When President Roosevelt spoke of Phobophobia in his inaugural address ("...nothing to fear but fear itself.") he may not have realized all of the different things that Americans do fear. After perusing a list of official phobias, I realized that each of these was defined because at least some people must actually be afraid of these things! Some are obvious and almost universal I would think at some point in our lives.
For example, I think that many kids/teens have the following phobias during the school years:
Scolionophobia or Didaskaleinophobia- Fear of school
Testophobia- Fear of taking tests.
Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns
Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing
Dentophobia- Fear of dentists
And for you awkward-types: Caligynephobia or Venustraphobia- Fear of beautiful women
All of this typically turns into Ergophobia (Fear of work) by adulthood, and if you are a man then you probably have Mallophobia (fear of shopping with your wife/girlfriend)...OK, I made that one up.
If you are a typical American Vampire, then you most likely have the following phobias:
Heliophobia or Eosophobia- Fear of the sun or daylight.
Ecclesiophobia- Fear of church
Staurophobia- Fear of crosses or the crucifix
People with Vestiphobia (fear of clothing) are typically popular at parties; however the you will never see these people at a party, or if you do, they are major party poopers:
Chorophobia- Fear of dancing.
Melophobia- Fear or hatred of music.
Geliophobia- Fear of laughter
Methyphobia or Potophobia- Fear of alcohol.
Oenophobia- Fear of wines (for the Potophobes who like beer)
Erotophobia or Genophobia- Fear of sexual situations or sex acts.
Tomorrow I'll talk about phobias of body parts and functions (including all your favorites), and some really strange phobias that will make you wonder how certain people function in the modern world.