Christmas should be a time of love, joy, and giving, not a time of fear. But for those affected with certain phobias, Christmas is a time of unease and terror.
Chionophobia– An intense fear of snow and snowy weather, this definitely isn’t a good thing to have during the winter. Even if you live in a very warm place that doesn’t have any snow, watching a movie that has snow scenes in it or seeing pictures of snow could lead you to have a panic attack or anxiety. It would be preferable not to have this phobia.
What could cause one to have chionophobia? Could be a traumatic event occurred in which you were trapped somewhere during a blizzard. Or maybe a loved one passed on during a blizzard. In an extreme instance, maybe one was chased by a knife-wielding maniac while snow was furiously coming down.
Christougenniatikophobia – The fear of the most wonderful time of the year is christougenniatiikophobia. Just in case you are wondering how you would pronounce this huge word, check out the below link. If you happen to have this terrible phobia, you have a fear of anything to do with Christmas.
What would one do during the winter if one had this phobia? I mean, even snow reminds one of Christmastime. Then there are decorations, Christmas trees, wrapped gifts, shopping, turkeys, etc., etc., etc. Even going to church at this time of year has the ability to remind one of Christmas. What would one do? Maybe move to another planet?
Cryophobia – This is a phobia of extreme cold, ice, snow, and frozen things. Someone with this phobia would not have been happy here where I live over the past week. We’ve had unseasonably cold weather where the temperatures dipped down in the low single digits. Did I like it? No, but I didn’t have a fear of the cold temps, the snow, or the ice that was beginning to form although I was very careful not to fall on the ice.
Maybe being stuck outside during a snow or ice storm would cause someone to have such a fear. Or not having any access to heat during a severe cold snap would also make you fear the cold.
Someone who is afflicted with this phobia would most likely choose to live a warmer climate where it never gets cold enough to even snow.
Cyssanophobia– Do you have a fear of kissing under the mistletoe? If you are afraid of kissing under the mistletoe, are you afraid of the mistletoe or afraid of being kissed? My daughter has cyssanophobia. She told me that if she sees mistletoe, she runs the other direction. Why? Because you never know who you are going to be caught with beneath the “kissing plant.”
Kissing under the mistletoe is an old Scandinavian custom. Even if sworn enemies met beneath a mistletoe plant, they would call a truce and cease hostilities until the next day. Of course, who’s to say that they didn’t each sit there and plan out how to defeat their enemy when the sun rose?
Though there is a part of the ritual that has mainly been forgotten. You are supposed to pluck a berry, which happens to be poisonous, from the mistletoe after each kiss. When all of the berries are gone, there is no more locking of lips underneath that particular piece of mistletoe.
Doronophobia – It would truly be awful to have doronophobia, the irrational fear of gifts. Any time of the year whether you are receiving these gifts, giving them, or even just seeing them wrapped, a neatly wrapped box fills you with dread instead of joy. For those with this phobia, the pressure to return something of equal or more value outweighs the joy of receiving the gift. When they give a gift to someone else, the feeling of not measuring up to expectations overshadows the joy of giving.
Fayophobia – Fayophobia is the fear of elves. Would someone with this fear be afraid of reading stories with elves in them? Possibly these stories would induce nightmares about having to open a pile of gifts or being chased by a whole bunch of turkeys. Christmas could prove to be a terrifying experience when surrounded by a drove of elves and a sleigh of Santa Claus.
Meleagrisphobia – Meleagris is the genus name for turkeys, so meleagrisphobia is the irrational fear of turkeys. This fear would probably include turkeys that were alive as well as the birds that were dead and being served for Christmas dinner. A person with this phobia could fear either one or both of them. In my humble opinion, it would make far more sense to be afraid of a live turkey, one that could chase you and possibly peck on you with its sharp beak or scratch you with its claws. And, yes, turkeys have been known to chase people. Once the turkey is dead and on your plate, however, you have complete control over it.
Wild turkeys wander through my yard all the time, and I love to watch them. I have no fear of them ever trying to attack me though. As soon as I open the door or try to get close enough to them to take a good picture, they run off. My husband did take a great picture of them from behind our living room window.
Rudolphobia – Any guess as to what someone with this phobia has a fear of? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. A person with this phobia would probably not be the best one to watch the Christmas classic with. They probably wouldn’t want to sing the song with you either.
What led to them being afraid of Rudolph? Maybe a life-sized toy of Rudolph fell on them when they were a child.
Santaphobia – This phobia could cause some problems around Christmas when almost every store is focused on Santa Claus. I doubt a person with this phobia would want to think that he could possibly be coming down their chimney with gifts. They might even close up their chimney or block entrance to it in some way.
What causes this phobia? A bad experience with someone dressed as Santa has to be lurking somewhere in their background. Put your creativity to work and write about it.
Tarandophobia – This is the light version of rudolphobia. If you have taradophobia, you don’t just have a phobia of Rudolph; you have a phobia of all reindeer. When the life-sized toy of Rudolph fell on you when you were a child, life-sized versions of a bunch of other reindeer “attacked” you too.
