from. Often the places that… Continue reading Who’s Afraid of Confined Spaces? (Fearless February Day 9)
