Phobia of the Day: Ataxophobia

A phobia is an anxiety disorder involving excessive and persistent fear of a situation or object. Exposure to the source of the fear triggers an immediate anxiety response.

Most specific phobias fall into one of four major categories:

• Fears of the natural environment
• Fears related to animals
• Fear related to medical treatments or issues
• Fears related to specific situations

Phobia of the Day: Ataxophobia is a mental dread of disorder or untidiness.

Someone with this type of phobia may feel intense distress in messy environments or even while thinking about the disorder. 

This specific phobia is closely linked with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Symptoms of Ataxophobia may include:

• Chest pain 
• Fainting or dizziness
• Heart palpitations 
• Nausea or vomiting 
• Shortness of breath 
• Sweating 
• Tremors or uncontrollable shaking 

SELF-CARE TIPS FOR PHOBIAS THAT BRING ON ANXIETY

• Talk to someone you trust. 
• Learn to manage panic and anxiety. 
• Look into joining a support group. 
• Use self-help resources. 
• Take a course for your specific phobia.

THIS WEEK’S LIST:

Friday, 16 December – Astraphobia

Thursday, 15 December – Anthophobia

Wednesday, 14 December – Bibliophobia

Tuesday, 13 December – Koinoniphobia

Monday, 12 December – Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

RECENT PHOBIA WORD POSTS:

Sunday, 11 December – Chloephobia

Saturday, 10 December – Globophobia

Thursday, 8 December – Chrometophobia

Wednesday, 7 December – Anemophobia

Tuesday, 6 December – Amaxophobia

Monday, 5 December – Zuigerphobia

Do you have a phobia you suffer from that you’d like to share?

If so, send an email to info@thesouthafrican.com or a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211 and we’ll publish the ones that we feel are most interesting!

You can also follow @TheSAnews on Twitter and The South African on Facebook for all the latest phobias.