Medical terms - Letter F
678 terms start with the letter F.
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Fear of being buried alive
An abnormal and persistent fear of being buried alive is called taphephobia. A phobia is an unreasonable sort of fear that can cause avoidance and panic. Phobias are a relatively common type of anxiety disorder. Phobias…
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Fear of birds
An abnormal and persistent fear of birds. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety about encountering and even being attacked by birds although they may realize their fears are quite irrational. Fear of birds was…
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Fear of blood
An abnormal and persistent fear of blood. Sufferers of this very common phobia dread the sight of their own blood, the sight of the blood of another person or an animal, and sometimes printed or filmed images of blood…
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Fear of blushing
An abnormal and persistent fear of blushing. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Their anxiety results from worry about being the focus of attention and the…
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Fear of bridges
An abnormal and persistent fear of bridges, especially crossing bridges. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Their fear may result partly from the fear of…
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Fear of cats
An abnormal and persistent fear of cats which produces an undue anxiety reaction even though sufferers realize their fear is irrational. Sufferers of this phobia may fear not only the scratch or bite of a cat, but also…
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Fear of children
An abnormal and persistent fear of babies and children. Sufferers experience anxiety even though they realize their fear is groundless. Rearing a child or being around active children can both produce anxiety. Fear of…
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Fear of closed spaces
Fear of closed spaces, of being closed in or being shut in as in elevators, tunnels, or any other small confined space is termed claustrophobia. The word 'claustrophobia' is derived from the Latin 'claudere', to shut +…
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Fear of cold
An abnormal and persistent fear of cold, including cold weather and cold objects. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. To avoid cold, they may live in a warm…
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Fear of crossing bridges
An abnormal and persistent fear of crossing bridges. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Their fear may result partly from the fear of enclosure…
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Fear of crossing streets
Abnormal and persistent fear of crossing streets, highways and other thoroughfares; fear of thoroughfares themselves. Sufferers experience anxiety even though they realize that streets, highways and other thoroughfares…
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Fear of demons
S (demons): An abnormal and persistent fear of evil supernatural beings in persons who believe such beings exist and roam freely to cause harm. Those who suffer from this phobia realize their fear is excessive or…
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Fear of depths
An abnormal and persistent fear of depths. Sufferers of this fear experience anxiety even though they realize they are safe from falling into or being consumed by depths. The feared object may be a long, dark hallway, a…
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Fear of dogs
An abnormal and persistent fear of dogs. Sufferers of this fear experience anxiety even though they realize that most dogs pose no threat. To avoid dogs, they may barricade yards or refuse to travel except in an…
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Fear of drinking alcohol
An abnormal and persistent fear of drinking alcohol. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety about addiction to alcohol and the effect this addiction can have on their body. (However, their abstinence from…
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Fear of dust
An abnormal and persistent fear of dust. Sufferers of this fear experience anxiety even though they realize dust poses no threat. Fear of dust is termed 'amathophobia,' a word derived from the Greek 'amathos' (sand) and…
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Fear of feces
El waste): An abnormal and persistent fear of feces (bowel waste). Sufferers of this fear experience anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They go out of their way to avoid coming into contact with…
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Fear of flowers
An abnormal and persistent fear of flowers. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize they face no threat from flowers. Any genus or species of flowers can instill fear, as can any flower part, such as…
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Fear of flying
An irrational fear of flying is called aerophobia. Aerophobia also refers to irrational fear of fresh air or drafts of air. From the Greek 'aero-', air or gas + 'phobos', fear. A virtual reality program that simulates…
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Fear of fur
An abnormal and persistent fear of fur is called doraphobia. Sufferers of this fear avoid fur-bearing animals such as dogs, cats, foxes, beavers and rabbits because fur is repulsive to them. Perhaps some of these…
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Fear of ghosts
An abnormal and persistent fear of ghosts. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They may fear going into woods, empty houses or dark places and may react…
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Fear of going to bed
An abnormal and persistent fear of going to bed. Sufferers of this fear experience anxiety even though they realize that going to bed normally should not threaten their well-being. However, because they worry about…
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Fear of having a malformed child
An abnormal and persistent fear of bearing a malformed child is termed teratophobia. A phobia is an unreasonable sort of fear that can cause avoidance and panic. Phobias are a relatively common type of anxiety disorder…
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Fear of heat
Thermophobia. An abnormally excessive and persistent fear of heat, including hot weather and hot objects. Sufferers from this fear experience anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. To avoid heat…
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Fear of heights
An abnormal and persistent fear of heights. Sufferers experience severe anxiety even though they realize as a rule that heights pose no real threat to them. Fear of heights is termed acrophobia. The word 'acrophobia' is…
