Pteronophobia is basically the unwarranted, persistent and abnormal fear of being tickled with feathers . This phobia leads the sufferer to have an aversion or fear of feathers, especially when they are used to tickle them. Its origin is associated with certain childhood episodes, with the feeling of anguish that the child may suffer when an adult insists on tickling him by misinterpreting his laugh, which is nothing more than a reflex act, with an expression of happiness of the child.
Although there is no pteronophilia, there is a term referring to the pleasure of tickling or receiving, although it does not necessarily have to include feathers, it is acarofilia . The difference between this and the so-called knismolagnia , another related term, is that the latter is a paraphilia, which gives it a sexual or fetishistic component, there is excitement produced by tickling.
