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Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Extreme cases of fear can trigger an immobilized freeze ...
The term is a piece of computer humor entered into the 1981 The Devil's DP Dictionary. [47] Anatidaephobia – the fictional fear that one is being watched by a duck. The word comes from the name of the family Anatidae, and was used in Gary Larson's The Far Side. [48] Anoraknophobia – a portmanteau of "anorak" and "arachnophobia".
A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. [7] [8] [9] [1] Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. [1]
Autophobia is closely related to monophobia, isolophobia, and eremophobia, however, it varies slightly in definition. According to the Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, eremophobia is a morbid fear of being isolated. [21] In contrast, The Practitioner's Medical Dictionary defines autophobia as a morbid fear of solitude or one's self. [1]
Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among toddlers, children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Most toddlers and children outgrow it, but this fear persists for some with scotophobia and anxiety.
Ophidiophobia (/ ə ˌ f ɪ d i oʊ ˈ f oʊ b i ə /), or ophiophobia (/ ˌ oʊ f i oʊ ˈ f oʊ b i ə /), is fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by the more general term herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (ὄφις), snake, and "phobia" (φοβία) meaning fear. [1]
The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., an addictive substance, a medication) or another medical condition. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder, such as panic disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, or autism spectrum disorder.
The word angst was introduced into English from the Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch word angst and the German word Angst. It is attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Søren Kierkegaard and Sigmund Freud. [1] [2] [3] It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or inner turmoil.