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Christmas phobias are intense irrational fears related to the holiday, with the main one being Christougenniatikophobia, a fear of Christmas itself, stemming from triggers like traumatic childhood events, family issues, or specific elements like Santa (Santaphobia), gifts (Doronophobia), snow (Chionophobia), or flashing lights (Selaphobia), causing significant anxiety, dread, and avoidance of holiday activities.
These fears, while not always clinically recognized, are very real for those experiencing them, often linked to deeper anxieties about family gatherings, social pressure, or past negative experiences, and can be managed through therapy like mindfulness or CBT.
Everyone knows at least one person who is obsessed with Christmas — and judging by all the internet radio stations that play Christmas music year round, there’s plenty of them around the world. Surprisingly, no print or online dictionary contains an established word for obsession with Christmas. Several online forum or crowdsourced dictionaries (i.e., Urban Dictionary, Uncyclopedia) have suggested the following words: yulephile, yuletidephile, Christmasphile, and Christougenniatikophile. There is, however, an official word for fear of Christmas, Christougenniatikophobia. Unofficial words for the fear of Christmas include: yuletidephobia and Christmasphobia. And what do you call someone who hates Christmas? That’s an easy one: Ebenezer Scrooge.
There are many Christmas-related phobias which might explain why so many people have to resort to spiking the egg-nog and drinking to get through the holidays. Here are the most common Christmas phobias:
- cherophobia: fear of having fun
chionophobia: fear of snow
Christougenniatiko dentrophobia: fear of Christmas trees - Cyssanophobia: Fear of kissing under mistletoe –
- decidophonia: the fear of making decisions
doronphonia: fear of opening gifts
heortophobia: fear of holidays
hodophonia: fear of traveling
katagelophobia: the fear of ridicule or being embarrassed
macrophobia: fear of long waits
nogophobia: fear of egg nog
ocholophonia: fear of crowds or long lines
pognophobia: fear of beards
santaphobia: fear of Santa Claus - Selaphobia: Fear of flashing lights (Christmas lights).
- simbosiophobia: fear of parties
syngenesophobia: fear of relatives
tarandophobia: fear of reindeer
Psychologists note that there is a form of anxiety, which they simply call gift-giving anxiety, that is a real problem during the holidays. Gift-giving anxiety is a form of social anxiety where the individual feels a level of anxiety based on the need for approval and the fear of being negatively judged (the recipient doesn’t like the gift, or the gift is not expensive enough, or they already have the item, etc.).
Another fear, particularly among naughty children, is the fear of not getting a Christmas present (or perhaps getting a lump of coal). One could argue that athazagoraphobia (fear of being forgotten or ignored) is the appropriate word, but it is not specific enough.
The following phobias may or may not be real. I have found at least one reference on the internet for each one of them. If they do exist, it wouldn’t surprise me. It seems as though there is a phobia for everything in existence.
Fayophobia is the fear of elves. Would someone with this fear be afraid of reading stories with elves in them? Possibly these stories would induce nightmares about a solace of Babas Yaga or a lawn of gnomes. I don’t believe that help from a hustle of brownies or a knot of dwarves would be welcomed. A brace of dryads, a tizzy of fairies, a swell of naiads, a delectation of nymphs, a pleasure of pixies, a resolution of sprites—none of these would be beautiful in the eyes of a person with fayophobia. An indulgence of leprechauns would make St. Patrick’s Day very uncomfortable. Christmas could prove to be a terrifying experience when surrounded by a drove of elves and a sleigh of Santa Claus.
Ghabhphobia is the fear of presents or gifts. Guess this would cause problems with birthdays, too. Would someone with this phobia be afraid of receiving presents because he would be afraid of receiving an embarrassing gift? Or would this person be afraid of giving someone a present out of fear that his gift would be rejected?
Mythophobia is the fear of slipping and telling a secret, such as giving away what someone’s Christmas gift is. A lot of little kids have trouble keeping such a secret. Some carry it on into adulthood if they are lucky enough to live that long. Most of the time the person who has a problem keeping secrets doesn’t seem to realize it and gets mad when others won’t tell them confidential things. Someone with mythophobia would be pleading with others not to confide in them. – https://lisaswritopia.com/fayophobia-and-other-christmas-phobias/