panic disorder. Mycophobia Fear of mushrooms

Human fears cannot be counted. The most remarkable thing is that with the passage of time and the development of society, the number of phobias in Homo sapiens is only growing.

So, to the standard fear of spiders and the dark, a modern person has added a couple of hundred sophisticated phobias that surprise, amuse and even shock.

But no matter what types of phobias we hear about, the fear of flowers or the sun seems absolutely absurd and unreasonable. Next, you are waiting for 14 phobias, "donated" to man by nature.

Fear of clouds - Nephophobia

It is unlikely that those suffering from nephophobia were so happy about the “white-maned horses” from the cartoon “Shake! Hello! ”, because the sight of the clouds causes sovereign horror in them. Rather, instead of animal figures of white air flakes, they represent monsters ready to attack them at any moment.

It is not difficult to identify a person with non-phophobia - he basically always looks at his feet when the sky is clear, he can admire him, but when there is at least one cloud on him, he is afraid to raise his head. If he sees a cloud during the film, in pictures or anywhere else, then he will start, if not panic, then at least an unpleasant state with a rapid pulse and trembling palms.

Fear of cold, ice and frost - cryophobia (Cryophobia)

Many of us are afraid of winter, cold, being left without food, freezing to death, what horrors are not associated with cold. Only almost everyone understands that this is just a fiction, and the chance of the listed is incredibly small. However, those who suffer from cryophobia do not think so. They are horrified by everything that is connected with the cold, they hate winter and are afraid of it.

Oddly enough, it is not the inhabitants of the northern latitudes who suffer from this disease at all - they live in the cold, and are not at all afraid of it, they know how to not only survive in such an environment, but also live with pleasure. The inhabitants of the southern latitudes do not suffer either - they simply do not know what to be afraid of. But the middle latitudes, where no, no, and a really harsh winter happens (well, or a week of really severe frosts) - they just get sick sometimes.

Fear of the day - Eosophobia

"We are getting closer to death every day." For some, this is an almost meaningless quote, but for patients with eosophobia, it fully characterizes their condition. Fear of the onset of a new day - this is precisely what this pathology implies. What will happen tomorrow? What could be the next day? To some extent, it is the fear of the unknown. Patients are afraid of what the next dawn brings.

Fear of sunlight - Phengophobia

The disease of vampires is phengophobia. Fearing sunlight, which causes them physical pain, vampires in both books and films could not stay on it for a long time, although ordinary light did not cause any reactions in them. In real life, patients with phengophobia experience mental suffering from sunlight, which they have developed as a result of some kind of long-term illness, for example, eye disease (bright light cuts and hurts).

Fear of the moon - Selenophobia

Wolves, werewolves, UFOs - whoever suffers from selenophobia can not imagine. The fear of the moon is common and was common in areas with nearby forest. The full moon has always been associated with an awakening beast that wants to eat human beings. Moreover, these howls of dogs, wolves during the full moon - all this, of course, evokes horror.

Fear of the Northern Lights - Auroraphobia

A very rare pathology and one of the most "painless". Causes a sharp feeling of fear and panic at the sight of the northern lights.

Auroraphobia occurs infrequently due to the great remoteness of the object itself, which causes negative emotions. As you know, the northern lights can be seen only over the polar parts of the Earth and only in the northern hemisphere, especially often in the northern parts of Alaska, Finland, Siberia, the USA, Canada and Scandinavia. And even then, only at certain periods of time, most often in winter between 10 and 12 o'clock at night. In addition, the sky must be cloudless. So the chance to see the northern lights is not so great.

Fear of the sun - Heliophobia

Pathology is associated with the fear of the sun and its rays. It is usually the result of fear of other diseases, such as skin cancer. Sometimes pathology occurs after eye diseases, which, in turn, react very sharply to bright light. Heliophobia often leads to agoraphobia (fear of open spaces).

Fear of rain - Ombrophobia

There is one very interesting disease - ombrophobia. It lies in the fear of getting caught in the rain. It is to fall under him, because the sight of rain, his image or himself, walking next to the patient, but not falling on him, does not cause absolutely no negative emotions. However, as soon as one drop falls on a person suffering from this pathology, he goes into a panic and experiences terrible fear.

Fear of the forest - Hylophobia

“To be afraid of wolves - do not go into the forest” is the perfect saying to describe hylophobia, the fear of the forest. Only hylophobes are afraid not only of wolves, but also of maniacs, wild animals, killers, even monsters, that is, everyone who can hide in the forest and harm them. A progressive disease can cause fear in a patient who is even in a small landing.

