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)
Tag: fear
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)
Who’s Afraid of Horses? (Fearless February Day 8)
Equinophobia. AKA Hippophobia. The fear of horses. Okay, so maybe the answer to the question, "Who's afraid of horses?" is "Almost nobody." But if horses were as commonly kept as dogs, this phobia would skyrocket. Horses are big scary herbivores. And they bite. I know this because once I was at a petting zoo and a little… Continue reading Who’s Afraid of Horses? (Fearless February Day 8)
Catherine Austen 