Halloween is often intentionally scary, and it can feel downright overwhelming for those with samhainophobia, or the fear of Halloween.
Defined as a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of Halloween, samhainophobia is a term rooted in ancient pagan traditions, particularly those of the Celtic Druids. The festival of Samhain was celebrated as early as 2,000 years ago to mark the night before the Celtic New Year. October 31, the last day of the Celtic year, was seen as a time when the veil between the living and the dead was thin, and ghosts could walk among the living for both good and evil. The Samhain festival was centered around massive bonfires, ritual sacrifices to the gods, and fortune-telling. Participants generally wore costumes made from animal skins.
What Causes Samhainophobia?
While samhainophobia is not a distinct diagnosis in the DSM-5, the fear of Halloween may meet the diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia. Specific phobias involve an irrational and excessive fear that is related to a specific object or situation. The causes samhainophobia may, therefore, be similar to the causes of other kinds of specific phobias. The exact causes of specific phobias are not known but previous frightening experiences, genetics, and brain chemistry may play a contributing role.
The holiday's pagan roots and traditional association with ghosts and witchcraft may contribute to the fear of Halloween. For others, modern Halloween traditions may be a source of fear. Some people genuinely do not enjoy the feeling of being startled or scared, yet modern Halloween traditions rely on scares as a major portion of the evening's entertainment. Even if you skip the haunted attractions, ghost stories, and other obviously-frightening events, people may try to startle you at costume parties and other Halloween get-togethers.
For some people, the fear of Halloween is based on other specific phobias. Ghosts, witches, vampires, zombies, blood, gore, darkness, lightning, masks, animatronics, tombstones, clowns, and loud noises are just a few of the basic Halloween staples. If you have a phobia of these or other relatively common elements, you may be triggered even by small children who are trick-or-treating in costumes and makeup.
Overcoming the Fear of Halloween
Working through the fear of Halloween is important, as it is one of the biggest holidays in the United States. Those who fear the holiday may have difficulty at work or school events as well as social activities. But how to cope with the fear depends on a variety of factors, including the nature of your phobia, its severity, and your personal triggers.
If your fear is relatively mild, you may be able to combat it with basic coping techniques. These may include:
- Visualizing yourself successfully making it through a feared event
- Breathing purposefully or mindfully to calm your nerves
- Attending Halloween festivities with a supportive friend or relative to lower anxiety levels
If your fear is more severe, however, professional assistance may be required. Your therapist will help you determine exactly what you're afraid of, and create a treatment plan to work through your fears. Therapeutic approaches such as systematic desensitization are generally very effective in treating specific phobias.
Those with severe religion-based phobias might do well to seek spiritual counseling from a trusted religious leader—either instead of, or in addition to, professional therapy.
The good news: Although the fear of Halloween can feel isolating and overwhelming, the phobia generally responds well to therapeutic techniques.
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Samra CK, Abdijadid S. Specific Phobia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Additional Reading
History of Halloween. History.com.
- American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
By Lisa Fritscher
Lisa Fritscher is a freelance writer and editor with a deep interest in phobias and other mental health topics.
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Are you scared of one aspect of Halloween, or the entire holiday all together? Then you better learn the name of the phobia you might have. Check them out in the video above.
A phobia is a type of an anxiety disorder, and phobias are divided into three categories: specific, social and agoraphobia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Specific phobias are distinguished by an intense and "irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger" and limited to a very specific thing or situation. Approximately 20 million Americans suffer from a specific phobia, which can be limited to an animal type such as dogs or spiders, situations such as confined spaces, and environmental factors such as heights and thunderstorms.
Specific phobias also include irrational fears of specific supernatural creatures such as vampires, witches and ghosts. The names of all phobias are derived from Greek, combined with the Latin "phobia," meaning fear, at the end. So the fear of spiders becomes arachnophobia from the Greek word "arachne," meaning "spider." If you are afraid of one aspect of Halloween, there's probably a name for it.
Halloween-themed phobias:
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders
Astraphobia - Fear of thunder and lightning
Bogyphobia - Fear of the boogeyman
Chiroptophobia - Fear of bats
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns
Hemophobia - Fear of blood
Lupophobia - Fear of wolves and werewolves
Maskaphobia - Fear of masks
Necrophobia - Fear of dead things
Nyctophobia - Fear of the dark
Phasmophobia - Fear of ghosts
Placophobia - Fear of tombstones
Samhainophobia - Fear of Halloween
Sanguivoriphobia - Fear of vampires
Selenophobia - Fear of the Moon
Skelephobia - Fear of skeletons
Teraphobia - Fear of monsters
Wiccaphobia - Fear of witches
The formation of specific phobias is still not well understood, though they are twice as common in women. While the fear of harmless, or even completely fictional things may seem silly, specific phobias can become disabling if the feared thing cannot be avoided, or if treatment is not pursued.
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