Years ago, I worked in a shop where we got into a long term discussion over phobias. We had two or three members of the group who had been through the Air Force medical system, and had been labeled with phobias. They were actually under treatment for their phobias. As I remember the group of three....the one fear that came up and got discussed was the fear of pain. For this individual....just getting a shot, or visiting the dentist...would turn into a high anxiety moment.
All of this brought up the long list of phobias, which there are a thousand or so phobias noted by the mental health folks. So as we got around to these water-cooler chats.....the topic of Teutophobia came up.....the fear of things German.
It's an odd fear.
It could involve German speech....the Holocaust....German culture....German dress and style...etc.
Statistically, no one can say how many people are afflicted by this phobia. It might be hundreds.....it might be thousands. Heck, even some Germans might be affected by Teutophobia and not realize it.
I came to a conclusion after many water-cooler chats....that most all of these phobias were treatable, but required you to talk these out and explain to the guy where it all started. The start-up of a Teutophobia situation? It's likely some guy who bumped into some German, who said something or intimidated them to such a degree....that it permanently transformed them.
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