14 DAY TRIAL // Christmas time is the most awaited time of the year for most people, but for one particular woman, it is the most scaring period of the year, as terrifying Santas bring her to tears. After being forced as a kid to sit in Father Christmas' lap, she developed a phobia so intense that she cannot bear the sound of jolly red fellows.
Stefanie Howlett was repeatedly dragged by her parents to visit Santa as a child and that led to her developing a severe phobia triggered by the holiday character. Only the thought of a red and jolly old man being around makes her panic and burst into tears, notes Daily Mail.
“He absolutely terrifies me but I can't work out exactly why. Whenever I see him it brings on a panic attack,” the 28-year-old says, according to Daily Mail. Even Coca-Cola commercials or winter holidays movies featuring Father Christmas can trigger panic.
One particular episode that happened two years ago brought about an uncontrollable panic attack after visiting Santa's Grotto in Norway. Stefanie didn't even get to see the man because only the thought that they were standing in the same building made her run away.
This type of phobia isn't uncommon, it is mostly present in children that learn to overcome it in time and end up controlling it in their adulthood. The Howlett family pictures featuring Santa holding the little girl are proof of the child's fear as her eyes show the amount of panic she felt.
Stefanie compares Christmas movies with horror films as the image of the red man makes her cringe and run. Even if for some, the woman's phobia may seem hilarious, she is doing everything possible to avoid stumbling upon her panic attack's trigger.
“To avoid seeing him I'll find out where he's going to be and I'll avoid those places like the plague. I can't even bear to have old style Christmas cards with the creepy Santa on in my house. If someone sends me one, it goes straight in the bin,” Ms. Howlett told Daily Mail.
With the amount of Santas displayed everywhere on Christmas time, the woman's holidays must be a torture. In order to avoid them as much as she can, Stefanie prefers to stay indoors and make her shopping online, because you never known from where the jolly red man may appear.