Why there is a fear of the number 13 and how to overcome it

The Devil's Dozen is the name given to the number 13. Superstitious people avoid Fridays the 13th, floors and apartments with this number. In some countries, for example in the USA, some buildings do not have a floor with this number. But in Italy, on the contrary, this number is considered lucky. Superstitions, a wary attitude towards the number 13, and belief in mysticism do not yet indicate the presence of a phobia. But if fear prevents a person from living, then, obviously, we are talking about pathological fear. Let's find out what the fear of the number 13 is called, why it occurs, and what to do about it.

What is triskaidekaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13, an irrational fear of this number and everything where it is indicated. An alternative name is terdekaphobia. A similar name is paraskavedekatriaphobia (friggatriskaidekaphobia). This is the fear of Friday the 13th. The phobia is more common in the UK, USA, and Holland. Russians are more resistant to this type of phobia.

It is important! Sometimes fear of the number 13 acts as a symptom of schizophrenia. In this case, the patient suffers from auditory and visual hallucinations. To make an accurate diagnosis and carry out differentiated diagnostics, you need to contact a psychotherapist (psychologist, psychiatrist).

Lucky number 13

In some regions, 13 is considered lucky. For example, 13 is lucky in Italy, except in contexts where they are sitting at the dinner table. In Cantonese, Hong Kong and Macau, the number 13 is considered lucky because it is similar to words meaning "sure to live" (as opposed to the unlucky number 14, which sounds like the expression "sure to die"). Colgate University was founded by 13 men with 13 prayers, which is why 13 is considered a lucky number. Friday the 13th is Colgate's luckiest day.

It is known that many athletes wear jersey number 13 and perform successfully. In 1966, Portugal achieved their best finish at a World Cup finals, finishing third, thanks to Mozambican striker Eusebio, who scored nine World Cup goals - four of them in a 5–3 quarter-final win. North Korea - received the Golden Boot award as the tournament's top scorer while wearing number 13. In the 1954 and 1974 World Cup finals, Max Mackloch and Gerd Müller respectively played and scored in the final while wearing number 13. More recently, other top The players performed well despite wearing No. 13, including Michael Ballack, Alessandro Nesta, Raphinha and others. Other athletes who have chosen 13 as a squad include Venezuelans Dave Concepcion, Omar Vizquel, Oswaldo Guillen and Pastor Maldonado.

Triskaidekaphilia is considered its antonym and is described as "love of the number 13".

Manifestations of phobia

A few days before date X, a person begins to experience anxiety and restlessness. The closer the date, the stronger the fear. Triskaidekaphobe flinches at any rustle, door slam, or phone call. He tries to become invisible, moves around the house as quietly as possible, and does not go outside. The patient refuses to prepare food (he is afraid that using electricity or gas will result in tragedy), tries not to move at all, not to touch anything.

Noticeable somatic manifestations of phobia:

• nausea;
• vomit;
• dizziness;
• feeling of a lump in the throat;
• throat spasm;
• dyspnea;
• shiver;
• chills;
• tremor of the limbs;
• cold sweat;
• gastrointestinal disorder;
• convulsions;
• tachycardia.

If it is necessary to leave the house, if the patient is forcibly removed, he may experience a panic attack or fainting. Other triskaidekaphobes become inadequate and can cause harm to others.

At the behavioral, emotional and psychological level, fear of the number 13 develops gradually. The first signs include the following:

• a person avoids buses with number 13, trams with the same number, houses, etc.;
• a person never chooses 13 seats in cinemas, airplanes, other halls and lounges;
• on this day a person refuses shopping, dating, going to new places;
• on this day the individual leaves all important matters for later, tries to be almost inactive;
• the person does not drive;
• The individual attributes any failures on this day to the machinations of the devil, a fatal number, and completely denies his responsibility and involvement.

If you notice such manifestations in yourself or someone you know, it is recommended to consult a psychologist. At an early stage, the disease can be cured quickly and easily.

Advice from psychologists

Triskaidekaphobes significantly change their behavior when in contact with the number 13 or when the corresponding date approaches. They may cancel planned events, not leave the house, and use household appliances to a minimum. People with this disorder are convinced that this number brings misfortune and failure. Another symptom is the inventing of protective rituals. Everyone has their own, but they are needed in order to protect themselves from possible danger.

Like any phobia, this disorder creates constant emotional stress, which leads to chronic fatigue, anxiety and poor health. When confronted with a stimulus, triskaidekaphobes may experience panic attacks and bouts of aggression. Added to the psychological discomfort are physical ailments: high blood pressure, headache, and a feeling of tightness in the chest. To alleviate symptoms and treat fear of the number 13, psychologists advise following the following recommendations:

There is a problem. Any solution and treatment of the disorder begins with the awareness of the owner of the phobia of painful reactions and the negative impact of obsessive fear on the quality of life. This is one of the important moments at the beginning of recovery, since at this moment a person begins to look at his fear a little from the outside.

