Fear of long words is one of the most exotic and unusual phobias. Despite the fact that the disease is extremely rare, it can significantly worsen a person’s life, limiting his social activity. In most cases, this disorder develops in childhood and much less often in adulthood. Most often it affects people in public professions - announcers, lecturers, public figures and teachers. To get rid of fear you need to know all the features of the disease.
The essence of the disease
Fear of big words is a phobic disorder in which a person is afraid to pronounce and read words consisting of a large number of letters . In some cases, panic fear occurs even when other people utter long words while being close to the person suffering from this phobia.
In this phobic disorder, a person may be afraid of making a mistake when pronouncing a long word , but also feel severe discomfort during the auditory or visual perception of long words.
What is a phobia of long words called?
People suffering from a rare phobia are interested in the question of what the fear of long words is called.
Ironically, the phobia has an extremely long name - hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia and is a subconscious fear of pronouncing, writing and reading words consisting of a large number of letters.
The essence of a phobia
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalophobia is the name given to the irrational fear of long words. Sometimes a shorter term is used - seskipedalophobia. The essence of this phobia is the fear of having to deal with words of considerable length - reading or writing them, saying them out loud, and sometimes even hearing them from other people. According to the latest data, about every twentieth person suffers from it.
The name of a phobia, paradoxically, in itself can frighten its owner, because... consists of 33 letters, although it can also be considered a kind of excellent tool for diagnosing this phobia.
Like other phobias, the fear of long words varies from person to person in the degree of manifestation and severity of the consequences. Some are wary of very long, polysyllabic words or words whose meaning they do not understand; others are wary of even common words of moderate length. The consequences of having this fear also vary. For example, if you are a university teacher, then fear of terms derived from Latin words can create serious difficulties at work. The same can be said about a botanist, because many plants have confusing names of considerable length. But, for example, hippopotomonstrosesquipedalophobia is unlikely to have serious consequences for the professional activities of a kindergarten teacher.
The fear of long words can provoke the most negative consequences in children and adolescents. Studying spelling, participating in scientific clubs and studying various subjects at a university usually involve memorizing difficult to pronounce words of great length. Therefore, if a child or teenager has this phobia, he will fall behind in his studies, get low grades, or simply avoid such activities. Which will ultimately have extremely negative consequences, including expulsion from the educational institution.
And although for many such fear seems far-fetched, it may be completely justified in some cases. Most people who encounter it learn early to avoid situations that frighten them, but this cannot be considered the best way out. This fear will not only continue to create certain restrictions in everyday life, but can also contribute to the development of depression, various complexes, and worsen relationships with relatives, friends and colleagues.
Why does the fear of long words have such a name?
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is a term used in official medicine to refer to the fear of long words . Most often, doctors shorten it to “pedaliophobia,” which is much more convenient.
Why did the disease receive such a name that is difficult not only to remember, but also to simply read? This was done specifically so that people suffering from phobias could remember the name of their disease. If they can do this, it will be the first step towards recovery.
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What is the fear of polysyllabic words called?
A 33-letter word that describes a strange phobia that affects one-sixth of the planet's population. So, the fear of long words is called hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Sesquipedaliophobia, as it is also briefly called, is the name for the fear of pronunciation, reading, and writing long words. A person suffering from this condition may not only be afraid to utter a long word and make a mistake. He feels uncomfortable seeing and listening to words of impressive length. It is unknown why such a strange name was chosen for this condition. It is possible that this is due to the sense of humor of the people responsible for the terminology of such diseases. Even an absolutely healthy person will feel uneasy when reading the full name of the fear of long words.
Causes of long word phobia
In most cases, pedalophobia develops in people with a neurotic character and an increased sense of anxiety.
Main causes of long word phobia:
- Hereditary predisposition , if one of the parents has a stutter or other speech problems.
- Existing speech defects – stuttering, burr, lisp.
- Unsuccessful public speaking , which caused psychological trauma.
- Difficulty pronouncing complex sounds or long speech combinations in childhood.
- Errors in upbringing - if a child has been taught from childhood that he will remain ignorant and become a universal laughing stock because of incorrect or ugly speech.
- The stress that the child experienced during a lesson in his native language - for example, during a dictation or a call to the board. The situation is aggravated if the teacher or other students ridiculed the child.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is a disease that is often found among people whose profession involves speaking in front of the general public . The maximum risk of disorder develops when listeners are initially skeptical of the speaker.
