Today is Friday the 13th and scores of fearful Jamaicans will be hurrying home this evening, worrying that something horrible might happen. This has been the perception for decades.

Commenting on the myth, consulting clinical psychologist Dr Asquith Reid believes that the myth is widespread in Jamaica and many persons try to be extra careful on the day.

"I think the human imagination is extremely powerful and has no limit to what it believes. Belief kills and belief cures. Many high-rise buildings in Jamaica don't carry a 13th floor; a number of them have a 12 (a) and a 12 (b) which go straight to the 14th floor," Dr Reid explained.

Unique to society

Another clinical psychologist, Dr Karen Richards, was unsure if the myth was widespread in Jamaica, but stressed that she believed there were many superstitious beliefs out there not unique to a particular society.

She further said that a lot of bad things happen on normal days, but people don't make an issue of it; good things also happen on Friday 13.

"One day in Britain, there were a lot of accidents on this day, but I would not attribute this to the Friday 13th myth, I would attribute this to people being nervous on this day. A lot of military wars were started on other days. I don't see why some people choose not to come out on this day," said Dr Richards.

Many people are aware of horror stories told about Friday the 13th and the myth is not confined to a particular age group.

The movie Friday the 13th has done a lot to spread the fear surrounding the day. Although an old movie, Friday the 13th has 12 timeless parts and continues to have the effect of scaring the wits out of the old and young.

Dr Donald Dossey, an American psychotherapist and author of the new book, Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, coined the term 'Paraskevidekatriaphobia' in the early 1990s.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia is a tongue twister, but the meaning is very simple.

The word was created for people who fear the day Friday and the number 13.

Dossey estimates that about 17-21 million Americans have the phobia.