Arithmophobia
Arithmophobia is defined as the fear of numbers, but can also be used to describe the fear of math. This is of course an irrational fear because numbers and their systematic operations called mathematics are crucial to every person’s daily life. It doesn’t matter what your occupation is, because at some point you are going to have to figure out how many tomatoes to use for dinner or whether you got ripped off at the grocery store.
This fear seems ridiculous, because it is difficult to understand why or even how someone could fear math to a degree that it is a phobia. However, arithmophobia may be linked to two other phobias: bathophobia and cainophobia which may seem more relatable. Bathophobia is the fear of depth, and cainophobia is the fear of anything new. Even though bathophobia is defined as the fear of physical depth, like a lake or cavern, it can also apply to abstract ideas. This makes sense because whenever someone is learning something in math, it is both new and filled with depth.
Another fear that may relate to arithmophobia is atychiphobia which is the fear of failure. Not getting the right answer to a math problem or not understanding a math concept should never be perceived as failure, even though you might get a failing grade because of it. What is important to know, is that you do not fail when you are wrong the first time, the second time or the nth time, you fail in mathematics when you give up.
Bathophobia, cainophobia, and atychiphobia are three phobias that are rational under the right circumstances. All three fears can quite possibly save your life in certain situations. However, when an individual is doing math, it is unwise to let any of these three fears to take control to form arithmophobia. It is important to understand that no matter how seemingly complex the calculations are, no matter how devastatingly unfamiliar the methods are, and no matter how improbable success in mathematics is, do not give up. Because you can always learn from mathematics no matter if you succeed or fail.