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Fear of horses
An abnormal and persistent fear of horses. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even when a horse is known to be gentle and well trained. They usually avoid horses entirely rather than risk being kicked…
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Fear of insects
An abnormal and persistent fear of insects. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize that most insects pose no threat. To avoid insects, they may frequently clean rooms and carpets, sweep…
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Fear of intercourse
An abnormal and persistent fear of male-female sexual intercourse. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety because they are preoccupied with failing in some way while having heterosexual intercourse. Among the…
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Fear of joy
An abnormal, excessive, and persistent fear of experiencing joy or pleasure. Sufferers with this most puritanical of phobias typically feel guilty about experiencing pleasure even though they usually realize rationally…
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Fear of loneliness
An abnormal and persistent fear of loneliness, of being alone. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize that being alone does not threaten their well-being. They may worry about being…
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Fear of marriage
An abnormal and persistent fear of being married. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they may rationally realize that the married state itself poses no threat to them. They may fear the…
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Fear of men
An abnormal and persistent fear of men. Sufferers experience anxiety even though they realize they may face no real threat. Fear of men is termed 'androphobia,' a word derived from the Greek 'andros' (man) and 'phobos'…
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Fear of mirrors
An abnormal and persistent fear of mirrors. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Because their fear often is grounded in superstitions, they may worry that breaking a…
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Fear of money
An abnormal and persistent fear of money. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They worry that they might mismanage money or that money might live up to its reputation as…
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Fear of new things
An irrational fear of anything new, of innovation, of new situations, places, or things. Also called neophobia. In animal behavior, neophobia refers to the tendency of an animal to avoid or retreat from an unfamiliar…
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Fear of nudity
An abnormal and persistent fear of nudity is called gymnophobia. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry about seeing others naked or being…
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Fear of oneself
An irrational fear of oneself, an intense self-fear that is groundless. Fear of oneself is termed 'autophobia' which comes from two Greek words: 'autos' (self) and 'phobos' (fear) = literally, self-fear, fear of…
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Fear of pain
An abnormal and persistent fear of pain. The fear is excessive, beyond that which is expected under the circumstances, producing an anxiety reaction. Fear of pain is termed 'algophobia,' a word derived from the Greek…
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Fear of pleasure
An abnormal, excessive, and persistent fear of pleasure. Sufferers with this most puritanical of phobias typically feel guilty about experiencing pleasure even though they usually realize rationally there is nothing at…
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Fear of public places
This irrational fear is called agoraphobia. It applies to open areas, especially those from which escape could be difficult or help not immediately accessible. Persons with agoraphobia frequently also have panic…
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Fear of self
An irrational fear of oneself, an intense self-fear that is groundless. Fear of oneself is termed 'autophobia' which comes from two Greek words: 'autos' (self) and 'phobos' (fear) = literally, self-fear, fear of…
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Fear of sexual intercourse
An abnormal and persistent fear of male-female sexual intercourse. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety because they are preoccupied with failing in some way while having heterosexual intercourse. Among the…
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Fear of sharks
Excessive and persistent fear of sharks is termed galeophobia. Sufferers from this phobia experience anxiety even though they may be safe on a boat or in an aquarium or on a beach. Hollywood films depicting sharks as…
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Fear of socializing
Ial phobia): Excessive fear of embarrassment in social situations that is extremely intrusive and can have debilitating effects on personal and professional relationships. Phobias are persistent, irrational fears of…
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Fear of solitude
An abnormal and persistent fear of solitude, of being alone. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize that being alone does not threaten their well-being. They may worry about being…
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Fear of spiders
An abnormal and persistent fear of spiders. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize the risk of encountering a spider and being harmed by it is small or nonexistent. They may avoid going…
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Fear of the dark
Pathological fear of the dark, an abnormal and persistent dread of the dark. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they may rationally realize that the dark does not pose a threat commensurate with their fear…
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Fear of the number 13
A morbid fear of the number 13. Also known as triskaidekaphobia. Written reference to the superstitious fear of the number thirteen dates to the late 1800s. Its origin is conjectural (a matter of guesswork). The term…
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Fear of thunder
An abnormal and persistent fear of thunder that causes undue anxiety even though sufferers realize that thunder itself poses no threat to them. When outdoors during a thunderstorm, they may suffer excessive anxiety…
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Fear of thunderstorms
An abnormal and persistent fear of thunderstorms. Sufferers experience anxiety even when they realize the risk of harm is very small. Consequently, when indoors they might seek shelter under a bed, in a closet or in a…