The heat from the sun provides a replenishment of vitamin D. The heat from a cook stove adds unique texture and flavor to blended foods. The heat from a fire can warm a home, and the warmth from a car’s heater can allow occupants to stay comfortable even on the coldest days. Yet for every benefit expressed by the presence of heat there are those who fear it. When the fear becomes profound it is known as Thermophobia.

Surfers come for the waves and stay for as long as they can ride. Beach combers come early and watch the sun rise as they gather their trophies. Avid fishermen come for the trophies and deal with sea sickness. Those who avoid the sea altogether may suffer from Thalassophobia.

The thought of having a parasite inside your body may have visions of the movie Aliens running through your mind. It certainly can be disconcerting, but it can also cause an obsessive caution that can lead to a phobia. When it comes to the tapeworm that fear is known as Teniophobia.

The fear of trees is known as Dendrophobia. While many people find the sight of trees soothing and peaceful, others are put off by their gnarled trunks and dense foliage. Different sorts of trees may affect the afflicted person in a negative way, evoking intense and persistent anxieties…

I get up well before sunrise each day and for more than four years I pause each morning to simply look up at the stars. Brilliant pin pricks of light that speak to the vastness of space and the impressive size of the universe. The sight that fills me with wonder often fills others with dread. To be clinically diagnosed as having a fear of stars is called
Siderophobia. 

Cymophobia is the fear of waves, or wave-like motions. For some, a fear of the water and the dangers it presents can be tied into this phobia. For others, this syndrome is triggered by bad memories or childhood experiences.

It is not unheard of to listen to men in the autumn of their life speaking of times when they sat on the banks of a river and enjoyed fishing with their dad, grandpa, uncle or friends. They may have used a rope to swing out over the river and enjoy swimming. While those experiences may be less common today the fear of rivers has a growing group of followers. This fear is known as Potamophobia.

The fear of Comets is known as Cometophobia. People who suffer from this phobia will exhibit symptoms of anxiety and even physical illness, when they see a comet in the night sky.

There are literally hundreds of songs that deal with rain. Usually the songs equate a love lost with a rainy day. Sad feelings always seem to go hand in hand with rain. Perhaps is emotions connected with a negative event that causes some people to fear rain. This fear is known as Pluviophobia.

The fear of time is known as Chronophobia. This is an understandable phobia that is usually tied in to the fear of mortality.