It's entirely possible you're suffering from Friggatriskaidekaphobia and you don't even know it.
friggatriskaidekaphobia
(def.) – The fear of Friday the 13th.
“Frigg” – The Norse goddess whom Friday is named after.
“Triskaidekaphobia” – The fear of 13.
Millions of Americans are afraid of Friday the 13th but it still isn’t among the most common phobias. People who suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia suffer everything from a little bit of anxiety to a feeling of doom to full-on panic attacks when Friday the 13th approaches. Which are the exact symptoms I show whenever I realize the dishwasher needs to be emptied.
Just for fun, because it's Friday, take a gander at this list of phobias and see how you and your phobias stack up against the 10 most common.
10 Most Common Phobias
1. Arachnophobia
- The fear of spiders.
- This phobia tends to affect women more than men.
I think it's just good common sense to be frightened of something that might randomly drop down off of the ceiling into your coffee.
2. Ophidiophobia
- The fear of snakes.
- Often attributed to evolutionary causes, personal experiences, or cultural influences.
3. Acrophobia
- The fear of heights.
- This fear can lead to anxiety attacks and avoidance of high places.
I do find heights unappealing. Again. It's common sense if you ask me anything.
4. Agoraphobia
- The fear of situations in which escape is difficult.
- This may include crowded areas, open spaces, or situations that are likely to trigger a panic attack. People will begin avoiding these trigger events, sometimes to the point that they cease leaving their home.
5. Cynophobia
- The fear of dogs.
- This phobia is often associated with specific personal experiences, such as being bitten by a dog during childhood.
6. Astraphobia
- The fear of thunder and lightening.
- Also known as Brontophobia, Tonitrophobia, or Ceraunophobia.
7. Trypanophobia
- The fear of injections.
- Like many phobias, this fear often goes untreated because people avoid the triggering object and situation.
8. Social Phobias
- The fear of social situations.
- In many cases, these phobias can become so severe that people avoid events, places, and people that are likely to trigger an anxiety attack.
9. Pteromerhanophobia
- The fear of flying.
- Often treated using exposure therapy, in which the client is gradually and progressively introduced to flying.
10. Mysophobia
- The fear of germs or dirt.
- May be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder
Let’s hear them. Do you have 1, 2, 3 or none of the top 10 phobias? Or perhaps you have the be all and end all of phobias Phobophobia – the fear of phobias.
If you have an interesting phobia lemme know. If not, have a friggin fantastic and Friggatriskaidekaless Friday the 13th.
I think this is one of the best posts where I have learned so much, both from Karen and the folks who have commented. The one I learned the most about is agorophobia. You never know what others' life experiences are and how that experience affects them.
How about the fear of long words -
hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
It is just cruel to have the name be that long.
I am afraid of rodents- mice or rats. I think that should’ve made the top 10? But a weird phobia ( imo) is koumpounophobia - fear of buttons! I only know about this because i made a Geocache and decorated it with buttons- in a fit of craftiness- and someone complained!
Trypophobia 🤢🤮😫
What about claustrophobia? I can add that to a couple of others, especially acrophobia (it nearly paralyzes me). To dd to the list -- I am not this -- or haphephobia (fear of being touched).
I have agoraphobia. It started as just feeling really anxious in long lines, such as the border crossing from Canada to US, or in airport security lines. In those situations, you can't just leave the line without losing your place. Additionally, you have to walk past everyone else in the security lines to leave, and it's disruptive and everyone notices.
It wasn't really a problem for me because these are pretty rare experiences in my life.
But then the pandemic hit, and my anxiety about being around people in lines got worse. It peaked when I went to a mass vaccination clinic in my city, and the lines were literally 3 hours long of those zig zag corrals. There was no easy way to exit the line if you needed to pee, and it was boring, so my brain just kept focusing on that I couldn't get out. I felt very anxious and was internally panicking.
These days, I still feel panic a bit when there is a traffic jam and the cars aren't moving. I tend to avoid things with long lines, such as concerts and sports events. I don't like to fly because of the security lines.
That being said, it's really frustrating that people think agoraphobia equals being homebound. That is not the case for me, as I still do normal stuff like going to the movies, shopping, vacations, etc. I just HATE being in long lines.
Best of luck to everyone with a phobia. They are often misunderstood and mocked, and it's frustrating if you actually have one.
The movie Saturday the 14th. Mom went out with the baby and dad was left alone with the rest of us. So he "let" us watch a horror movie on tv. I spent most of it with my head in the couch. (3 years old? maybe). Not sure when exactly mom discovered he had done this. When she got home, or when my brother woke up screaming. 😂 She was SO MAD! I had a few nightmares, I think my oldest brother had it the worst. Dad keeps going on that now we're older we could appreciate it and see how funny it was with all the rubber costumes and stuff. Don't know what bro said, but I told him, NO. Maybe if I hadn't seen it so young and had nightmares, then perhaps, but NOPE. Not happening! Never ever ever!
