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Bogyphobia – Fear of the Bogeyman

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Bogyphobia: Fear of the Bogeyman

The bogeyman may well be one of the most feared mythical creatures of all time. Often used in spooky childhood stories or to curb misbehaviors in children, we’re taught as kids that a bogeyman is hiding under the bed or in the closet lying in wait for us.

Though there isn’t a universal consensus on the bogeyman’s appearance, many describe him as having talons, claws, and sharp teeth. Based on different narratives, the bogeyman has been depicted as a witch, spirit, and demon. With such descriptions, is it any wonder some children excessively fear the bogeyman while some adults continue to experience an irrational fear of it?

For those of us who were never able to stop fearing the bogeyman, take heart. There are ways to get rid of or at lessen your fear and help you take back control over your life. Before we discuss bogyphobia treatment, however, let’s get a better understanding of what it is exactly.

Bogyphobia Definition

What is bogyphobia? According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) V, the handbook used by healthcare professionals across the globe, bogyphobia is an anxiety disorder.

Bogyphobia Causes

Bogyphobia isn’t a hard phobia to understand. As its name implies, bogyphobia is an irrational and uncontrolled fear of the bogeyman. Since many of us have grown up hearing stories about the bogeyman and what it could do to us, people with bogyphobia experience great anxiety at the thought of coming face-to-face with the bogeyman even if it’s a mythical creature. Bogyphobia can also be the result of other people’s experiences (stories they might have shared with the sufferer) or genetics if you have family who had similar or related fears. It is a difficult way to live, but there are ways to manage it.

Symptoms

Like other phobias, anxiety is the main symptom of bogyphobia. Fearing the bogeyman, sufferers will exhibit extreme anxiety that could lead to panic attacks. Depending on the severity of the attack, hospitalization might be necessary in some cases. However, the triggers, intensity, duration, and specific symptoms will be different in each case and each individual.

People who have bogyphobia might suffer panic attacks and feel terrified at the irrational prospect of encountering the bogeyman. They will have little to no control over their negative responses and may engage in behavior they believe will save them from the bogeyman.

The Cycle of Avoidance Behavior

Sufferers may resort to activities that seem illogical to others just to keep the object of their fear away from them. They may refuse to go out at night, sleep with the lights on, refuse to sleep on a bed, or avoid staying in rooms with a closet. These behaviors can trap sufferers in a cycle because of the positive feelings they encounter whenever they feel like they’ve successfully evaded the bogeyman. They then try to recreate these feelings by repeating the behaviors.

If you think you may have bogyphobia, think of how you feel or react whenever the bogeyman is mentioned or comes to mind. Do you feel anxious, fearful, or upset? Have you been experiencing such anxiety for at least six months? If you’ve been haunted by the thought of the bogeyman for six months or more and have little control over your response, there’s a good chance you have bogyphobia.

Let’s take a look at the symptoms starting with the physical ones.

Physical Symptoms

  • Trembling
  • Cold/hot flashes
  • Excessive sweating
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Dry mouth
  • Muscle tension
  • Breathlessness

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Excess anxiety when thinking about the bogeyman
  • Panic attacks
  • Incapacity to manage anxiety
  • Fear of imminent harm or danger
  • Depression
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Disorientation
  • Avoiding situations where you think you might encounter the bogeyman

Bogyphobia Treatment

Regardless how long you’ve been suffering or how intense your phobia is, there are things you can do to regain control of the situation. Treatments generally fall under two categories: self-help and professional treatment. You may opt to try self-help tactics if your phobia isn’t too intense or you don’t have access to or resources for professional therapy. There’s no one right way to treat bogyphobia. The key is, however you decide to go about it, you need to stick to it. Persistent and consistent commitment are the keys to overcoming bogyphobia.

Self-Help Treatments

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy involves gradual exposure to the object of your fear over a given period. This is generally done with a therapist, however, if you feel you can handle it on your own, it can be a powerful tool for overcoming phobias.

To perform exposure therapy for bogyphobia, you can start by identifying an avoidance behavior that you would like to change and use that as a treatment milestone. This could be sleeping at night with the lights on if that is a struggle for you. You can start “exposing” yourself to the bogeyman by reading about it a little at a time until you become desensitized to it. Eventually, you can try sleeping with a night light on until the time comes when you’re ready to sleep in total darkness.

Decreased Caffeine Consumption

Caffeine is notorious for increasing anxiety. It can cause rapid heart rate and muscle tension. Consuming minimal or no caffeine might help decrease anxiety. By being more conscious of your caffeine consumption you can decrease some of bogyphobia’s associated symptoms.

Exercise

Cardiovascular exercise can alleviate one’s stress considerably. It’s been demonstrated to be an efficient means of releasing endorphins, those feel-good hormones. Exercise works by conditioning the mind to better cope with stressful situations. This makes sense when you consider the degree of stress the body undergoes during strenuous exercise. You might want to engage in some type of aerobic exercise to help better cope with bogyphobia symptoms. Various aerobic activities like biking, swimming, and jogging can help decrease phobia symptoms.

Yoga and Meditation

Yoga and meditation help because of their ability for redirection. By mindfully focusing on your breath or yoga pose, you are diverting your attention towards less stressful thoughts. Don’t expect instant results though. It will take some time before you start reaping the benefits. If your bogyphobia is severe, it may be better to have yoga and meditation as complementary therapies alongside other techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy. You might also wish to enroll in a class, so they can guide you and help motivate you.

Professional Treatments

If you have access to professional treatment, consider this option because you’ll be under the guidance of someone who studied and prepared to treat those with phobias. Here are a few professional treatments available for phobias like bogyphobia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT allows you to gain a better understanding of your behavior and thought patterns surrounding your fears. In many cases, a lack of insight is the reason for our fears. CBT can help you take a step back, understand your fears on a deeper level, and address them.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is best done under the supervision of a professional. It is one of the most effective ways of overcoming your fears. However, a therapist needs to be trained in exposure therapy so that he or she can administer the right level of exposure. Too little exposure and desensitization might not occur. Too much could be traumatic and lead the patient to abandon treatment.

Can I Avoid Bogyphobia?

Phobias, like most matters of the mind, are difficult to altogether avoid. Since they can be caused by genetics, personal experiences, or the way we were conditioned while growing up, there isn’t a way to consciously avoid them. Most fears creep up on us until our anxiety levels one day surprise us with their intensity. What we can control is what we do once we realize we’re in the grip of a phobia like bogyphobia. While it’s possible to do nothing about it, it’s better to confront the issue head-on and seek treatment.

Conclusion: Be Patient and Diligent During Treatment

Just as no one plans to have bogyphobia, no one can decide to just suddenly get rid of it either. You can, however, seek treatment for it. The best therapy is usually one that combines self-help and professional therapy so that your recovery is as holistic as possible. If you suffer from bogyphobia, be patient with yourself and be diligent with your treatment plan. Eventually, you’ll see results and reclaim your life.

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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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