Phobia of the Day: Heliophobia

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: Heliophobia is the irrational fear of the sun. 

Someone with this type of phobia can expect to experience a very high amount of anxiety from merely thinking of the sun, let alone actually seeing it.

Symptoms of Heliophobia may include:

• expect to have an increased heart rate
• an increased rate of breathing
• higher blood pressure, muscle tension
• Trembling
• excessive sweating
• among several other symptoms.

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.

LAST WEEK’S LIST:

Monday, 19 December – Ailurophobia

Sunday, 18 December – Cyberphobia

Saturday, 17 December – Ataxophobia

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!

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