An Excess of Phobias and Manias
Extensive Information about Fears, Anxieties, and Compulsive Behaviors Explained and Clarified!
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An Excess of Phobias and Manias
acromania: 1. An incurable insanity. 2. Mania marked by great motor activity.
Man's task is to become conscious
of the contents that press upward
from the unconscious . . . . As far as we
can discern, the sole purpose
of human existence is to kindle
a light in the darkness of mere being.
-Carl Jung
acronymania:An obsolete term for chronic incurable insanity.
acrophobia:Excessive fear of heights, elevators, climbing ladders, pinnacles, etc.; fear of sharp points. This is one of the most common phobias in the general population. People who have acrophobia are afraid of being on high floors of buildings or on the tops of hills or mountains. They often feel anxious when they approach the edge of bridges, roof-tops, stairwells, and railings. Sometimes individuals have an uncontrollable urge to jump. They may have fantasies and physical sensations of falling even when standing on firm ground.
Those fears of being in elevators or on escalators, balconies, and stairways are probably related to the fear of heights; as is the fear of flying or falling.
In several cases, the individual can not even stand on the lower steps of a ladder without experiencing some anxiety. Often, there is an extreme fear of driving on express ways or highways because there is an acrophobic component in that these roadways are frequently elevated.
- For one man, life was an unnerving affair.
- The "high anxiety" of a twenty-seven year old civil servant suffered from a condition that restricted both his personal and professional life styles.
- His walk-up apartment in the city where he lived was about six feet above ground level which he considered "safe" enough.
- He worked on the fourth floor of a downtown office building where he generally avoided windows.
- If he looked out, it was straight across at the windows of a neighboring building. He didn't dare look down at the hustle and bustle below.
- This phobic always walked the four floors, up and down, because the elevator was a "no-no" for him.
- His acrophobia made this man shun highrises, airplane rides, and car trips through mountainous areas.
- Jaunts to trendy penthouse restaurants were out, as were midway and cable car rides and such "in" sports as mountain climbing, sky-diving, and hang-gliding were obviously out of the question.
- "Height makes me light-headed. I start to tremble and talk reassuringly to myself. If I look down to the ground from a high place, I feel nauseous. I have an overwhelming urge to get out of there, just to get away."
- Although it meant personal sacrifice, this acrophobic learned to live with his phobia. "So far I've been able to get around it. I just don't go to high places. I can find alternate places to go, things to do."
Our work is never done. Millions upon millions
of secret fears and phobias lurk known and unknown
in high and low places of civilization that have yet to be,
and must be, leached out of man's progress
to his betterment.
-Dr. Andrew S. Zunotto
adipomania:An unhealthy process of putting on weight (fat) by excessive eating of fat-producing foods (snacks, fast foods, etc.). Could this guy also have a significant obsession known as callomania [the delusion that he is "beautiful"]?
People are the only animals
who eat themselves to death.
-The American Medical Association
Outside of every fat man
there is his even fatter clone
trying to take over.
-Anonymous
adipophobia: An abnormal fear of being fat.
I don't think anyone
is free—one creates his own prison.
-Graham Sutherland
The greatest success is
successful self-acceptance.
-Ben Sweet
aedoeomania: Hypersexuality in females. An obsolete term for nymphomania.
aeluromania, eluromania: An absurd desire to have many cats to such a degree that some people have been known to have dozens of cats in an apartment or house.
aelurophobia, elurophobia: An abnormal fear of cats; usually, this fear includes the anxiety of being injured or scratched by them. Some people react with shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, or feelings of panic just at the sight of a cat; while for others, the fear is induced only if the cat comes very close or touches them. Some individuals get overly anxious about what is perceived to be cats staring at them.
aeroacrophobia: Fear of open-high places.
I believe that anyone can conquer fear
by doing the things he fears to do,
provided he keeps doing them until he gets
a record of successful experiences behind him.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
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