Fear of mushrooms - Mycophobia

Nowadays, with such an abundance of various phobias, people are afraid of literally everything. Some fears are justified in some way, and some have no power under them. Mycophobia is the fear of mushroom poisoning, which appeared under the influence of numerous factors and torments a huge number of people.

Fear of flowers - Anthrophobia

The causes of anthophobia can be different, ranging from a specific situation in a person’s life (for example, a child was picking flowers, a bee flew out of a bouquet and bit the baby, fear of bouquets of flowers was deposited in the subconscious of the child) and ending with heredity. It is heredity that most antophobes should say thanks to. After all, as you know, genes are responsible not only for the appearance of a person, but also for his emotional characteristics.

Fear of smells - offactophobia

Most people live and do not pay much attention to the smells around them. But there are also people for whom smells play a rather serious role. Olfactophobes are people who are afraid of smells. As a rule, they are afraid of some specific aromas that evoke unpleasant associations or memories in them (usually these are pungent, spicy smells, or sweat smells). The consequences of this seemingly funny phobia can be very serious, in some cases olfactophobia can drive the patient crazy.

Fear of animals - zoophobia

Far from every person the sight of a small puppy or kitten can cause tenderness. There are people who can't stand animals. And this does not mean at all that such people are callous and evil, it is quite possible that they suffer from zoophobia, or, more simply, they are afraid of animals.

Zoophobia is a fairly common form of irrational fears. In addition, it can take many different forms (for example, fear of dogs, birds, reptiles, etc.). Usually zoophobic panic is caused by a particular type of animal, although in rare and especially neglected cases, such people may be afraid of animals in general.

Fear of insects - Entomophobia

Among various phobias, there are also such as fear of insects or entomophobia. People suffering from this phobia really hate summer, because it is at this time that various beeches, midges and other spider bugs begin to live an active life.

It should be noted that arachnophobia (fear of spiders) is different. In the case of entomophobia, the patient absolutely does not care who crawls in front of him, the important thing is that this creature moves, jumps, flies and, accordingly, frightens the entomophobe.

Mycophobia is the fear of being poisoned by mushrooms. If mycophobia proceeds in a mild form, then the patient finds the strength to politely refuse the mushroom dish, tries to come up with convincing reasons. In more severe cases, a person’s mood instantly worsens, he looks depressed, mentally withdraws into himself, as if trying to focus on a specific problem. He begins to feel sick, often vomiting occurs.

Symptoms of mycophobia

A clear sign of mycophobia is fear at the sight of mushrooms.

In addition, the phobia has physical manifestations of the following nature:

  • a sharp increase or decrease in blood pressure;
  • cardiopalmus;
  • pupil dilation;
  • tremor in the limbs;
  • increased sweating;
  • skin color change
  • and etc.

Cause of mycophobia

Fear is a basic reaction that is designed to protect a person in a dangerous situation. It does not matter whether the situation carries a real threat to life or an imaginary one, fear always works the same way.

The causes of mycophobia can be very diverse. Psychologists associate the development of a phobia with the influence of one of the following factors:

  1. The genetic aspect - mycophobia, could result from a related transmission. Perhaps, in your generation, someone experienced the same fear and now you have inherited it.
  2. A traumatic event in childhood - in most cases, the source of the development of fears is a traumatic event that occurred in childhood. Due to the fact that the event was of a long-standing nature, it was forgotten in consciousness and postponed to the subconscious.
  3. Bad experience - if a person has performed an action and it has brought a result that was not expected, then fear may arise as a result of this.
  4. Imposed fear - since a person belongs to a social species, then, accordingly, he is subject to the influence of his fellows. Fear is a contagious phenomenon, so mycophobia could have arisen as a result of information received from friends, the media, books, films and other sources.
  5. Depression - mental disorders, stress greatly exhaust the body. As a result, the resources to maintain the active state become less and less. Which leads to the emergence of various phobias and fears.

How to get rid of mycophobia?

The easiest and most well-known way to get rid of mycophobia is to overcome this fear by willpower. However, in practice, not everyone is capable of this. Therefore, in psychological practice, uses slightly different approaches.

Pharmacological approach

For the treatment of fears, as well as other psychological disorders, drugs of different groups are used.

  • Tranquilizers: "Afobazol", "Phenazepam", "Tenoten", "Trioxazine";
  • Antidepressants: "Amizol", "Reboxetine", "Autoriks";
  • Hypnotics: Zopiclone, Relaxon, Zolpidem;
  • Antipsychotics: "Aminazin", "Klopiksol", "Eglonil".

Please note that self-treatment can lead to unpredictable consequences. Since many of the drugs listed here have a large number of side effects. Only the attending physician can determine the dosage and duration of the course.

