The world is full of events that have left a mark on our lives. These events can occur in a thousand different ways and forms, changing our perception of the world, the way we think and what we fear. In cases of phobias, there are situations or things that cause us an overwhelming and irrational fear that alters our happiness and way of living. But phobias are capricious and can show themselves in different ways. One of them, a rarity in itself, is hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, the fear of long words. Although the name of such a phobia may seem like a bad joke, people who suffer from it experience it like hell. In this Psychology-Online article: Phobia of long words: hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobiawe will talk about this exotic but real phobia.
What is the name of the phobia of long words?
What is the phobia of long words? What is the name of the phobia of long words? The answer to this question seems a bit ridiculous, since the fear of long and complex words is called hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobiaand it’s not a joke.
What does the word hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia mean?
This very long and difficult to pronounce word is composed of a variety of words of Greek origin, which are: “hipopoto” (large), “monstro” (monstrous), “sesquipedali” (foot and a half, which refers to a long word ) and “phobos” (fear). Given its extension, to be able to use this word in conversation it is called skipedaliphobiaTo abreviate.
In the following article you will find others.
What is hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia?
Hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia falls within the category of specific phobias. This strange and rare phobia consists of a irrational fear and aversion to long, complicated wordswhich ironically makes it difficult for those who suffer from it to explain what happens to them because of its extravagant name.
A person with a fear of long and complex words also usually shares a fear of words that sound intelligent or cultured. Irrational fear lies in the belief that if you can’t pronounce these types of words correctly Other people would make fun of her and label her as uneducated or even inferior. Therefore, phobics do not use infrequent words in their day-to-day conversation, and in cases where these types of words are present (in university sessions, medical, technical talks, etc.) they usually avoid participation and show great anxiety symptoms.
Causes of hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
What are the causes of hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia? Although a specific cause of phobias cannot be deduced, they are usually associated with early life stressors and other factors, both psychological and biological:
- Traumatic events related to long words in childhood. For example, getting stuck in a presentation or reading aloud in front of the class and being very embarrassed.
- Social shynesshaving a low perception of their own.
- Low selfsteemwhich feeds the belief of the inability to pronounce words correctly.
- Genetic predisposition towards stress and suffering from phobias.
Symptoms of hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia or phobia of long words shares almost the same symptoms as most specific anxiety disorders. That is, when people with squipedaliophobia or fear of long words are exposed to long words, multiple symptoms of anxiety will appear, both physiological, cognitive and behavioral.
Although everyone experiences anxiety in a unique and idiosyncratic way, symptoms can be grouped into different categories.
Physical symptoms
- Tachycardia
- Inappropriate sweating
- Dizziness
- Dry mouth
- Stuttering
- Heavy breathing
- Stomachache
- Nerves
Cognitive symptoms
In cases of phobias, a set of constant and irrational thoughts that govern the mind of the phobic person when the frightening stimulus is presented. These thoughts revolve around catastrophic ideas about all the bad things that can happen to him. Normally, these types of ideas are usually fed back with the physiological symptoms they present. Some of these thoughts may be:
- Thoughts about how ridiculous he’s going to make himself if he tries to say the words.
- Ideas of how everything will be a disaster.
- Think about how others see how nervous you are and how incapable you are.
Behavioral symptoms
To avoid situations where they are faced with these types of words, many people develop behaviors in order to avoid the hardship of facing their fear. These types of behaviors are called avoidant behaviors and they only feed the justification of being afraid of long and complex words. Avoidance behaviors could be such as:
- Using excessive or obvious detours in conversation to avoid certain topics.
- Do not go to places where such terms may be present.
- Generate excuses not to attend meetings or events that may contain technical or complex words.
I have a phobia of long words or hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
If you have a phobia of long, complicated words, you may wonder if hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia can be cured. Hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, like all phobias, can be treated through psychological therapies.
To confront fear, treatments will focus, above all, on gradually making fear disappear. from the exposition of words frightening, giving tools to face anxiety and work on irrational thoughts and beliefs that maintain fear. For this, they are used to assist patients with phobias. The most common techniques are the following:
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Phobia of long words: hippotomonstrosesquipedaliophobiawe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Bonet, JIC (2001). Effective psychological treatments for specific phobias. Psychothema, 13(3), 447-452.
- López, OIF, Hernández, BJ, Almirall, RBA, Molina, DS, & Navarro, JRC (2012). Manual for diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders. MediSur, 10(5), 466-479.