mismatched socks, flickr
Would a person with asymmetriphobia be upset if he couldn’t find two matching socks to wear? What a puppet show cause a person with pupaphobia to have nightmares?
A phobia is an extreme dread or fear of something. When a person encounters the object of his or her fear, he could experience anxiety, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, an irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, dry mouth, etc. While this person’s phobia may seem outrageous or unreasonable to you, I assure you it is not unreasonable to the person experiencing it.
Never make fun of anyone with a phobia, but you can bless (or curse) your characters with any number of these fears. Choose either of the following phobias and create one or more characters who are afflicted with one or both of these fears.
symmetry in nature, flickr
Assymetriphobia
When items are symmetrical, each half matches the other, and everything appears to be neat and orderly. Asymmetriphobia is the fear of things being out of symmetry, lopsided, or mismatched. I admit that I prefer for things to be symmetrical. When there are fewer than twelve eggs left in an egg carton that holds a dozen, I do my best to arrange the remaining eggs in a symmetrical fashion, but it isn’t always possible. If it can’t be done, it doesn’t keep me distracted or cause me unrest. A person with asymmetriphobia would be distressed if the remaining eggs could not be arranged symmetrically.
Leaning Tower of Pisa, wikipedia
Someone with this phobia would probably be a very neat and orderly person. Can you imagine the amount of work it would take to make everything in your house symmetrical?
The human body is symmetrical. That would make a person with this phobia very happy. But what if someone with asymmetriphobia lost an arm or a leg? What if this person was horribly injured in an accident and his body left asymmetrical? What if he lost an ear? What if she could only see out of one eye?
Even if he had not lost any limbs, what if he went through a haunted house and had to go down a hallway with a slanted wall? Do you think the Leaning Tower of Pisa would distress one with this phobia? Would that be more terrifying for him than the monsters chasing him?
handmade puppets, flickr
Pupaphobia
A puppet is an artificial figure made out of wood, plastic, or some other material that is made to represent a human, animal, or some other creature. The puppets are controlled by strings, hands, rods, or something else. The one controlling the puppet can even make it seem like the puppet is speaking. Pupaphobia is the fear of puppets.
puppets backstage at Wroclaw Puppet Theater, wikipedia
The fear of these toys could come from a traumatic childhood experience or something. Puppets have been used in the entertainment industry for years. Before television was even thought of, puppet shows were being performed for audiences. Now we think of the Muppets, but people used to be entertained by Punch & Judy, or Punchinella.
Puppet shows would not be amusing at all for someone with pupaphobia. Have one of your characters trapped in an amusement park at night. All the rides have shut down, all of the guests have left, and all of the workers have gone home. He wakes up surrounded by the puppets that only hours earlier were controlled by people. Now no one has control of them, and they are moving towards him. How are they able to move? What is their intent? How does he react to what is happening? Or is it all in his imagination?
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Dystychiphobia and Other Phobias
Omphalophobia, the Fear of Belly Buttons
Weather Phobias
Myrmecophobia, the Fear of Ants
Pediophobia, the Fear of Dolls
