For someone with ailurophobia, the internet must be a rather frightening place. Because, as we all know, the internet is teeming with cats, and an ailurophobic is utterly afraid of cats. To the medical community, ailurophobia is an irrational or abnormal fear of cats. We’re not talking about just not being a cat person — we’re talking about people who are frozen with dread at the thought or sight of a cat, seemingly for no reason. These people exist and they are, well, scaredy cats, to put it mildly.We feel sorry for these phobics, and we say it’s time for these poor souls to face their fear and embrace all the cat-titude the Internet has to offer in order to get over their phobia. So, to all the ailurophobics who somehow found their way to this page, hello! Here are 10 adorable cats just waiting on YouTube to, yes, scare you but, more importantly, help you move on. Subscribe to TheFW on If you are a train set or a teeny-tiny model townsperson, you definitely have a reason to fear cats.

Otherwise, how is this at all frightening? Look at this guy. He’s only interested in unleashing his somewhat lazy wrath on toy trains. It might be frightening to imagine that all cats can defy gravity and pretty much go anywhere they want, but if you think about it, this cat is probably just trying to get to some food or find a comfortable place to nap. After all, eating and napping comprise approximately 99% of a cat’s day. This wall was just quietly standing there, doing its job, when it was viciously attacked by this cat. The scene is chilling indeed, but if you watch closely, you’ll see that no harm actually comes to the wall. It may have suffered a spike of adrenaline and some post-attack anxiety, but clearly no physical damage. If a cat can’t hurt a wall, it probably can’t hurt you either. Besides, you can run away. Kittens have a tendency to gather in large numbers and then gang up on their victims. Of course, their victims are usually fairly easy to attack, like this onetime home to 24 cans of soda.

To be clear: If you don’t want to be messed with by a handful of cute, fuzzy kittens, make sure you don’t resemble a cardboard box. Cats prefer a challenge. They don’t have any fun attacking people cowering in corners; they would much rather chase you around as you fly through the room zigzagging all over. Best Vacuum Cleaners Under $150What this means: If you have none of the characteristics of a remote-control helicopter, you have nothing to worry about.Where To Buy Hairless Cats You have to sympathize with this cat more than fear him. Sheet Vinyl Flooring San FranciscoWho wouldn’t want to destroy an annoying “meowing” birthday card? It’s not enough to be a year older, but then someone has to send you a card that’ll give you a splitting headache?

This cat isn’t scary, he’s thoughtful—he’s doing us all a favor by putting this card out of our misery. Most of us have seen this one before, so maybe it’s one of the reasons people have developed ailurophobia. Much like laptops, we sometimes just sit around, minding our own business, not bothering anyone. To prevent a kitten disturbance, it’s best to keep your desktop clear and avoid having moving icons on your monitor. Also steer clear of clicks and beeps. For very thin, colorful, floating objects, a kitten can be a monster. In other words, if you’re a yellow balloon, look out. (If it makes you feel any better, it seems like he also scared himself pretty good, though.) It is a little-known fact that a cat’s mortal enemy is his own reflection. Most felines spend their entire lives trapped in an existential battle with the mirror image of himself, which stares back at him with equal parts apathy and smug arrogance. So, as long as you have no resemblance to the mirror image of whatever cat you’re with, you’re probably fine.

A true ailurophobic may find this final clip a bit disturbing. The fierce attack launched against the napping German shepherd by a most ferocious five-month-old kitten is difficult to watch. And by “difficult” we mean hilarious. What exactly does this cat think he’s doing? The good news is that, clearly, cats are not very smart about knowing who or what they can take down. If that still doesn’t soothe your nerves, maybe just make sure you can run faster than the dog, so the cat gets him first.Why are there so many names for phobias? Why can’t we just agree on one for each? If you have the fear of newness or novelty, you get to choose among 8 terms: Cainophobia, Cainotophobia, Cenophobia, Centophobia, Kainolophobia, Kainophobia, Kainotophobia, and Neophobia. The fear of being touched has 6 names to describe it, and the fear of odors has 7! Regrettably, the fellow on the right has only two terms to describe his fear of needles: Aichmophobia and Belonephobia. Maybe we could come up with a couple of others: stickophobia or ouchaphobia.

Or if you’re classically trained: neraphobia, from the Latin root “nere,” or nemaphobia from the Greek “nema, ” both meaning “needle.” Today’s post is a lighthearted look at all the multiple names given to phobias, complete with a cartoon. The topic is explored under the headings: Marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association is the main diagnostic reference book for mental health professionals in the US and in much of the rest of the world. According to the DSM-IV, a phobia is characterized by: A study by the National Institute of Mental Health found that up to 18 per cent of Americans — 55 million — suffer from at least one phobia. If there are so many suffering people out there, why can’t the mental health profession agree on a single name for a single phobia? Aeluro-, aelur-, ailuro, eluro- are all Greek root words for “cat”

Some of the reasons for the multiple names for phobias lie in the language of the root source of the word, whether that root word is plural or not, and how the root word is spelled. Take, for example, some of the fear of cat’s terms.  Felinophobia’s root is the Latin word “felinus,” Elurophobia’s root is directly from the Greek “eluro,” and gatophobia’s root is derived from the Spanish word for cat, “gato.” All these root words mean “cat.” Two of the other terms for the fear of cats, Aelurophobia and Ailurophobia, come from variant spellings of the Greek root word “eluro.” Another reason is that phobias were not studied much until recent times. Each physician over time invented his (and it was a “his,” almost exclusively) own word for an observed phobia, usually dusting off his grammar-school Greek or Latin for the root word. So these terms come down to us in all their plurality from the moldy tomes of the ancients. But not all terms were made hundreds of years ago.

Greek and Latin root words are still being coined for certain mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, which is made of two Greek words slammed together in the early 20th century. Autism, neurotic, id and libido were all made up in the 20th century.There are 11 names for it! Below is a sample list of phobias with three or more terms identifying them — there are many, many more, but I decided enough was enough. So, sit back and relax while you read this list and wonder where all these terms came from: I have a fascination for words and their etymology. You can probably tell that! I hope I haven’t bored you with all these almost indecipherable Greek and Latin terms! I want to emphasize that I in no way intend this post to make fun of people with these and other phobias. If you have a phobia that is impairing your life, I recommend seeing a mental health professional. Treatment usually takes only a few sessions for a lifetime of relief. As always, your comments are welcome!