Rationalization. Any superstitions are based on unprovable statements. You need to try to approach the issue analytically. For example, the idea that the number 13 is unlucky because something bad happened to someone on that day can be destroyed. You need to think about the fact that accidents happen every day and this does not depend on the date or day of the week.

Meditations. Fear is an instinctive feeling. It is a reaction to danger. Sometimes these dangers are far-fetched and do not correspond to the true state of affairs. As the phobia persists for a long time, the ability to recognize oneself and one’s feelings is gradually lost. Meditation helps relieve anxiety, conduct internal dialogue and purposefully change habitual reactions.

Contact a specialist. All of the above techniques can help in the early stages or mild forms of the disorder. But, if the situation gets out of control, the reasons are not found, and the symptoms are overwhelming, you need to go to a psychologist or psychotherapist. With the help of cognitive behavioral therapy, finding out the reasons with the help of leading questions and observation by a specialist, you can get rid of triskaidekaphobia.

Causes of triskaidekaphobia

Most often, fear is associated with belief in mysticism. People are sure that on this day witches gather for a Sabbath, and evil spirits calmly walk around the cities. Patients believe that something bad will definitely happen on this day; failures follow them at every step.

The obsessive thoughts that haunt a person with a phobia are similar to manifestations of OCD. Often it is this disorder that develops as a complication. To protect themselves and relieve anxiety, patients come up with rituals, protective amulets, amulets, etc. Patients try not to leave the house on the 13th or do not get out of bed at all. Other people susceptible to pathology wear special clothing or perform actions that supposedly protect them.

Reasons for demonizing the number 13

Psychologists have still not come to a consensus on the reasons for the demonization of the number 13. It is assumed that this began in the 19th century due to a combination of several prejudices. According to another theory, it all began with the acts of King Philip IV the Fair. On Friday the 13th he started a war with the Templars. Representatives of the order were brutally tortured and then publicly burned in the square.

Religion and folk beliefs

There are other religious and non-religious prerequisites for the formation of a negative attitude towards this figure:

• Judas was the 13th apostle (in America they still believe that if 13 people gather at the dinner table, one of them will die within a year);
• in Tarot cards, 13 means death;
• Satan was the 13th angel before the fall;
• among the Vikings, the god of cunning and deceit was 13, he quarreled 12 other gods;
• ancient peoples considered the number 12 sacred, all numbers larger than it automatically became bad;
• 12 witches gather at the Sabbaths, Satan is the thirteenth participant.

This is interesting! Horror films, for example, the film “Friday the 13th,” made their contribution.

Similar phobias

• Number 666 (Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia) or 616.
• Tetraphobia, fear of the number 4. In China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as in some other East Asian countries, buildings (offices, apartments, hotels) often miss floors with the number 4 and the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia 1xxx -9xxx does not include model numbers starting with 4. This comes from Classical Chinese, in which the pronunciation of the word "four" (四, sì in Mandarin) is very similar to "death" (死, sǐ) and remains the same in Chinese vocabulary -xenic countries (Korean sa for 2, Japanese shi for 2, Vietnamese tứ "four" vs. tử "death").
• 17 is an unlucky number in Italy, perhaps because in Roman numerals 17 is written XVII, which rearranges to VIXI, which is Latin for "I lived" but may be a euphemism for "dead". In Italy, some planes do not have row 17, and some hotels do not have room 17.
• Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th, which is considered a day of bad luck in a number of Western cultures. In Greece and certain areas of Spain and Latin America, Tuesday the 13th is also considered unlucky.
• 39 is a belief in several parts of Afghanistan that 39 (three times 13) is cursed or a sign of shame.

Features of the development of a phobia of a mysterious date

The name of the phobia was proposed by American psychotherapist Donald Dossey. He invented his own method of dealing with irrational fears. In the case of this phobia, the name itself indicates irrationality, this is part of the treatment. Donald had this theory: if the patient could repeat the name of the phobia several times in a row without hesitation, then the fear would go away on its own. There is no exact data on the effectiveness of this method, but some people managed to get rid of fear using this method.

Most often, a phobia is formed in childhood. Children are captivated by mystical stories and believe in miracles. Impressionable adults fall into this same group. If the phobia developed this way, then Donald’s method may well help.

Impact on naming of the Shuttle US program

• The disaster that occurred on Apollo 13 may have been a factor that led to the renaming, which prevented the plan to be called STS-13.
• STS-41-G was dubbed the thirteenth flight of the Space Shuttle. However, STS-41-C was originally an STS-13 mission. STS-41-C was the eleventh orbital flight of the space shuttle program.

