Friday the 13th and Why It's Time to Breathe Easier

— -- Just hang on a little longer, you paraskevidekatriaphobics. Surviving your fear of Friday the 13th today would free you until Nov. 13, followed by only one day of dread next year.

This year’s February and March occurrence is simply pure luck of the calendar. Friday the 13th popped up only once last year, for instance, with no sign in sight of three in the same year again anytime soon.

So people with this debilitating fear can breathe a little easier for a while, assuming they avoid any calamity by midnight.

And even if it’s little or no consolation, there’s another reason they are luckier than they think. By comparison, triggers for other phobias – real or imagined – are far more abundant. Here are some of the more unusual ones:

(But, first, check out this talking dictionary to help you pronounce paraskevidekatriaphobia.)

Liticaphobia: Fear of lawsuits

Euphobia: Fear of hearing good news

Soceraphobia: Fear of parents-in-law

Deipnophobia: Fear of dining or dinner conversations

Nostophobia: Fear of returning home

Xanthophobia: Fear of the color yellow or the word yellow

Clinophobia: Fear of going to bed

Omphalophobia: Fear of belly buttons

Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth, not to be confused with any legitimate phobia

Aichmophobia: Fear of sharp objects

Sesquipedalophobia: Fear of long words, which has morphed into the contrived hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

And then, of course, there’s the phobia of all phobias: Phobophobia, or the fear of being afraid.

See the fuller list.