Panphobia

Panphobia, also called omniphobia, pantophobia or panophobia, describes a vague and persistent dread of some unknown evil rather than fear tied to a specific object or situation. It is not a recognized clinical diagnosis: panphobia does not appear as a distinct phobia in medical references, and the DSM-5 sets out no criteria for an all-encompassing fear of everything, though similar presentations may be understood as generalized anxiety disorder. The term was introduced by the French psychologist Theodule-Armand Ribot in his 1911 book The Psychology of the Emotions, which described a patient whose anxiety floated between objects, sometimes fearing everything and sometimes nothing in particular. The name draws on the Greek pan, meaning all, and phobos, fear, echoing the god Pan's association with sudden collective panic.