After STS-9, the Space Shuttle numbering system was replaced with a new one. It started with STS-41B, the previous one was STS-9. The new scheme had the first number for the American fiscal year, the next one was considered the launch site (1 or 2), and then the mission number numbered with a letter for that period. In the case of the actual 13th flight, the crew apparently were not superstitious and made a humorous mission patch that featured a black cat. Plus, they landed on Friday the 13th, which one of the crew called "pretty cool." Due to the way the launch designations and manifest work, the mission numbered STS-13 may not have launched at the 13th location as propagated by the shuttle program. In fact, he ended up 11th. One reason for this was that the launch had to be cleaned, which delayed its mission.

NASA reported in a news article in 2021 that this is due to a much higher frequency of planned launches (pre-Challenger disaster). As it happened, the Shuttle program did experience an accident on its one hundred and thirteenth mission, leading up to the launch date of STS-107.

The actual STS-113 mission was a success and was launched earlier due to the nature of the launch manifest.

At first glance, it may seem surprising that an agency that should be focused on science and technology would place such emphasis on an ancient superstition... but, firstly, the ill-fated voyage of Apollo 13.

— Tragedy and Triumph in Orbit: The 80s and Early 90s by Ben Evans.

How to get rid of a phobia

It is important to accurately determine the cause of the phobia. To do this, it is better to visit a consultation with a psychologist. Fear can be hidden deep in the subconscious, for example, in childhood a child accidentally saw a horror movie, or parents told a scary story, or religious mom and dad instilled a negative attitude towards a mysterious number. Or maybe one day something bad happened to a person on that day, and the psyche, as a defense mechanism, attributed everything to the number on the calendar and the day of the week. In any case, therapy involves professional and independent treatment.

Getting rid of a phobia on your own

For self-medication, it is recommended to use the desensitization method. This means a gradual rapprochement with fear. Enlist the support of your loved ones and gradually increase the time of contact with the frightening object. Consciously stop at the number 13, for example, stop reading at chapter 13, assign something for the 13th, etc. Record the events of your day, observe, find out that nothing terrible happened. If troubles happen, find a rational explanation and accept your responsibility.

Calm down with breathing therapy, relaxation, meditation. If the fear becomes very strong, then distract yourself with something pleasant. Think in advance what it will be. The stimulus must be positive and strong.

In addition, it is important to develop critical thinking and abandon superstitions. To do this, you need to read scientific literature, watch documentaries, and communicate with educated people. Write down all your superstitions and prejudices and find a scientific explanation for each of them.

Psychologist's advice

Work with a specialist takes place in three stages: education, consultation, correction. For uncomplicated cases, 12–14 sessions are sufficient.

For complicated phobias, the following methods are used:

• NLP;
• rational psychotherapy;
• hypnosis;
• cognitive behavioral psychotherapy;
• shock therapy.

It is important! For severe anxiety, aggressiveness, sleep problems, and hallucinations, the patient is prescribed medications. These can be sedatives, tranquilizers, antipsychotics, beta blockers, antidepressants.

Treatment of the disorder

Letting the disease take its course is dangerous. A severe attack of fear can cause a stroke or heart attack. In addition, in advanced cases, the patient can be dangerous not only to himself, but also to others. A qualified doctor will help you quickly cope with increased anxiety. The person will begin to live a full life again.

Help from a psychotherapist

During the consultation, the specialist determines the cause of the phobia.
He helps the patient find answers to questions about how to cope with difficulties and behave in a critical situation. In the course of work, the patient increases his own self-esteem and improves relationships with others. And also his increased anxiety gradually decreases and then completely disappears. In some cases, doctors prescribe medications to patients. To treat phobias, drugs from the following groups are used:

1. Antidepressants.
2. Beta blockers.
3. Neuroleptics.
4. Tranquilizers.

After taking the medications, the patient feels relief. Fear is dulled due to the slowing down of excitation processes in the cerebral cortex. Hope is born that the phobia has been defeated. Pharmaceutical companies make a lot of money from this.

Unfortunately, medications do not eliminate the cause of the phobia. After stopping the medication, the fears return completely. Therefore, drug treatment can only be used as an addition to the main one, which is working with a psychotherapist.

If the patient limits himself to only taking potent substances, he may develop psychological and physical dependence on them. Memory will also deteriorate and aggression will increase.

Psychological assistance consists of three stages: psychological education, counseling and correction. Treatment is a two-way process of information exchange. Most often, 12-14 sessions are enough for a complete cure. In more severe cases, the following may be used:

• rational psychotherapy;
• neurolinguistic programming;
• cognitive behavioral therapy;
• hypnosis;
• extreme training.

