This article discusses the use/abuse of the suffix "-phobia". See Phobia article for medical issues.

The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (of Greek origin) occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, disabling fear as a mental disorder (e.g., agoraphobia), in chemistry to describe chemical aversions (e.g., hydrophobic), and in biology to descibe organisms that dislike certain conditions (e.g., acidophobia). In common usage they also form words that describe dislike or hatred of a particular thing or subject.

Many people apply the suffix "-phobia" inappropriately to mild or irrational fears with no serious substance; however, earlier senses relate to psychiatry which studies serious phobias which disable a person's life. For more information on the psychiatric side of this, including how psychiatry groups phobias as "agoraphobia", "social phobia", or "simple phobia", see phobia. Treatment for phobias may include desensitization (graduated exposure therapy) or flooding.

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"telephonophobia" — say that 10 times fast while you read my new blog post! http://t.co/zPTAaSgy
gracelyden (Grace Lyden) Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:04:52 -0000
"telephonophobia" — say that 10 times fast while you read my new blog post! http://t.co/zPTAaSgy
RT @ragingrainbow: Oh man, yes. #telephonophobia http://t.co/STZGUrU6
Didi81_ (Hilde) Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:21:57 -0000
RT @ragingrainbow: Oh man, yes. #telephonophobia http://t.co/STZGUrU6
Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls. http://t.co/c4D8dQgz
timhackbarth (Tim Hackbarth) Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:56:28 -0000
Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls. http://t.co/c4D8dQgz

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