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 an intense, sometimes irrational fear of the sun.

Some people with this condition are also afraid of bright, indoor light.

The word heliophobia has its root in the Greek word helios, which means sun.

For some people, heliophobia may be caused by extreme anxiety about getting skin cancer.

This week’s phobias:

Monday, 21 November – Emetophobia

Tuesday, 22 November – Gamophobia

Wednesday, 23 November

Thursday, 24 November

Friday, 25 November

Last week:

Tuesday, 15 November – Ablutophobia

Wednesday, 16 November – Barophobia

Thursday, 17 November – Chrometophobia

Friday, 18 November – Dystychiphobia

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.