Consequences and danger of phobia

What are the consequences of a phobia? Depression, neurosis, panic attacks and aggression, psychosomatic diseases are the tip of the iceberg. An illness prevents a person from living. The everyday life of a triskaidekaphobe boils down to the fact that he looks for a mysterious number everywhere. It comes to the point that he sums up several numbers and if their sum is 13, then the person attributes these numbers and everything connected with them to the machinations of the devil. Sooner or later, everything that surrounds the patient becomes dangerous and scary in his perception. He quits his job, loses his friends, and doesn’t go out. But even at home, anxiety does not leave the patient.

One of the prominent representatives of triskaidekaphobes was Arnold Schoenberg, an Austrian composer. He was born on the 13th, but was terrified of this date and was sure that he would die on the same day. The composer even indicated the exact age - 76 years (13 in total). Arnold was not sick with anything, he felt great, but that day he refused to get out of bed and began to wait for death. 13 minutes before his new year in life, he died. Psychologists do not believe in mysticism and are confident that in this case, self-hypnosis, the nocebo effect, worked. This is the main danger of a phobia.

It is important! There are cases when the fear due to the expectation of misfortune was so strong that patients committed suicide or died of a heart attack right in their bed.

Help for loved ones

If a loved one suffers from triskaidekaphobia, they need support. It is important to maintain high-quality conversations in which you need to fully understand the patient’s experiences and fears. There is no need to devalue or ridicule the feelings of your interlocutor. The following statements are especially hurtful:

• "It's all nonsense! Don't create problems for yourself."
• "You are crazy! Come to your senses"
• “Just don’t think about it and you’ll forget everything.”

It is especially dangerous to organize various pranks with the number 13 and joke about this topic in every possible way. There are known cases of suicides due to received envelopes with the number 13 or various innocent people, as it seemed to the sources of the jokes.

The best way to provide help and support is to understand the seriousness of the situation for the person with this disorder. It is important to be there and guide the patient in a positive direction. During panic attacks, it is worth reminding the person about breathing, pointing out that nothing has happened or will happen from the appearance of this number, and try to have constructive conversations in favor of rational attitudes.

If the situation gets out of control and the symptoms of a phobia become too painful and regularly use the services of a qualified psychologist and psychotherapist - Andrey Filippov. Consultations can take place in the office or online. If the recommendations are followed, a sustainable result from the treatment is guaranteed. Remember that mental health is an important component of taking care of your health!

Religious component of phobia: reasons

People have long been inclined to complicate simple things and search for non-existent relationships. So it is with the number thirteen. Many consider him dangerous, “bad”, scary. There are several theories why fear of this number arises.

1. The number 12 was sacred for many nations. It meant completeness. 13 - more than 12, it was not designated in any way for a long time, so they labeled it “danger”, since they did not know where to classify it.
2. There is an opinion that the fear of this figure dates back to the time of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and the disciples, where Judas was the thirteenth. Then this student betrayed his Teacher, which became the reason to call 13 a bad number. People in it unite all the negativity about the betrayal of a loved one (as Jesus was for Judas), as well as their own fear of being betrayed and the fear of death (which followed the betrayal; the psychological basis of the fear of death is non-acceptance of oneself).
3. The religious background to the fear of 13 did not stop there. Later, people began to explain their fear by saying that Satan was the 13th angel in heaven and then fell.
4. Some associate the phobia of the number 13 with the Jewish calendar compared to the Gregorian calendar. The Jewish calendar adds a 13th month in some years.
5. The phobia is also explained by the origins of mythology. Among the Vikings, the god Loki (god of fire and cunning) was the thirteenth in their pantheon. Fire is one of the elements of the world; cunning is related to deceit. Therefore, many ancient people could be afraid of the number 13.

What causes phonophobia?

Various factors may be responsible for the development of this disorder. The researchers emphasize in particular the role of otolaryngological diseases that the patient has had or is experiencing, including, for example, increased hearing sensitivity associated with tinnitus or acoustic trauma due to exposure to loud sounds.

On the other hand, phonophobia can be caused by environmental or genetic factors.

Its determinant, as in the case of other simple phobias, may be a traumatic event accompanied by a loud noise - therefore, the phobia coexists with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An overly activated limbic system, which is responsible for emotions, predisposes to the disease.

Do you know what iatrophobia is?

Jatrophobia is a social phobia that affects many people in our world.
In simple terms, this is the fear of doctors, which manifests itself before visiting a specialist of any category. Dentists and gynecologists inspire the greatest fear. It is better to fight this phobia, since it can have a detrimental effect on a person’s health, as well as his well-being.

A person suffering from iatrophobia is easy to spot. Such a person does not visit hospitals, looks for suitable medications himself, reads various medical forums on the Internet, and diagnoses himself. There are a huge number of varieties of jatrophobia - belonophobia (fear of a blood test), hemophobia (fear of the sight of blood), tomophobia (fear of surgery).