Are You Afraid of Something? There’s a Word for That

Franklin D.Roosevelt used the famous line in his first inaugural address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  As it turns out, there's a word for that. The fear of fear is actually called phobophobia. The world is full of fear. Some fears seem absurd, and some are extreme, and not all fear is bad.

One of the most common fears is thanatophobia, commonly known as the fear of death. It is this fear of death that causes us to drive with caution down the highway, take shelter during a lightning storm or tornado, and stay outside the wild animal enclosures at the zoo.

Some common fears that a lot of  people have are glossophobia,  the fear of public speaking, and kainophobia, which is the fear of anything new.

It is possible that I suffer from lachanophobia, which is the fear of vegetables.I eat some, but avoid most.
If you have difficulty making decisions,  you  may be suffering from deciophobia, the fear of making decisions.

There are some very strange phobias out there like biennophobia, the fear of slime;catoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors; sophophobia, the fear of learning;peladophobia, the fear of bald people, oneirophobia, the fear of dreams;melophophia, the fear of music: and helmintophobia, the fear of being infested with worms.

Maybe you suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia -  the fear of long words!

The next time you are gripped by fear, just remember those famous words from F.D.R., unless, of course,  you suffer from mnemophobia, the fear of memories.