The Most Extreme Phobias

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The biblical verse from Revelation 13:18 which indicates that the number linked to the Antichrist and Satan, the “number of the beast,” is 666 has caused several people to fear or at least anxiety in the Christian community ever since it was widely spread as common knowledge. However, intense fear of the number 666 (hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia) will lead people to have extreme avoidance of the number in any way. A popular example is the house number of Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s house once they moved to Los Angeles in 1989. The address of their house was originally 666 St. Cloud Road but upon moving in the couple made sure it was officially changed to 668 St. Cloud Road. During the summer of 2006, several pregnant women were reported as being afraid of having their children on June 6th, making the child’s birthday 06-06-06. Outside the Christian culture though, the idea of such a fear is generally brushed off or mocked in horror movies.

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This phobia was coined in the United Kingdom after a research study commissioned by the UK Post Office charged the UK based research organization called YouGov to investigate the anxieties of mobile phone users as an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia.” The study found that over 50% of mobile phone users become excessively anxious when they lose their phone, have no network coverage, or run out of battery or talking credits (for those who use prepaid phones). However, this study found out that the anxiety was mild in comparison to other actual phobias, making several reputable psychologists and psychoanalysts doubt the actual presence of this type of phobia and at least believe the word “phobia” is applied too liberally in this instance.

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Phagophobia is a psychogenic manifestation of dysphagia—a physical difficulty swallowing. The sufferers express a variety of swallowing complaints without any physical reason despite laboratory tests and physical inspection. This phobia originally was termed “choking phobia,” but that term proved to be confusing as phagophobia is the fear of pushing a chewed mass of food down the throat as opposed to an actual fear of choking. This phobia can lead to (and can be confused with on occasion) a fear of eating, resulting in anorexia nervosa. Sufferers who do continue to eat though are compulsive about having an ample amount of water with which to eat.

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While somniphobia can be seen in every Freddy Kruger movie (for good reason), it is an actual phobia as well. Sufferers are constantly faced with the negative health effects of lack of sleep as they have anxiety and even panic attacks while laying in bed, awaiting sleep. Some doctors consider somniphobia as merely a symptom of generalized anxiety disorder, but sufferers contradict that idea by claiming to feeling perfectly fine throughout the day.

Author: Brooke Windsor — Copyrighted © roadtickle.com