Fear the Date

Some people walk into an elevator, look at the floor levels — and freeze in terror. These same people look at a calendar and get rather nervous near the end of the second week of every month. They suffer from triskaidekaphobia. They fear the number thirteen.

And for all the triskaidekaphobiacs out there, here’s a heads up: There’s more to fear than today’s Friday the 13th. There will be two more this year, in April and July.

A fear becomes a phobia, according to MHCC psychology instructor Stephanie Cram, when it begins to interfere with how a person normally functions.

Triskaidekaphobia stems from many different mythological and ancient superstitions. Some of these myths point to Christianity in that Jesus and his disciples attended the Last Supper, with Judas purportedly being late to the meal and consequently the thirteenth member.

A similar story exists in Norse mythology, where twelve gods attended a feast in their version of heaven, Valhalla. However, the thirteenth god, Loki, interrupted the meal, becoming the thirteenth in attendance. A spear provided by Loki is later used in an accidental killing of one of the gods, Baldr. These two examples have been used as support the superstition that when a thirteenth person intrudes upon a meal of twelve, one person will die within a year.

“I suspect that for the longest time it was kind of a Western phenomenon, maybe starting in Europe and spreading to the United States because it’s so old,” said Cram of triskaidekaphobia’s spread.

However, with the exporting of ideas and cultures linked to global trade, other corners of the globe may also be affected.

“I don’t know if there’s a hotel in say Tahiti that is missing its thirteenth floor. I would bet there is because people absolutely refuse to set foot there. I suppose I some ways, it makes it tied to the global economy. If you want a person’s business, you have to cater to their phobia,” Cram said.

“It’s a worldwide phenomenon. It’s bizarre. There are department buildings, hotels, businesses that pretend—that’s what makes it irrational— that there is no thirteenth floor just because they number 12 to 14 or they rename thirteen ‘mezzanine’,” said Cram of the reach of triskaidekaphobia.

MHCC History Instructor Pat Casey called the phobia “[A]n interesting insight into human psychology, since there is still a floor above number 12, regardless of what you call it.”

Cram also said it takes a “fairly high level of denial and rationalization to believe that it doesn’t exist when it does, anybody who can count knows that.”

According to a USA Today from Halloween in 2005, Columnist David Grossman explores some travel superstitions related to the number 13, citing how Fairmont hotels in Acapulco, San Jose, Quebec City and Vancouver don’t have thirteenth floors. He also adds that Air France, AirTran, Continental Airlines and Japan Airlines also skip a row 13.

“Phobias, lots of times, they just show up out of nowhere, no specific event really. People experience high anxiety when they are in a situation or just thinking about the object or thing that creates that anxiety,” she added.

“Avoidant behavior is you don’t want to have that fear experience, so that can really alter people’s behavior, in that avoidant way, where they literally will not go someplace where they think their phobia exists,” said Cram, adding that someone who fears spiders most likely wouldn’t fix burst pipes under their house in order to avoid a place that may contain their phobia.

In her classes she discusses the effect of triskaidekaphobia. According to Cram, most of her students dismiss it, yet when confronted with the scenario of staying in room 13, they become more suspicious. This proves another point that Cram brought up, being that humans are suggestible to suspicions and paranoia, in effect looking for something they expect to happen.

Whether it is a day on the calendar or number on a door, the number thirteen continues to strike anxiety and plain fear into the hearts and minds of those who adhere to triskaidekaphobia. And that’s not taking into account any masked killers named Jason.