Today there are more phobias than you can poke a stick at and here we will take a look at one of the lesser known conditions called Algophobia. Algophobia is the fear of pain. This may sound a little unusual at first as one would assume that everyone has a fear of pain, and that it's a normal, healthy response to dangerous situations. This is true but when we speak of phobias we are talking about unreasonable fear. Anglophobia is an abnormally heightened fear to pain that often renders the sufferer incapacitated in what would otherwise be normal situations. Friends and family might not recognize the signs and probably would not even know the illness exists in the first place.

We know for example that playing sport can result in various types of pain such as, sore muscles, bruising, or even small injury. We know that some sports also carry a very small risk of serious injury and pain but as a normal person who does not suffer from Algophobia, you are able to weigh up the risk and reward and make the decisions to participate regardless. An individual who suffers from Algophobia would not be able to weigh the risks properly and would most likely shy away from participating. What is even worse is that this fear can often prevent them from performing every day, normal tasks such as cleaning the house, gardening, or even going out into the community. The person can be left frozen scared and unwilling to taking part in such activities.

It is not the fear of extreme pain that the Algophobia sufferer is specifically concerned about but rather all pain. If you feel that you may be suffering from Algophobia, it is important that you don't keep it to yourself. Seek professional medical help. There are many ways this illness can be dealt with and many of them do not require the use of drugs. A professional may be able to help you address the problem at its root cause and free you from it indefinitely. It is common for phobia sufferers to feel embarrassed by their illness and not reporting it to someone can cause them to become increasingly isolated. This sort of situation seldom helps improve the situation and the fear can often become worse as the sufferer slowly becomes more anxious.

Like all phobias, help is out there and in most cases a cure can be found.