Good Longhorn News

Have you ever heard of Arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth? Maybe you have Anatidaephobia, the fear that a duck is watching you. And we can’t forget about Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, which ironically is the fear of long words. Believe it or not, the students and faculty of HHS have some pretty weird phobias, just like these. What are they, you might be asking? Well, let’s find out!​

Senior Bella Galliart says, “I am scared of little holes next to each other; they freak me out. I could gag whenever I see them.” This fear is commonly known as trypophobia, which is the fear of holes or irregular patterns. Most people with this fear are more scared of the tiny holes that are closely spaced and have no apparent ending. This fear, however popular, can be questioned. Is it really a fear? Or is it just plain disgust? 

Masklophobia is the fear of mascots. Some might say this fear is childish, some say it’s real and terrifying. Hailey Medina, senior, thinks it’s real. She says, “ The people under there are creepy, and I don’t like when they have human bodies with animal heads. It’s really scary.” It might be the unknown,. Maybe it’s that they are uncanny with their open, unblinking eyes, exaggerated smile, and silently unpredictable and distorted appearance. Who knows?

We’ve covered the weird phobias, but what about the more common ones? Scared of rodents? Mickey Mouse isn’t calling your name? You have Musophobia. Carlie Obergon, a sophomore, has this fear. She said, “I think rats and mice are dirty and disgusting, and I want nothing to do with them. They are too smart and therefore can predict and smell my fear. They are overall just too smart, nasty, and greedy.” Valid fear if you ask most people (except Mickey).

Speaking of rats, human traffickers are a big scare in today’s life. Abductophobia is the fancy name for being scared of getting taken by human traffickers. Cambria McClure, sophomore, thinks the rich people are to blame. She says, “Getting trafficked is my biggest fear because it happens a lot and we are hearing more about it every day.”  Perhaps this is referring to certain files that have recently been released, it’s anyone’s guess…

Not scared of traffickers? What if they try to chase you! The fear of being chased is referred to as diokophobia. Don’t like running, well, you’re out of luck! Haden Kennedy, senior, states, “Being chased makes me really anxious and jumpy. It only really affects me if there’s not a lot of people around.” Being chased releases your survival fight-or-flight senses. So you might need to either take up boxing in your free time or become a track star overnight.

Everyone has fears, but we’ve got some scaredy cats at HHS. Do you think these fears are valid? What if it were obesophobia, the fear of being obese? Or acrophobia, the intense fear of heights. Even if it were parasitophobia, the fear of having parasites. No one has a fear of nothing; there’s always something scary out there. It’s just a matter of what are YOU afraid of?