It’s Claus-strophobia?
For many, Christmas is a time of joyful celebration and cheer. However, that’s not the case for one UK man named Garry Hollidge, who suffers from a “bizarre” fear of Santa Claus so paralyzing that he’s scared to put up Christmas decorations this year.
Interestingly, it’s not the real-life Saint Nick that gives Hollidge, 47, nightmares before Christmas, but rather dancing Santa figurines.
“It’s the little weird dancing figures that freak me out, as they are really creepy and it’s the way they move that’s horrible – I can’t bear it,” the 47-year-old Kent native told Jam Press of his chronic “Santa-phobia,” which causes his anxiety to “skyrocket” ahead of the Yuletide each year.
“As soon as the little Santa starts jiggling, I start to break out in a cold sweat, and it’s terrible, as it runs down my back, around my neck and my palms go really clammy,” he said. “It’s not enjoyable as they can appear anywhere and at any time, it’s such a nightmare.”
Hollidge discovered his Santa-induced heebie-jeebies when he was just seven.
“I remember going shopping with my mum as Christmas approached and this was a no-go,” the Santa-phobe described. “If I had to go with her, I’d sit and wait in the car for her to return.”
Either way, Hollidge’s spine-Kringling fear made life at school difficult as his friends would constantly ask him to go over to their house for dinner come Christmastime.
“I’d had to find out if they had a dancing Santa and if they did, I would make up any excuse and arrange to see them outside instead,” said Hollidge. Thankfully, he was able to keep the “secret safe, so kids at school never knew and luckily, I wasn’t bullied.”
Studies on Santaphobia are scarce, however many health experts cite the existence of Christougenniatikophobia, defined by HealthCentral.com as a “full-blown fear of Christmas itself.”
“The phobia typically develops in early childhood and may overlap or include some of the phobias previously listed,” they write. “Fear of Father Christmas or Santa Claus (santaphobia), parties (simbosiophobia), or other Christmas rituals can all feed into a general phobia of the Christmas season.”
At one point, Hollidge reportedly tried to cure his condition by buying a Santa to decorate their house with — but it backfired.
“I think they thought it was funny and it would help me get over my fear, but it just made matters ten times worse as the years went on,” lamented the Father Christmas fearer.
In order to prevent his Claus-trophobia from creeping up nowadays, the involuntary Grinch has forbidden his family from purchasing Christmas decorations.
“I think my family understand that big Santa is welcome, but there is a ban on the little dancing ones and there always will be,” Hollidge said.
An irrational fear of Santa isn’t the only unusual alleged phobia out there. In August, a UK woman raised eyebrows online after claiming suffers from a paralyzing case of Michael Jackson-phobia — and even posted a video of a King Of Pop-pelganger giving her the cree-hee-ps.
