Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Say what?!~~

Published on October 13, 2006 By foreverserenity In Misc

Paraske.....what's that now? As my son would say! LOL! According to Rich Maloof on MSN.com in the Health & Fitness section, Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th and every other phobias you can possibly think of! At least he thinks it is!

Then again it's all Greek to me! Ahah, funny I should say that! Rich says that "...just attach a Greek prefix to -phobia and you’re off to the fear factory." Wow, the things you learn!

He also says that fear is in our DNA, it's a defense mechanism and that's a good thing. Being scared let us be more alert to a situation, it makes us more proactive with adrenaline pumping! Otherwise, how else did we exist in the caveman days? A good question indeed!

Have you ever experienced the fear of something you're afraid of, like say, an insect, a really ugly looking bug? You scream a yelp, you keep your eyes on it while reaching for the newspaper or the slippers to swat the heck out of it. And while you're doing all that you stand a mile from it, (practically) while trying to hit the thing from that distance and making weird noises at the same time. By this time the poor insect might just have been more scared of you than you of it! And at the first miss of your swat, ran off into the daylight or night!

Those days are over for me though...well...only the part where I would swat the insect. Now I pick it up quite gingerly and set it outside in the grass. It's life cycle continues without my interferance!

While some people's fear of insect, including my own, depending on what type of insect it is, is pretty common, the most common fear is the fear of animals which is zoophobia. Women are the most likely to be scared of animals according to the article.

[quote]
The five most common phobia are:

1. Fear of snakes (ophidiophobia)

2. Fear of giving a speech (glossophobia)

3. Fear of heights (acrophobia)

4. Fear of rodents (musophobia)

5. Fear of flying (aviophobia)

[end quote]

I'm sure there will be a lot of movies on tonight that will try to scare the pants off of us. The best way to watch them is with the lights off, my two worst to watch are "The Grudge" and "Birds" the latter that old Hitchcock movie! They give me the jeebies! And I don't scare easily!

I'm attaching a link to the artcle below so you can read in more detail. Mr. Maloof did a great job with this one!

I hope your Friday the 13 is going well!

Link

Comments

Dr Guy

on Oct 13, 2006

gesundheit!

Oh Wait. It is actually a work and not a sneeze! Sometimes, English can be very German!

foreverserenity

on Oct 13, 2006

gesundheit!
Oh Wait. It is actually a work and not a sneeze! Sometimes, English can be very German!

God Bless you! LOL! That's the meaning right?

Dr Guy

on Oct 13, 2006

God Bless you!

Actually it is good health. But either works.

MasonM

on Oct 13, 2006

Actually it is good health. But either works.

And all this time I thought it meant "turn your head next time!"

Locamama

on Oct 13, 2006

Be afraaidd, Be very afraiidd muwahhahaaa!! I love watching scary movies. Maybe I'll find a good one tonight. If not maybe I'll go rent one. I never did see the Grudge. I tried but I always fell asleep. I think it was just that I was tired not the movie.

dynamaso

on Oct 13, 2006

13 is my favourite number and I love Fridays because it is the start of the weekend. So Fridays the 13th, when they come around, are extra good days for me.

I used to have a fear of spiders (as in sweats, shakes, uncontrollable urges to run screaming from the room) but I cured myself through the exposure method. I kept a few live spiders in jars on top of my fridge and everyday I would take the jars down and look at the spiders, learning to really appreciate them for the marvellous creatures they are. Now, if a spider comes in the house, I catch it and release it outside again. Other bugs don't worry me at all. Neither do snakes or rodents. However, I do get quite bad vertigo and would love to conquer this fear of heights. I'm not sure how to, though. Anyone have any advice?

As for scary movies, I love 'em but I don't scare easy. The Grudge didn't scare me at all but the remake of Dawn Of The Dead had a good 'jump' quotient (for those of you who don't know what this is, it is the amount of times one is startled during a horror movie). I've seen a few of the latest horror movies (Dead Birds, Final Destination, Skeleton Key etc) and they just don't scare me at all. Saw was pretty good but it was more because of the suspense. Wolf Creek is creepy and that it is based on facts is disconcerting. But the scariest movie I've seen in recent time would have to be 28 Days Later. There is just something about the dead coming back to life that creeps me out big time.

foreverserenity

on Oct 14, 2006

Actually it is good health. But either works.

Aha I thought as much, "God bless you that is!"

And all this time I thought it meant "turn your head next time!"

Haha M, it could mean that too!

It was on last night and Grudge 2! I totally missed Grudge 2 because I fell asleep! But alas I fell asleep! It was fun tucked into bed watching quite a few scary movies with my hubby! The kids had no interest at all. They were too busy watching Power Rangers on Jetix this new channel that features nothing but Power Rangers! My two youngest are really into it.

13 is my favourite number and I love Fridays because it is the start of the weekend. So Fridays the 13th, when they come around, are extra good days for me.

That's the right attitude to have Mark!

but I cured myself through the exposure method. I kept a few live spiders in jars on top of my fridge and everyday I would take the jars down and look at the spiders, learning to really appreciate them for the marvellous creatures they are. Now, if a spider comes in the house, I catch it and release it outside again

You brave man!

However, I do get quite bad vertigo and would love to conquer this fear of heights. I'm not sure how to, though. Anyone have any advice?

Naw can't help you there. When I go up too high I get the same thing. So I stay away from going higher than the floor!

I've seen a few of the latest horror movies (Dead Birds, Final Destination, Skeleton Key etc) and they just don't scare me at all

See, they dont' put that much scare factor in these, I agree.

Wolf Creek is creepy and that it is based on facts is disconcerting.

I haven't seen this one, will look out for it on DVD.

But the scariest movie I've seen in recent time would have to be 28 Days Later. There is just something about the dead coming back to life that creeps me out big time.

I agree this one was creepy! Not as scary as the Grudge to me though.

dynamaso

on Oct 15, 2006

I think the thing with a lot of horror movies these days is they're too polished and slick and its usually because the actual stories aren't very good. What is the saying 'It doesn't matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd'. I like grittier stories with well written charaters. The Grudge wasn't a bad story but just too slick.

foreverserenity

on Oct 15, 2006

Wolf Creek is creepy and that it is based on facts is disconcerting

I watched this last night Mark. It was creepy. I couldn't believe how sick some people are and knowing as you said, this was a real incident, made it even more creepy! It kind of reminded me of the Chainsaw Massacre that they made a film out of, that happened for real somewhere here.

its usually because the actual stories aren't very good

I like good horrors with a good storyline too. Too much crap I turn it off.

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