Apeirophobia

Apeirophobia (from Ancient Greek: ᾰ̓́πειρος, romanized: ápeiros, lit. 'infinite, boundless') is a specific phobia, the excessive or irrational fear or phobia of infinity, eternity, endlessness, or the uncountable and is also known as fear of infinity, fear of eternity, infinite fear, fear of endlessness, fear of the infinite, or existential fear of infinity, causing discomfort and sometimes panic attacks from intrusive thoughts of the infinity.^[2] It normally starts in adolescence or earlier and it is currently not known how it normally develops over time. Apeirophobia may be caused by existential dread about eternal life or oblivion following death. Due to this, it is often connected with thanatophobia (the phobia of death), chronophobia (the phobia of time or the passage of time), nihilophobia, and other existential fears.^[1][3] Sufferers commonly report feelings of derealization which may cause the perception of a dreamlike or distorted reality. Existential OCD may sometimes be the cause of obsessive thoughts about infinity or eternity, which can lead to or trigger apeirophobia. Like other phobias, apeirophobia may be tied to mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders or obsessive-compulsive disorder.^[3] Martin Wiener, a neuroscience professor at George Mason University, hypothesized that apeirophobia is a manifestation of the fear of an unknown future, similarly to the fear of aging.^[4]

Apeirophobia
Other names	Fear of infinity, fear of eternity, infinite fear, fear of endlessness, fear of the infinite, existential fear of infinity
Apeirophobia can arise from the fear of an eternal afterlife, such as Heaven in Christianity.[1]
Specialty	Clinical psychology, psychiatry
Symptoms	Fear of infinity, fear of dying, panic attacks related to the event, or dreams relating to infinity, derealization, symptoms of existential OCD, disconnection from reality
Complications	Harm to self, social isolation, anxiety disorder, suicide
Usual onset	Adolescence or earlier
Duration	Long-term
Causes	Poorly understood
Treatment	Cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, desensitization therapy
Medication	Anti-anxiety medications

There is very little research on this phobia. Despite not being recognized specifically by the American Psychiatric Association in the DSM-5, it does meet their criteria for a specific phobia, which is a type of anxiety disorder.^[1] There are no known treatment methods that are specifically designed to treat apeirophobia,^[5] although some apeirophobes have benefited from anti-anxiety medications or cognitive behavioral therapy.^[4]

See also

• Derealization
• Thanatophobia
• Chronophobia
• Anxiety disorder
• Obsessive–compulsive disorder
• Existential crisis
• List of phobias