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Rare Phobias

Catapedaphobia – Fear of Jumping

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Understanding Catapedaphobia, or the Fear of Jumping

“Those who don’t jump will never fly.” – Leena Ahmad Almashat

Jumping is a reflex that’s part of daily life. People jump when they’re excited or if they’re surprised. Kids jump for fun and out of sheer joy. It’s a movement that we all come by naturally.

Catapedaphobia, or the fear of jumping, impacts your body’s natural impulse to jump. It can inhibit your full range of movement and force you to restrain yourself unnecessarily from normal reactions. Have you ever found yourself frozen in place with sweat beading on your forehead because you feel a need to jump? Or are you overcome with fear when you see someone jump off the ground? If this sounds like you, then you may have catapedaphobia.

 

An Overview of Catapedaphobia

You may not understand the fear that overwhelms you when the prospect of you or others jumping enters your mind. It’s a perfectly safe movement and you know that you can do it. You may even remember jumping and how you loved it when you were younger, but now, it triggers fear or panic.

If you’re in this situation, you may have catapedaphobia, the fear of leaping or jumping. This is an irrational fear preventing you from fully enjoying life. If the condition is severe,  you can’t even watch someone jumping because your anxiety goes through the roof.

The word catapedaphobia is a Greek word that can be broken into kata which means “down,” peda meaning “jump,” and phobia meaning “fear.” This is one of the rarest phobias because jumping is something that anyone can do.

Living with Catapedaphobia

When you have extreme anxiety about jumping, your initial attitude is to avoid jumping. Depending on the severity of your phobia, this fear can also cause mental anguish.

Your fear of leaping may negatively impact your social life and lifestyle. You may find comfort in isolating yourself and making excuses not to join activities because you’re afraid of a panic attack. Since jumping is a spontaneous reaction, you may become too self-conscious and feel anxious all the time.

It is also difficult to explain to others your situation and what you’re feeling. Most of the time, you can’t fully comprehend your own fear. Afraid of social stigma, ridicule, and judgment, you tend to keep it inside and try to endure it alone.

 

Possible Causes of Catapedaphobia

The reason for developing a fear of heights and jumping is unknown, but there are possible factors that can contribute to your fear. The most likely causes are:

#1. Childhood Trauma

You may have experienced an accident while you were jumping. Since then, you’ve associated pain with the movement. It’s also possible that you were not the one who experienced it, but instead were a witness to an incident where jumping became traumatic for you.

Childhood experiences vary from breaking a leg, being scolded or punished for something you did, or seeing a friend get hospitalized. The common denominator of these incidents was jumping.

#2. Family History

The behavior, reactions, and beliefs of the people around you unconsciously impact you. If you grew up with those who felt anxious about jumping or had bad experiences with it, you may adopt the same perspective. If you were constantly warned about jumping without fully understanding the reasons why, then you might have unconsciously started fearing the movement.

Additionally, having a family history associated with mental instability and depression, as well as family members who have acrophobia or the fear of heights, can make you more susceptible to developing a jumping phobia.

 

Coping with Catapedaphobia

Getting over your fear of jumping is easier said than done. There is no direct treatment for this phobia. But there is something you can do about it, and that is to jump away your fear. Yes, it’s time you break away and begin the journey of learning to enjoy the act of jumping. It’s a huge leap of faith, but it’s 100 percent worth it.

Having a strong support system can make all the difference. Talk to those you trust and tell them about the goal of overcoming your fear. A solid support network will be there for you, motivate you, and serve as your reminder to keep going even if things become difficult.

It would help if you got re-acquainted with jumping again—this time with an open mind. Perform an honest self-assessment to determine your triggers and the reasons stopping you from jumping.

Are you fearful that you’ll get hurt? Did you see someone else get hurt? Write down your thoughts so you can understand your thought processes and how you react to them.

It will also help if you learn how to manage panic attacks with breathing exercises. Meditating and learning how to channel your negative thoughts and feelings can help you control your fear.

 

Getting Professional Help

It can be comforting to talk to someone who won’t judge you and has experience dealing with similar phobias. For example, knowing that you are not the only person dealing with the fear of jumping can be comforting.

Scheduling an appointment with a mental health professional is your first step. With the guidance of your therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist, you can better understand what’s happening to you. The next step is to develop a treatment plan, which usually includes one or several therapies.

For fear of jumping, your doctor may likely start you off with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to uncover why you feel, think, and react to jumping with fear. The goal is for you to eventually adopt a more practical approach to jumping.

Another therapy that can be included in your treatment is exposure therapy. This entails being gradually exposed to jumping by watching videos, watching a person jump in your presence, and finally, taking small hops and leaps.

You may also receive medication intended to reduce severe symptoms while you work on overcoming the phobia.

 

Final Thoughts

Don’t let catapedaphobia control your life. Regain control and learn to manage your fear. As debilitating as your phobia is, you can take small steps. Move towards a future where you’re free from crippling catapedaphobia and all the things it prevents you from enjoying. Seek help, talk to people you trust, and take small jumps even if it scares you. With time and patience, you can one day jump for joy again.

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Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
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