The title of this article seems like something that would appear on the ticker in Sim City along with "Half of sims agree the other half is wrong." Gelotophobia is the fear of being laughed at and afflicts 14 percent of Americans according to psychologist William Ruch from the University of Zurich. Ruch surveyed over 20,000 individuals in 75 countries and found that geletophobia affects anywhere between 2 and 30 percent of a country's population.
A typical gelotophobe could hear a stranger's laugh and think it is aimed at him. In an extreme case this could provoke breaking out in sweat, heart palpitations, or simply freezing up. 'So, yes, they would not be behaving
properly,' Ruch said.
Whatever happened to having a sense of humor?
3 comments:
i hate psychiatrists
bunch of BS
you can come up with a phobia for anything.
i think 2 of every 5 americans have stdphobia. fear of catching stds. bam! gimme my certification
you wish it was that easy. haha
Gelotophobia, eh?
At first I thought you were going to talk about he lesser known, but equally debilitating, gelatophobia, fear of Italian fruity flavored ice-based frozen desserts. It's become a serious issue, especially in the last few years when establishments serving the aforementioned ice-based treats have gained traction and popularity, especially in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. For those gelatophobes, it's difficult to even walk near a gelatoria. Those are the real heros in this post-911 world.
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