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Psychological Phenomena

Radiophobia

Clinical and Motivational Phenomena

Radiophobia, a portmanteau of radiation and phobia, refers to a fear of ionizing radiation that exceeds its actuarial risk, leading to an overestimation of radiation's health risks relative to other risks. A 2022 definition by Lindberg and Archer describes it as the socio-psychological and cultural relationship between individuals and ionizing radiation, characterized by a clear disparity between the actual and perceived risks and health effects of exposure; measured against the clinical criteria of the DSM-5, the term is arguably a misnomer for a true phobia.

Facts
Classification
Type of Phenomenon
Emotional Phenomenon 1
Diagnostic Chapter
Anxiety or Fear-Related Disorders 2
First Described Year
1903 1
The term was used in a paper entitled "Radio-phobia and radio-mania" presented by Dr Albert Soiland of Los Angeles in 1903.
Connections

In Branch

Source Radiophobia (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Radiophobia (Wikipedia)
  • Wikipedia Radiophobia lead paragraph (w-bbfill-psych-diag-0926, keyword classification against phenomenon-kind enum definitions, hand-checked)
  • Wikipedia article text
    The term was used in a paper entitled "Radio-phobia and radio-mania" presented by Dr Albert Soiland of Los Angeles in 1903.
  • In Branch: Abnormal Psychology, Lead section
    Radiophobia, a portmanteau of "radiation" and "phobia", refers to fear of ionizing radiation exceeding the actuarial risk, leading to overestimating the health risks of radiation compared to other risks.
View the Source
2. ICD-11 Browser (WHO)
World Health Organization
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