Scopophobia is more serious, however. People with this phobia may feel that others are scrutinizing and examining them, which creates feelings of distress, discomfort, and fear. Scopophobia is often, though not always, associated with other social phobias. Untreated, the fear may worsen over time.
Scopophobia is an excessive fear of being watched. People with scopophobia find social interactions extremely stressful because they think people are judging them. Some people avoid socializing altogether. The phobia can stop them enjoying everyday activities or impact their work or school life.
Scopophobia is an exaggerated fear of being looked at or watched. People with scopophobia typically feel highly self-conscious and often avoid social situations. Some don't even like to make eye contact with other people.
1. Arachibutyrophobia (Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth) Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
For many, scopophobia may be a symptom of social anxiety disorder, rather than existing as a stand-alone condition. Social anxiety is common in the US, with some research estimating up to 15% of people will develop the condition at some point in their lives.
Social anxiety disorder is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. This fear can affect work, school, and other daily activities. It can even make it hard to make and keep friends. The good news is social anxiety disorder is treatable.
As we age, we produce much less adrenaline, which can cause racing hearts and dizziness. This means the intense fears we may have experienced in youth no longer trouble us as much. However, older people often experience a greater sense of vulnerability, so things like heights or big crowds become more of an issue.
Eye Contact and Social Anxiety Disorder
This is likely due, in part, to genetic wiring. Research has shown that people diagnosed with SAD have a pronounced fear of direct eye contact. 1 If you have SAD, the part of your brain that warns you of danger (your amygdala) can be triggered by eye contact.
If your child was left-handed, you'd basically have to adopt them out to survive. Bibliophobia: a fear of books. The saddest phobia of them all.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words. Understanding the phobia can help you overcome it and live a fulfilling life. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary, and ironically, it means the fear of long words.
A phobia is an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal. Phobias are more pronounced than fears. They develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object.
For the majority of people with undiagnosed or untreated anxiety disorder, there are many negative consequences, for both the individual and society. These include disability, reduced ability to work leading to loss of productivity, and a high risk of suicide.
Phobias are one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), approximately 12.5% of adults in the U.S. will deal with a specific phobia in their lifetime.1 Women are more likely to experience phobias than men.
Women develop specific phobias roughly twice as frequently as men. In addition, women tend to predominate in certain phobia categories.
Although specific phobias often begin in childhood, their incidence peaks during midlife and old age. Phobias persist for several years or even decades in 10–30% of cases, and are strongly predictive of onset of other anxiety, mood, and substance-use disorders.
We are born with only two innate fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds. A 1960 study evaluated depth perception among 6- to14-month-old infants, as well as young animals.
Scopophobia, scoptophobia, or ophthalmophobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by a morbid fear of being seen in public or stared at by others. Similar phobias include erythrophobia, the fear of blushing, and an epileptic's fear of being looked at, which may itself precipitate such an attack.
1) Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
Arachnophobia is the most common phobia – sometimes even a picture can induce feelings of panic. And lots of people who aren't phobic as such still avoid spiders if they can.
Is this normal? Turns out, it kind of is. In places with limited visual cues for the brain to process — like in dark places, or when we're around people wearing sunglasses — we tend to assume we're being watched.
The word sophophobia is made up of 2 Greek words, Sophia and phobia. Sophia means wisdom. 2. Thus, sophophobia is the fear of learning or of knowledge.
What is nyctophobia? Nyctophobia is an extreme fear of the dark. The name comes from the Greek word for night. Children and adults with nyctophobia may fear being alone in the dark.
How common is phobophobia? It's hard knowing exactly how many people have a specific phobia, like phobophobia, but it's rare. We do know that about 1 in 10 American adults and 1 in 5 teenagers will deal with a specific phobia disorder at some point in their lives, though.