A fear of human-like figures can affect shops, museums, theme parks and displays containing mannequins, wax figures, robots or animatronics. It may lead to avoiding particular venues, keeping distance from figures or leaving when something looks or moves too much like a person.

Possible triggers

Walking past shop mannequins, visiting a wax museum or encountering a lifelike mechanical figure.

Name origin

From Greek automatos (self-moving) and -phobia.

A fear of lakes can affect everyday situations involving deep lake, still water, dark lake and lake edge.

Possible triggers

Approaching a lakeside path, visiting a lakeside campsite or being invited onto a lake in a boat.

Name origin

From Greek limnē (lake) and -phobia.

A fear of large objects can affect city centres, ports, museums and places containing huge buildings, statues, ships or machinery. It may lead to avoiding certain routes or destinations, keeping extra distance or becoming overwhelmed by the scale of an object.

Possible triggers

Standing beside a large statue, approaching a huge ship or seeing an oversized structure nearby.

Name origin

From Greek megas (large) and -phobia.

The concern centres on lawsuits, rather than justice in general.

Possible triggers

Receiving a legal letter, hearing that someone might sue or anticipating a civil court case.

Possible name origin

The origin of this name is unclear. The ending -phobia comes from Greek phobos (fear), but the first part and the history of this spelling are uncertain.

A fear of looking upward can affect everyday situations involving looking up, tall ceiling, high structure above and skyscraper overhead.

Possible triggers

Tilting your head to look at the sky, inspecting a ceiling or looking up at a tall building.

Name origin

From Greek anablepo (to look up) and -phobia.

A fear of masks can affect costume events, performances, celebrations and situations where faces are covered. It may lead to avoiding masked people, leaving events early, keeping extra distance or feeling unable to relax when someone’s face cannot be fully seen.

Possible triggers

Someone putting on a mask, entering a costume shop or attending an event with masked performers.

Name origin

From English mask with -phobia.

A fear of meteors or objects falling from the sky can affect everyday situations involving object falling from sky, shooting star, space debris and meteor.

Possible triggers

Seeing a shooting star, hearing about a meteor shower or watching footage of an object falling from the sky.

Name origin

From Greek meteōros (high in the air) and -phobia.

A fear of mirrors can affect everyday situations involving mirrored room, seeing reflection, mirror and reflection. It may lead to avoiding touching, using or being near the object, asking others to deal with it, changing routines, or checking surroundings for the trigger.

Possible triggers

Passing a large mirror, entering a mirrored lift or seeing your reflection unexpectedly.

Name origin

From Greek katoptron (mirror) and -phobia.

Also known as

Eisoptrophobia, Spectrophobia

Narrowness is the focus of this term. It is not limited to being inside an enclosed space.

Possible triggers

Encountering a narrow object, handling a thin item or focusing on something's restricted width.

Name origin

From Greek stenos (narrow) and -phobia (fear).

A fear of northern or southern lights can affect everyday situations involving coloured sky at night, northern lights, aurora borealis and sky lights.

Possible triggers

Seeing an aurora in the sky, watching footage of the northern lights or planning a trip to view them.

Name origin

From Latin aurora (dawn) and -phobia.