We all know the feeling. A boost of reflex-action adrenaline reminiscent of Pavlovs’ dogs when the postman raps the letterbox flap and a pile of post pounds on the doormat. But wait…it’s not the right day for the premium bond cheque. Oh no! They’re all bills and we’d all rather open dreary junk mail than look at those nasty money things.

We put them on one side and conveniently forget about them. Perhaps the spouse will open them for us. If we leave them on the stairs perhaps the cleaner will just pop them in the rubbish bin. Anything but actually read them.

Banking statements and credit card bills are our least favourite kind of correspondence. None of us like them but some people's adverse reactions to financial mail can go far beyond disappointment - to anxiety attacks, depression and even physical illness.

It’s called financialphobia, or at least it is now. Egg, the UK internet bank, asked Dr Brendan Burchell, a senior lecturer in the faculty of social and political sciences at Cambridge University to investigate the intense negative and irrational feelings some UK consumers have about personal finances.

Burchell found almost half of the British population displayed some symptoms of the condition. Some more seriously affected financialphobes report of feeling dizzy, immobilised and physically ill at the thought of personal finances.

"Financialphobes can be intelligent people who are high achievers in most areas of their lives - they are not irresponsible, feckless or spendthrift," said Dr Burchell. He added that most "were well-adjusted individuals who coped well in other psychological and social aspects of their lives."

What are the symptoms?

• 15% become immobilised.
• Under 35s most likely to suffer.
• More women than men affected.
• 54% of sufferers feel apprehension.
• 38% have no interest in finances.
• 45% suffer racing heart.
• 12% feel physically ill.
• 11% feel dizzy

How did we become financialphobes?

Dr Burchell suggests phobics may simply lack confidence in dealing with financial information. Alternatively their behaviour could stem from procrastination, a typical human response to having to make decisions about frustrating, time-consuming or unfulfilling matters. However, it usually occurs after people experience some kind of financial upset, when through no fault of their own, their thrift had been in vain.

Dr Burchell cautions against immediately grouping financialphobia with other syndromes, such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders), which have long been documented and treated by psychologists. With up to nine million of us having financialphobia it could be a long queue in the surgery.