CHEROPHOBIA

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Refusing to participate in "fun" activities.

Thinking being happy will mean something bad will happen.

Thinking happiness makes you a bad or worse person.

Believing that showing happiness is bad for you or your friends or family.

Thinking that trying to be happy is a waste of time and effort.

In a blog post on Psychology Today, psychiatrist Carrie Barron discusses some possible reasons for people developing cherophobia, or "hedonophobia," which is defined as the fear of pleasure.

"There is so much talk about the pursuit of happiness these days," she wrote. "It might seem unusual for someone to fear this positive emotion. If it is due to a happiness/punishment link in childhood, it could be more common than we think."

For example, it could stem from the fear of conflict with a loved one, or a bad experience you associate with a certain event. If you're used to something bad happening straight after a happy event, you might resist going again.

"If you are pleasure averse, it may be because somewhere along the way, wrath, punishment, humiliation or theft – you earned it and they had to have it – killed your joy," Barron added. "Now you are afraid to feel it because the bubble burst/brutality is coming."

In an interview with The Metro news site, blogger Stephanie Yeboah described what it's like to live with cherophobia.

"Ultimately, it's a feeling of complete hopelessness, which leads to feeling anxious or wary of taking part in, or actively doing things, that promote happiness as you feel that it will not last," she said.

"A fear of happiness doesn't necessarily mean that one is constantly living in sadness. In my case, my cherophobia was exacerbated/triggered by traumatic events. Even things such as celebrating a campaign win, completing a difficult task or winning a client make me feel uneasy."

Treating cherophobia can sometimes be mistaken for treating feelings of depression, which Yeboah said isn't particularly helpful.