I am not "afraid" of heights. I get dizzy, vomit, and pass out. This may involve falling off a rope bridge after passing out because of the nasty fat man jumping up and down on the *bleeping!* bridge behind me. I was 6. Bleeping! Jerk. Grrrr....
(Thankfully I didn't actually fall into the river and or get killed falling onto the rocks, but real situation with a realistic fear, that just makes sense. Farther down the river was a stable bridge, which I insisted from then on be the only one I would use. No matter how
much of a fuss dad threw. He shouldn't have made me use that bleep! swinging bridge in the first place. So much for trying to face my fear of that bleep! bridge. I tried, but there was a nasty guy behind me that ruined it. If the world needs saving and it involves crossing a rope bridge, sorry world, we die. 😆
Fear of bridges. Even pictures give me the heebie jeebies. I can’t drive on them at all, feel like I’m going to die, and am actually a danger to others as I slow down so much I’m a hazard. It wasn’t always like this, but after one panic attack on a high rise about 20 years ago, I’ve never recovered. I went to get help for it many years ago, and all the visualizations they had me do slowly made me scared of freeway on ramps and any big curves too. Now I have a wonderful husband who drives me, or I plan ahead all my routes and just take an extraordinarily long time getting places. Used to have partners that pressured me to get “fixed”, but I’m just content to leave as is and work around it, even if that means all that extra time getting around!
Spiders ? Blech. And why do they weave their admittedly beautiful webs just at face height, and then dangle upside down in the middle waiting for you to walk into. Blech, blech and blech. And planes. With or without two wings. And needles. And thunder. The ultimate horror would be flying through a thunderstorm, having dental work with a spider hanging down. At the risk of being repetitive .... Blech
Pteronophobia (fear of feathers) but also Ornithophobia (fear of birds). I ugly cry, meltdown completely, run away if a bird comes close but just a feather itself kind of gives me a stomach ache. Bats are ok (they don't have feathers). We have only determined that it started when I was chased across the street by a big protective daddy duck at the park when I was little. He came flapping at me to chase me down after my mom had just said, "Gina, they are more afraid of you than you are of them!" Wrong!
I have absolutely no fear of snakes, frogs, spiders, bugs of any kind but I just am terrified of birds. I can look at them in pictures but if they are flapping or fluffed out in the picture, even that makes my stomach hurt.
I keep thinking I'll grow out of it but at 57 years old, I'm thinking I'm stuck with it. lol
Claustrophobia.- fear of confined spaces. I get slightly panicky just thinking about it. I actually think it's a pretty logical fear given the wole running out of oxygen in a closed space thing.
*whole running out of oxygen
Arachnophobia defined me but now at 78, I'm not as fearful. I learned that fear of spiders represented a unnatural problem with your mother. Once I thought about it I began noticing I wasn't terrified anymore but just hated them. Now I don't hate them, I understand their purpose in this world and can respect that but don't one one crawling on me. Florida has tons of HUGE spiders so I think I'm cured. I do suffer from Acrophobia, being near or even thinking about looking over an edge - fear of falling - it makes me slightly dizzy and off kilter and I panic when close to edges. Mountains? I love IF I'm the one driving and know I won't go near the edge. I guess Trust is my big issue. Thanks for the info on Frigg - I thought it was a dirty word and not the name of a Norse Goddess!
Full blown Arachniphobiac here! The 2" black,furry type are back at my house this year ( pretty close to you Karen) and I am close to making a holster to carry the Spider Ban can. The worst part is they are friendly in the house and run at you like they want to play!
Heights, snakes, and flying. I’m a wimp!
I like you have a fear of centipedes/silverfish. Is there a name for that?!? They find me and I think they stalk me.
Chilopodophobia. The fear of centipedes. And there's no doubt about it, they do stalk. ~ karen!
Fear of water due to a near-drowning incident as a very small child that I vividly remember. The irony is I love the feeling of being in the water. Over the years I’ve taken swim lessons on and off - including lessons specifically for adults who are afraid of the water. It’s never worked. Until now. I joined the local rec center and took lessons this past Spring. During the first 4 or 5 lessons I was clinging to the wall - in the shallow end - and wouldn’t let go. After the set of 12 lessons ended, I’ve continued to go to the pool on my own to practice. Miracle of miracles, while I still get a little panicky, I am now swimming in the deep end and, while my form is crap, I taught myself to breathe during freestyle (which I still couldn’t do at the end of the lessons). I plan to take more lessons this Fall and continue swimming 3 or 4 days a week through the winter. At the ripe old age of 65, it’s almost more about conquering a long-held, deep-seated fear than it is about the actual swimming.
I generally just have the odd bout of FOMO. Especially if there’s a craft course on nearby. Or a food festival…
Ya. Craft courses do trigger, don't they? ~ karen!
Thankfully no superstitions. Acute acrophobia for me, had it all my life, don't know why. But oddly enough I've a passion for aviation. If it's got a motor and a wing, I'll happily fly in it without any fear.
I would insist on a second wing.
😝
Hah! - good one. Also odd that I won't get into a hot air balloon basket or a glider. Helicopters, jets and piston aircraft? All fine.
😆😂🤣