The development of the disease can be triggered by an inferiority complex caused by a mistake in speech, after which the audience laughed.
Fear of long words is observed in a person who is afraid of complex lexical structures, because he believes that he will seem incompetent in any matter . His incompetence will cause a decrease in social status and loss of respect from authoritative people. This is what causes pedaliophobia.
Fear of long words definitely requires treatment , otherwise this disorder can become a serious obstacle to career advancement.
First aid
At a certain point, a person who is overcome by a phobia of long words may develop a panic fear. Here it is important to concentrate your attention on your breathing.
As soon as a panic attack occurs, involuntary deep breathing begins . This causes hyperventilation, which can lead to shortness of breath (such processes lead to deterioration of health). A phobia of long words can lead to physical and mental distress. Depression often begins if a person does not cope with the problem in time.
It is necessary to restore normal breathing as soon as possible. The specialist is advised to imagine how energy enters the body, and when it comes out, the body should relax. If your body is shaking, you still need to continue doing the exercise.
Please note that fear of the phobia itself causes even greater disruption in the body . He begins to think that danger is coming from outside. Phobia of long words is treatable, like any other fear. To achieve this, a complex of medical measures and psychological work on oneself is carried out.
Signs and symptoms of fear
The phobia of large words is expressed in the fact that any pronunciation of long and complex words causes panic fear and neurotic syndrome in a person, in some cases stuttering may occur. Short words do not cause such difficulties.
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Diagnosing a phobia does not present any problems. Manifestations can be noticed immediately :
- incoherent, confused speech;
- dry mouth, feeling of a “lump in the throat”;
- the face and body are covered with cold sweat;
- pallor of the face and hands;
- rapid heartbeat, accompanied by pain and a feeling of heaviness in the chest;
- a sharp increase in blood pressure;
- nervous tic, trembling in the arms and legs;
- dizziness;
- nausea, vomiting;
- anxiety, severe excitement, in some cases – loss of consciousness.
A person suffering from a fear of long words loses the ability to adequately assess the situation . It seems to him that those around him are laughing at him. In such situations, it is imperative to seek medical help, otherwise the disorder can cause serious inconvenience in a person’s life.
Symptoms and treatments for phobias
Some people who have this fear try to avoid reading aloud as much as possible or even refuse to read out loud, especially to their children. They try to avoid exotic restaurants, the menu of which may contain dishes with long and difficult to pronounce names. They may go out of their way to avoid people who use words that frighten them in their daily speech.
Fear causes a sudden impoverishment of their vocabulary, a refusal to read textbooks or scientific papers, and as an excuse they say that the author is too pretentious or that their head is not created for science. Children may avoid going to school, simply lose interest in learning, “forget” to do homework, and their speech becomes monosyllabic, with a limited vocabulary.
The physical symptoms through which the phobia manifests itself are uncontrollable panic attacks, increased heart rate, dizziness, shortness of breath, trembling, nausea, dry mouth and dizziness. All this can go as far as a person’s inability to pronounce the simplest sentence.
The basis for overcoming hippopotomonstrosesquipedalophobia is knowledge of the reasons that caused it. It cannot be cured with drugs because... it's a mental state. Therefore, depending on the reasons, you can turn to a psychiatrist or speech therapist for help. Effective counseling and treatment can help anyone cope with this peculiar fear.
How to Diagnose the Problem
Before you can overcome hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, you need to correctly diagnose the disorder . This is done by a psychologist or psychotherapist. For this purpose, special tests are carried out to determine the adequacy of the perception of written and oral speech.
To identify a phobia, a person pronounces various lexical units , that is, short and long words. This helps the doctor identify any abnormalities in his behavior.
Many psychologists use tongue twisters for diagnosis . The patient must pronounce a tongue twister consisting of large words. If at this time he feels severe discomfort and begins to stutter, this may indicate a fear of long words. But in such cases, it must be taken into account that the cause is also various diction disorders and stuttering of neurotic origin.
Symptoms
Symptoms of the disorder can be described as mental, emotional, or physical.
- Many people feel panicked at the sight or thought of long words.
- Physical symptoms: crying, running away, trembling, feeling sick, headaches, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath.
- A person feels fear and horror. His brain creates very bad pictures in which he is embarrassed and gets into an unpleasant situation.
- Often the patient understands that his fear is irrational, but is unable to control himself. Powerless to think rationally.
