Fear and Loathing on Valentine’s Day

If you find yourself a superstitious individual and/or hopelessly single, this weekend may find you dodging not only black cats, ladders, mirrors and three sixes in a row, but any and all restaurants and theaters sure to be filled with hand-holding, starry-eyed lovebirds.

The alignment of the 2015 calendar has led to what the Door County Short Film Festival has dubbed “the two scariest days of the year” – Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day.

While Friday the 13th has typically been reserved for superstitious individuals and those with friggatriskaidekaphobia (one term for those afraid of the infamous day), Valentine’s Day has been designated as the day of love and romance, or for pessimists, “another Hallmark holiday.”

Ironically, as many as 30 little-known phobias are associated with the romantic holiday, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute. Among them are philophobia for those afraid of falling in love, katagelophobia for those afraid of being ridiculed or disliked (also known as “being human” for some), xocolatophobia for those afraid of chocolate, and philematophobia for those with a fear of kissing.

Of the following, I’m not sure which is worse: having cardiophobia, the fear of the heart, or being the poor, unsuspecting date of a female anthrophobiac (someone with a fear of flowers). If your first date went really well, don’t take it personally if you don’t get a squeeze of the arm in the car or a hug. Your date might have aphenphosmphobia, a fear of being touched.

As for gamophobics, who have a fear of getting married, I wonder if Valentine’s Day and the ridiculous amount of pressure and expectation it puts on individuals (especially men) isn’t the culprit? After all, if you succeed in pulling off the glitziest, most expensive love-fest for your beloved one year, are you then doomed for failure if you can’t keep that up for the rest of your life?

But maybe I’m moving too far into atychiphobia territory (the unwarranted fear of failure).