Before September, I used to refer to my chronophobia not so much as a fear of time but, instead, a fear of ‘time-related’ stressors. This was an alternate definition I found in 2019 after I was diagnosed with the phobia. In September, when I realized that chronophobia was a clue connecting patterns of increasing stress to socioeconomic integration, I realized it wasn’t time I was fearing.

I feared running out of time, which is still part of the phobia parameters. A Fear Of Missing Out is similar but my experiences are more strongly linked to times of the year that indicate the passage of time. The fear is felt as more of a byproduct from lacking integration than it is a fear of time itself.

But there has always been an element of time involved in the experiences I am referring to in this theory.