Psychological approach

Most often, I use a psychological approach to treat fears and phobias. Its use is justified because it allows you to achieve a quick and sustainable result. The most common practices among psychologists are as follows:

  • Psychotherapy - with the patient, the root cause of the appearance of fear is clarified. After that, its study is carried out at a deep level of the subconscious.
  • Psycho-correction - the essence lies in modeling special situations, having coped with which, a person gets rid of fear.
  • Hypnosis - a specialist leads a person into a trance state in which he imposes the correct reaction to a stimulus.
  • Autotraining - as a result of regular autogenic training, a person's stress level decreases. Which makes it easier for him.

In medical psychology, complex methods and approaches are mainly used to overcome fears and phobias. Of all their diversity, stands out. With it, you can overcome fear in just 14 days. The effectiveness of the technique used has already been recognized by many practicing psychologists.

What could be better than a trip to the forest for mushrooms. By passion, their collection is akin to fishing and hunting. How much joy each found mushroom brings. Mushroom after mushroom, and now a whole basket and the anticipation of a delicious homemade mushroom dish. But, not everyone shares this passion. People suffering from mycophobia - the fear of being poisoned by mushrooms, are terrified of even touching them, not to mention eating them.


Mycophobia is an acquired phobia. Here are her reasons.

1. Direct encounter with mushroom poisoning.

2. Mushrooms are both edible and poisonous. One of these is enough to get poisoned. They are very toxic. Therefore, there is a risk.

3. Every year, environmental pollution with hazardous chemical production waste and other harmful substances increases, and the fungus, in itself, is an absorbent natural sponge. An edible mushroom can become lethal, especially in industrial and roadside areas.

4. In the spring and autumn periods, there are often reports in the media about mushroom poisoning.

For these reasons, many impressionable, suspicious people develop mycophobia - the fear of mushrooms. They are terribly afraid and categorically refuse to eat them, regardless of where they are grown. If such a person accidentally eats a fungus and finds out about it, he will start to panic, and he will immediately feel all the symptoms of poisoning, he will cramp out of fear of the limb.

Due to the deterioration of the environmental situation, the danger of poisoning by mushrooms grown in natural conditions increases every year, so those suffering from mycophobia probably win more than they lose. As they say, be careful and God saves!

This list can be seen not only as a list of unusual fears, but also as a story about how complex Latin words can be.

Our brain is extremely complex, which allows us to enjoy all the delights of human existence. Alas, sometimes this complexity leads to unexpected problems, and certain situations cause us a strange anxiety, which over time can turn into a persistent fear - a phobia.

Phobias are anxiety disorders that cause us to do our best to avoid certain things that we perceive as dangerous. And while it's perfectly normal to be afraid of, say, venomous snakes, people with phobias put a disproportionate amount of effort into never encountering the object of their fear.

Such disorders fall into two main categories: social and specific phobias. Among the first is the fear of humiliation, which manifests itself, for example, as a fear of public speaking. The latter are more often related to a certain setting or objects - for example, fear of depth or snakes. Most of the disorders on this list are specific phobias.

Thalassophobia is the fear of the sea. People suffering from this phobia may experience panic attacks at the sight of sunken objects or shipwrecks.

If you suffer from deipnophobia, you have no choice but to dine at home watching TV shows: this is the fear of dinners and conversations over them.

The fear of long words has received the merciless name ofphobia.

Turophobia, the fear of cheese, may prevent you from hooking up with such a cheddar lover.

Meditation is not an appropriate hobby for those suffering from omphalophobia: they are afraid of the navel.

Nomophobia is the fear of being left without access to mobile communications.

Can we assume that Catholics do not suffer from papaphobia - the fear of the Pope?

Perhaps the most specific phobia on this list: arachibutyrophobia is the fear that peanut butter will stick to your palate.

You should definitely stay away from bards if you suffer from metrophobia - the fear of poetry.

And if you have been diagnosed with pogonophobia, it is better to avoid hipster cafes: this is a fear of beards.

People suffering from genuphobia - fear of the knees - must not be very fond of warm days.

Nobody likes jazz on the flute, but especially people with aulophobia, the fear of flutes.

Lachanophobia is a panic fear at the sight of vegetables. It is better for such people to stay away from the markets.

Geniophobia is the fear of chins.

And zelophobia is the fear of jealousy, which itself is the fear of losing something or someone (do not confuse it with envy).

Mycophobia is the fear of mushrooms.

The bad news for the happy euphobic is the fear of good news.

Cinderella probably suffered from Noverkaphobia: the fear of foster mothers.

But it must be much more common for people to deal with pentheraphobia: the fear of mothers-in-law.