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Is there a word or term for people who have a fear of growth?

Jennifer Castellanos
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    What kind of growth? Like getting taller? Are they terrified by plants? Are they afraid of personal development? – Marcus_33 Mar 19 '13 at 20:31
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    Very close related: http://english.stackexchange.com/q/107922 Are you two married? Is this some sort of bet or spat? – tchrist Mar 19 '13 at 20:31
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    Growth related to success - personal or professional development. – Jennifer Castellanos Mar 19 '13 at 20:33
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    @tchrist Yes, we are married but no bet or spat. We're trying to find the best way to describe this fear of growth/change for the better. – Jennifer Castellanos Mar 19 '13 at 20:34
  • ......anorexic? – Edwin Ashworth Mar 19 '13 at 20:41
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    If you are trying to improve technique and have a paragraph ready for critique, consider asking on Writers SE. Your signons should work there as here. Writers SE won't suggest replacement words so much as different ways of wording things to make them clear, or concise, or striking, etc, if you can describe what it is you are aiming for. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Mar 19 '13 at 21:01
  • Jonah Complex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah_Complex This seems to hit the nail right on the head for a fear of "growth related to success - personal or professional development." – Kris Mar 20 '13 at 07:10
  • See also, (if you can) Goud, N. (1994). Jonah Complex: The fear of growth. Journal of Humanistic Education & Development, 32(3), 98-111. – Kris Mar 20 '13 at 07:13

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At http://www.fun-with-words.com/phobias_o-q.html is a delightful list of 'phobia words'. Perhaps appropriate here is:

obesophobia Fear of gaining weight. [ID, CE]

but probably more relevant is:

prosophobia Fear of progress. [ID, CE, WP]

The references are perhaps not the most authoritative:

ID: The Insomniac's Dictionary of the Outrageous, Odd, and Unusual by Paul Hellweg.

CE: Crazy English: The Ultimate Joy Ride Through Our Language by Richard Lederer.

WP: Words at Play: Quips, Quirks, and Oddities by O. V. Michaelsen. Also in The Wordplay Almanac by O. V. Michaelsen.

Edwin Ashworth
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