How to overcome hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Psychologists give a number of recommendations to help get rid of panic fear of long words :
- Train tirelessly in reading and pronouncing words consisting of a large number of letters.
- Try to overcome the excitement and feeling of panic before the upcoming public speaking, model the situation, your behavior and the reaction of the audience.
- Treat your phobia as lightly as possible and do not perceive it as a serious obstacle to public speaking.
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If attacks of panic fear in front of polysyllabic lexical units are repeated , you should try to temporarily switch your attention to any other activity.
If you are afraid of long words, drug treatment is not required ; qualified psychological help helps get rid of the phobia.
How to treat fear of big words
Mainly, the treatment of phobia consists of psychotherapy and training, which are aimed at pronunciation.
The key exercise is reading the tongue twister. To get rid of obsessive fear and discomfort, reading difficult words out loud helps. In the process of such training, you can change the emphasis in the word fear and others, in particular long and complex ones. Can be pronounced syllable by syllable or in parts.
You need to train daily until you get a stable result.
Along with the described training, it is recommended to meditate to calm the nervous system, restore and strengthen confidence in yourself and your knowledge. This will also be an effective prevention of speech defects, many of which arise as a result of fear and psychological trauma.
Thus, the disease of fear of long words is not difficult to cure and the result will not be long in coming.
First aid for a phobia
Phobia of long words is not a complex disease; it can be successfully treated . The first thing to do during a panic attack is to try to relax as much as possible, both psychologically and physically.
In the initial stages of treatment during public speaking, all long, polysyllabic words can be replaced with shorter synonyms. Gradually, complex and long lexical units are introduced into the speech of a person suffering from a phobia.
Phobias and fears
Each of us has experienced fear of something or someone. Events, phenomena, objects and people can bring a feeling of discomfort. This is where the phobia begins. The psychological nature of a phobia is such that a person, based on previously experienced events or other factors, is afraid of something or someone. At the initial stage, this fact has virtually no effect on the quality of life or relationships. Many negative aspects can be eliminated or circumvented. But it happens that a person still faces his fear face-to-face. This state can be described this way:
- feelings of fear, anxiety, panic;
- growing excitement;
- dizziness;
- feeling of lack of air;
- nausea (rarely vomiting);
- cardiopalmus;
- tremor of the limbs;
- in rare cases - loss of consciousness, fainting.
The list of phobias officially recognized by medicine is so huge that everyone can find something “of their own.” It is important to understand that not all phobias are mental disorders. These are conditions experienced by people at certain stages of life rather than a disease.
Methods of psychological control of the disease
Psychotherapy methods are most effective for pedaliophobia . Psychological struggle includes performing exercises to accept your own fears and relax, reduce anxiety and get rid of anxiety in a stressful situation.
The main goal of psychological struggle is not to help the patient pronounce long words correctly, but to prepare him for the fact that even if he pronounces it incorrectly, nothing terrible will happen. An excellent and effective treatment method is to slowly pronounce long tongue twisters. That is why treatment is recommended to be carried out by a psychologist and speech therapist.
Causes
The main cause of irrational fear is a traumatic situation. The person is afraid that the problem may repeat itself and become entrenched in the mind. Dangerous and difficult situations take the form of a phobia. They significantly worsen a person’s professional, social and personal relationships with the outside world.
It happens that a person is afraid of the reaction of others to the fact that he pronounces long words incorrectly. He feels a growing sense of shame and anxiety. Teenagers feel the negative consequences of this phobia the most. They are vulnerable to ridicule from their peers. This is how the child’s academic performance suffers, he becomes withdrawn and does not want to communicate with peers. Sometimes a student refuses to answer the teacher’s questions and does not want to make a report in front of the class.
The phobia of long words has several causes:
- A person’s anxiety increases, suspiciousness and self-doubt are present . Such an individual experiences internal complexes and is very dependent on the opinions of others.
- The owner of fear is constantly afraid of withdrawing , incorrectly pronouncing a complex term when other people are looking at him. Some individuals have a certain speech impediment that makes it difficult to pronounce words.
- Traumatic situations occur . They are inherent in adolescence. During this period, it is easy to ridicule a person and make him feel ashamed.
If long words are pronounced incorrectly, the owner of a phobia may question his abilities as a speaker or professional.
Sometimes there is a fear of appearing incompetent in the eyes of others due to incorrect pronunciation of terminology.
