Other symptoms include heightened senses, lack of focus, feeling trapped, irregular heartbeat, air hunger, rapid breathing, parched mouth, sweating, muscle cramps, and physical discomfort that is not actually caused by bodily injury, but is a physical manifestation of the panic and fear that the heliophobic person experiences when exposed to light.
[1] However, other differential diagnoses like the rare genetic defect erythropoietic protoporphyria characterized by a severe burning sensation of all exposed skin areas without leading to immediate visible signs have to be excluded.
[2] Occasionally they are triggered by harmful events surrounding the phobic object or situation - in this case, for example, severe sunburn, chronic light-triggered migraines, or trauma accompanied by bright sunlight.
[3] The Pacific Health Center suggested that people have been staying away from the sunlight because of growing fear of skin cancer or blindness.
It includes an intense fear of being harmfully affected by exposure to the sun or to bright lights, can also cause heliophobia.