gephyrophobia
Sign in to saveGephyrophobia is the anxiety disorder or specific phobia characterized by the fear of bridges and tunnels, especially those that are older. As a result, sufferers of gephyrophobia may avoid routes that will take them over bridges, or if they are a passenger, will act very apprehensively when passing over a bridge. The term gephyrophobia comes from the Greek γέφυρα (gephura), meaning "bridge", and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear".
Key facts
- Medical condition.image
- TappanZeeBridgeFromBelow.JPG
- Medical condition.caption
- The old Tappan Zee Bridge (demolished in 2019 and replaced with a newer bridge) offered a service to help those with gephyrophobia cross the bridge without hesitation.
- Medical condition.specialty
- Psychology, psychiatry, and neurology
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Gephyrophobia is the anxiety disorder or specific phobia characterized by the fear of bridges and tunnels, especially those that are older. As a result, sufferers of gephyrophobia may avoid routes that will take them over bridges, or if they are a passenger, will act very apprehensively when passing over a bridge. The term gephyrophobia comes from the Greek γέφυρα (gephura), meaning "bridge", and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear".
Some possible manifestations of gephyrophobia may be fear of driving off the bridge, fear of a gust of wind blowing one off the bridge, or fear that the bridge will collapse while crossing it (i.e., fear that the bridge lacks structural integrity). The fear overlaps with acrophobia (the fear of heights) as gephyrophobia tends to be exacerbated in taller bridges as compared to those closer to the water or ground beneath.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “gephyrophobia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.