Dodecaphobia (from Greek dodeka, meaning "twelve") is the fear of number 12. This phobia is very rare and is barely mentioned in the media, often overshadowed by the very common fear of the next number, 13 (see Triskaidekaphobia). Dodecaphobes may be linked to the fear of 2012 phenomenon, where the supposed doom date is in the 12th month of 2012. They may have felt worried when the date was 12/21/12, especially when they believed that end times could occur such as death of a loved one.
There is another, rather strange source of fear of 12, that if we put the random-number generator into a loop, the loop will not stop unless if it stops on a number other than 12. So the number 12 represents the symbol of infinite loop, so the fear of 12 is linked to the fear of never-ending cycle.
Sufferers would try to avoid encountering the number 12. Many dodecaphobes would want to change the number of months in a year, such as having 13-month years suggested by Scott Flansburg (The Human Calculator). They would also add Ophiuchus as the sign of zodiac to increase it to 13. Some sufferers would want to use the 24-hour clock (which has 24 different hour numbers from 0-23) as they think that calling the same hour number twice a day is not right (e.g. 12:12 occurring twice a day). If dodecaphobes realize that the average size of human foot is actually 10 inches, not 12 inches, they would define foot as a unit equal to 10 inches.
In some cases, a phobia of the number 12 could mean that sufferers get chills down their spine thinking about Tom Brady beating their team.
Number phobias |
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Oudenophobia (fear of 0) · Henophobia (fear of 1) · Dyophobia (fear of 2) · Triskaphobia (fear of 3) · Tetraphobia (fear of 4) · Pentaphobia (fear of 5) · Hexaphobia (fear of 6) · Heptaphobia (fear of 7) · Octophobia (fear of 8) · Enneaphobia (fear of 9) · Decaphobia (fear of 10) · Hendecaphobia (fear of 11) · Dodecaphobia (fear of 12) · Triskaidekaphobia (fear of 13) · Tetradecaphobia (fear of 14) · Dekapentophobia (fear of 15) Hexadecaphobia (fear of 16) · Heptadecaphobia (fear of 17) · Octodecaphobia (fear of 18) · Enneadecaphobia (fear of 19) · Eikosiphobia (fear of 20) · Eikosihenaphobia (fear of 21) · Eikosidyophobia (fear of 22) · Eikositriophobia (fear of 23) · Eikositetraphobia (fear of 24) · Eikosipentaphobia (fear of 25) · Eikosihexaphobia (fear of 26) · Eikosiheptaphobia (fear of 27) · Eikosioctaphobia (fear of 28) · Eikosienneaphobia (fear of 29) · Trigintiphobia (fear of 30) · Triacontahenphobia (fear of 31) · Triantadyophobia (fear of 32) · Triantatriaphobia (fear of 33) · Triantatesseraphobia (fear of 34) Triantapentaphobia (fear of 35) · Triantahexaphobia (fear of 36) · Triakontenneaphobia (fear of 39) · Tessarakontadyophobia (fear of 42) · Tessarakontaheptaphobia (fear of 47) · Pentekontoctophobia (fear of 58) · Hexekontadyophobia (fear of 62) · Hexekontenneaphobia (fear of 69) · Hebdomekontahenophobia (fear of 71) · Ogdokontaheptaphobia (fear of 87) · Enenekontenneaphobia (fear of 99) · Hekatophobia (fear of 100) · Hekatohendecaphobia (fear of 111) · Hekatenenekontahenophobia (fear of 191) · Diakosioihekkaidekaphobia (fear of 216) · Diakosioipentekontaphobia (fear of 250) · Triakosioitriakontatriophobia (fear of 333) · Tetrakosioeikosiphobia (fear of 420) · Pentakosioipentekontahenophobia (fear of 551) · Hexakosioihekkaidekaphobia (fear of 616) · Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (fear of 666) · Heftakosioitessarakontaheptaphobia (fear of 747) · Enniakosioihendecaphobia (fear of 911) · Enniakosioenenekontenneaphobia (fear of 999) · Quattuormiliasescentoruphobia·(fear of 4600) · Tessarakontadyochilahexekontenneaphobia (fear of 42069) Nongentiseptuagintatrestrillionsescentiquinquagintanovemmiliacentumtredecimdeciesoctingentivigintiquattuormiliatrecentiphobia(fear of 973,659,113,824,315) · Compustitusnumerophobia (fear of composite numbers) · Meganumerophobia (fear of large numbers) · Imparnumerophobia (fear of odd numbers) · Omalonumerophobia (fear of even numbers) · Piphobia (fear of pi) · Phiphobia (fear of the golden ratio) · Primonumerophobia (fear of prime numbers) · Paranumerophobia (fear of irrational numbers) · Neganumerophobia (fear of negative numbers) · Decadisophobia (fear of decimals) |