Arachibutyrophobia Has Nothing To Do With Fearing Spiders

by Marie Vonow (follow)

Fear (53)      Phobia (12)      Arachibutyrophobia (1)      Peanut Butter (1)     

Okay, so spiders and scorpions are arachnids. I already know the fear of spiders is commonly called arachnophobia. It seems possible to me arachibutyrophobia is another name for arachnophobia which is also spelt arachnephobia. It's not unusual for a phobia to have more than one name. However, that is not the case.

Arachibutyrophobia is to do with a fear of peanut butter, specifically a fear of it sticking to the roof of your mouth.

I have two questions.

How the name came about
''Arachi” is Greek and means ground nut. A bit more research later and I find Wiktionary says 'arachis' is %Latin%% for peanut. Both could be correct. Fair enough, peanuts grow under the ground and are sometimes even referred to as 'ground nuts'. I get that bit.

“Phobia” comes from the Greek word, phobos which means fear, morbid fear or aversion.

But what about the letters inbetween? Why are the letters 'butyro' there? Is the 'but' a reference to 'butter' in peanut butter? Do I just have too much time on my hands if I am even questioning this?

I can't let it go, I need to know. Thank goodness for the internet, it helps me sleep at night because it answers many of my questions. 'Butyrum' is Latin for butter. Thanks, Wiktionary.

Why would anyone be afraid of peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouth?
Arachibutyrophobia is classed as a specific phobia. Many specific phobias are triggered by a specific event. This is often something that happened during early childhood which the child found traumatic.

Apparently choking on peanut butter sandwiches or a slice of bread spread with peanut butter is fairly common. A child may have experienced choking on peanut butter at a very young age and not remember the actual event later but develop a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of his/her mouth.


This phobia may be closely associated with a more general fear of choking or sticky textures. However, sometimes a person is just afraid of peanut butter sticking. Some brands, especially the smooth variety, are particularly sticky and glutinous and can become stuck on the roof of the mouth quite easily. This can lead to a feeling of suffocating resulting in panic.

The stuck peanut paste can be difficult to remove, especially in a public situation where you don't want to be scraping the roof of your mouth with a spoon (if there is one around) or your finger.

Can Arachibutyrophobia be treated?
Cognitive behaviour therapy has been found to cure the majority of cases. People vary in the severity with which they suffer from this phobia, but some people only need one to three sessions of CBT. Hypnotherapy is another treatment which often cures this phobia.

It is quite easy to avoid eating peanut butter. There isn't any in my pantry and that's simply because we hardly ever ate it when we had it. Many people with Arachibutyrophobia wouldn't feel it necessary to seek treatment because the phobia doesn't interfere with daily living


It seems arachibutyrophobia isn't the fear of peanut butter itself, just the sticking aspect. However, as people can be afraid or petrified of anything it seems, I am guessing there are those who are freaked out by simply seeing a jar of peanut paste. Feel free to add a comment if you know someone who is as I am curious.


# Arachibutyrophobia
# Fear
# Peanut Butter
# Phobia

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