Necrophobia

"Thanatophobia" redirects here. For other uses, see Thanatophobia (disambiguation).

Necrophobia is the abnormal fear of dead things (e.g., corpses) as well as things associated with death (e.g., coffins, tombstones). Necrophobia is derived from Greek nekros (νεκρός) for "corpse" and -phob- from the Greek phobos (φόβος) for "fear".^[1]With all types of emotions, obsession with death becomes evident in both fascination and objectification.^[2]

Symptoms include: shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, dry mouth and shaking, feeling sick and uneasy, psychological instability, and an altogether feeling of dread and trepidation.^[3] The sufferer may feel this phobia all the time, or only when something triggers the fear, like a close encounter with a dead animal or the funeral of a loved one or friend.^[4] The fear may have developed when a person witnessed a death, or was forced to attend a funeral as a child. Some people experience this after viewing frightening media.^[3]

The fear is an important illness and should be taken seriously. Treatment for this should be some type of medication or therapy can be used also.^[5]

Thanatophobia

Similar to necrophobia, thanatophobia is the more specific fear of death itself, of being dead or dying. Thanatophobia is not the psychological phenomenon of death anxiety, nor the related but more philosophically-motivated 'existential angst'; death anxiety and existential angst are not phobias. People suffering from thanatophobia are so preoccupied with death or dying that it begins to affect their daily lives. They may even develop other disorders as they try to cope with their phobia, such as obsessive–compulsive disorder or hypochondriasis.^[6] Thanatophobia is derived from Thanatos (θάνατος: "death"), the Greek personification of death.

See also

• List of phobias

References

1. ^ Thomas, Clayton L., M.D., M.P.H. (1993). Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Edition 18. F.A. Davis. ISBN 0-8036-0194-8. 
2. ^ Woods, Timothy J. (NaN undefined NaN). "Death in Contemporary Western Culture". Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 18 (3): 333–343. doi:10.1080/09596410701396071. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Heering, Jan (23rd August 2010). "Necrophobia". How To Cure Necrophobia?. http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/necrophobia.html. Retrieved 2 September 2010. 
4. ^ "Necrophobia". ThinkQuest. http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00415/Necrophobia.htm. Retrieved 2 September 2010. 
5. ^ ellis-christensen, tricia. "what is necrophobia?". o. wallace. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-necrophobia.htm. Retrieved 10/15/2011. 
6. ^ Fritscher, Lisa (August 26, 2010). "Thanatophobia: Fear of Death". About.com: Phobias. http://phobias.about.com/od/phobiaslist/a/thanatophobia.htm. Retrieved 14 September 2010. 

External links

• All About Necrophobia

This abnormal psychology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Phobias Abnormal psychology stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР Danny Tamberelli Leslie Orgel Look at other dictionaries: Necrophobia — Nec ro*pho bi*a, n. [NL., fr. Gr. nekro s a dead body + fobei^n to fear.] An exaggerated fear of death or horror of dead bodies. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English necrophobia — (n.) abnormal fear of death or corpses, 1833, from NECRO (Cf. necro ) + phobia fear of (see PHOBIA (Cf. phobia)). Related: Necrophobic …   Etymology dictionary necrophobia — [nek΄rə fō′bē ə] n. [ NECRO + PHOBIA] an abnormal fear of death or of dead bodies …   English World dictionary necrophobia — noun an abnormal fear of death or corpses Funerals are ten times worse with necrophobia in addition to grief …   Wiktionary necrophobia — necrophobic, adj. /nek reuh foh bee euh/, n. Psychiatry. 1. an abnormal fear of death; thanatophobia. 2. an abnormal fear of dead bodies. [1825 35; < NL; see NECRO , PHOBIA] * * * …   Universalium necrophobia — Morbid fear of corpses. [necro + G. phobos, fear] * * * nec·ro·pho·bia .nek rə fō bē ə n an exaggerated fear of death or horror of dead bodies nec·ro·pho·bic fō bik adj * * * nec·ro·pho·bia (nek″ro foґbe ə) [necro + phobia] irrational… …   Medical dictionary necrophobia — fear of corpses Phobias …   Phrontistery dictionary necrophobia — n. fear of the dead; fear of death …   English contemporary dictionary necrophobia — noun extreme or irrational fear of death or dead bodies …   English new terms dictionary necrophobia — nec·ro·pho·bia …   English syllables 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”