[1][2] It can be treated with behavioral therapy and anti-anxiety medication.
The term comes from the Greek: ἄλγος, álgos, "pain" and φόβος, phóbos, "fear".
A common example of this reaction would be an elderly person who hears about all of their friends' various ailments and pains.
This person will begin to anticipate the problems and experience the results before anything actually happens to them.
The Fear of Pain Questionnaire (currently the FPQ-III), a mental health screening tool,[3] has been used to test for algophobia in the past and was found to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability.