Phunny Phobias

If you met someone who was afraid of paper or wax statues, wouldn't you tell them to stop being so ridiculous and get over it? Every Monday, Null editor Hayley hand-picks another bizarre phobia and tries to work out whether it's real or rubbish.

This week:

Panphobia: fear of everything or a vague and persistent dread of some unknown evil

Also known as: omniphobia or pantophobia

Hayley says:

"How can anyone can be afraid of everything? That was my first thought. You're either afraid of lots of things (polyphobic?) or just quite worried about everything i.e. a hypochondriac. And shouldn't a phobia be a morbid fear, not just some half baked vague dread?

However, having done some very brief research into panphobia, it appears to be a more widely recognised condition than I had first given it credit for. Or at least, it appears in the Journal of Insanity - whether you consider this credible or not is up to you.

And as it turns out panphobia is mentioned by a handful of other slightly less comical publications. So grudgingly I have to concede that it is exists. Real."

So far: Real 1 Rubbish 1