optophobia

Why this word is great

OPTOPHOBIA — [Noun] The fear of opening one's eyes. From opto- (from Greek ὀπτός, optos, 'seen, visible') + -phobia (from Greek φόβος, phobos, 'fear'). Unlike 'photophobia' (which describes a physical aversion to light) or 'scopophobia' (which fixates on the dread of being watched), optophobia is the terror of confronting the world through vision itself. It is the child squeezing their eyelids shut against a scolding parent, the patient recoiling from the first post-surgery glimpse of their own body, or the mourner hesitating before looking at the empty chair where a loved one once sat. To see is to acknowledge; sometimes, the dark is kinder.