What is bibliophobia?
Bibliophobia is an intense fear of books. The condition is a specific phobia (fear), which is a type of anxiety disorder.
A person with bibliophobia might fear all books or only a specific kind, such as textbooks or children’s books. Someone with bibliophobia might be afraid of books themselves, the stories they contain or the act of reading a book.
People with bibliophobia may:
- Avoid books and places where they might encounter books, such as schools, libraries and stores.
- Experience shame or embarrassment about the fear.
- Get nervous when they merely think about books.
- Panic when they have to hold a book or read a book.
- Skip educational, professional or personal activities that involve books.
- Worry excessively about the possibility of having to read or be near books.
A person with bibliophobia may understand that the fear is extreme, but not be able to control it.
Books are almost everywhere, and it’s difficult to avoid them in everyday life. Bibliophobia can cause significant stress and even physical symptoms. The condition can affect a person’s education, social experiences and career path.
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How common is bibliophobia?
It’s hard knowing exactly how many people have a specific phobia, like bibliophobia (fear of books). Many people may keep this fear to themselves or may not recognize they have it. We do know that about 1 in 10 American adults and 1 in 5 teenagers will deal with a specific phobia disorder at some point in their lives, though.
Are there different types of bibliophobia?
Bibliophobia may be related to other specific phobias, including:
- Arithmophobia, fear of numbers.
- Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, fear of long words.
- Logophobia, fear of words.
- Metrophobia, fear of poetry.
- Mythophobia, fear of legends, which may be in written form.
- Scolionophobia, fear of school.
