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Environmental Phobias

Fear of Grass – Agrostophobia

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Let’s Cut Through the Fear of Grass

Scared of grass touching your skin? Terrified of the insects and bacteria that lurk in the grass?

Does the thought of getting stuck in tall grass get your heart racing? Do you have nightmares of grass creeping all the way up your body till it clogs your throat?

You may have agrostophobia, a fear of grass. This fear can affect your everyday life, preventing you from going on family trips or picnics due to your fear of walking barefoot on grass. However, you can learn to better cope with your fear or possibly even overcome it with the right help.

Agrostophobia Causes

Can you be afraid of grass? There’s nothing in particular to be afraid of about grass aside from maybe the insect bites or allergy symptoms. But for some, these kinds of encounters have the potential to set off a grass phobia. Unfortunate grass-related events which cause someone to suffer—such as stepping on a bee in the yard—can trigger an intense fear of the lawn.

Is Agrostophobia a Phobia of Fear or Disgust?

Agrostophobia may also stem from witnessing a family member’s fear of grass. You may also acquire the genetic tendency to develop a phobia if people around you struggled with other kinds of phobias.

Some Things You Should Know about Agrostophobia

Phobias are irrational, but they can be life-changing and alter the quality of your life.

The term agrostophobia is derived from the Greek word agrostis, which means type of grass. It is sometimes called hastenburaphobia and is a phobia of grass.

Agrostophobia is a subset of botanophobia, or the fear of plants, because grasses are plants. It primarily affects young children, although it also affects older children.

The most common triggers of this phobia include getting stabbed by blades of grass, stepping on grass, or getting bitten by grass bugs.

Individuals with agrostophobia may not necessarily feel the need for treatment, since they can simply avoid the source of their anxiety. This offers those suffering from agrostophobia a sense of control over the situation.

However, avoiding grass is not always practical or sufficient, as we may often need to be part of social situations that require us to be around grass.

Symptoms of Agrostophobia

Phobias should be taken seriously, no matter how weird or trivial they seem. Ignoring a phobia may result in serious complications like anxiety and depression.

Knowing how to overcome your phobia will not only give you more confidence, but it will also equip you with the right tools to help others with similar phobias.

People who are afraid of grass often deliberately avoid making contact with it. This may appear to be a simple fix, but as previously stated, if you don’t fully understand where the fear stems from, what you are feeling may begin to hinder your life down the road.

The seriousness of the symptoms varies depending on the person and their experiences. People may experience a range of physical and psychological symptoms.

Physical Symptoms

The physical symptoms that accompany agrostophobia include:

  • Feeling like fainting
  • Vomiting
  • An urge to use the washroom
  • Sweating and trembling
  • Increase in blood pressure
  • Dry mouth
  • Hyperventilation

Psychological Symptoms

  • Fear of harm or illness
  • Shame, guilt, and self-blame
  • Withdrawing from social interaction
  • Fear of dying
  • Anxiety and anger
  • Confusion, mood swings, and depression
  • Feelings of dread

Agrostophobia Treatment

Treatment for any phobia is vital, and the sooner you receive treatment the better. When phobias become serious, it’s difficult to resolve them. After you’ve uncovered your fear of grasses, you should seek help. Whether it’s professional therapy or self-help, start as early as possible.

Like all phobias, agrostophobia is on the list of irrational fears. The good news is that most phobias are treatable. Though there is no single method used to treat each phobia, you can still explore the common options that work for phobias in general.

Self-Help: What Can You Do to Help Yourself?

The first step to helping yourself is acknowledging your fear. Say to yourself, “I fear grass.” Self-help is one of the best ways to help yourself, as you know how grass makes you feel and why you fear it. You can start your self-help journey by reassuring yourself that the fear is irrational.

You can also practice relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercises and yoga that will help you stay calm when in the presence of the source of your fear.

Talking to a trusted family member or friend can help alleviate your anxiety. Joining a support group and hearing from people with similar fears can help you learn more about your fear and overcome it.

Exposing yourself to the thing you dread is a courageous alternative. Of course, it is easier said than done, but as you gradually get used to the source of your phobia, you will eventually stop fearing it.

Professional Help

Talk Therapy

Talk therapies are very effective to help you understand and resolve phobias. They would be a great start for your fear of grass. Talk therapies are laid back and don’t require anything other than you communicating your feelings to an professional psychologist or therapist.

Talk therapy aims to:

  • Help you identify and change problematic patterns in your thinking or behavior.
  • Help you resolve complex feelings or find strategies to cope with them.
  • Help you make sense of things and understand yourself better.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy seeks to determine whether your fear is an accurate representation of reality.  You can then begin to identify irrational thought and behavior patterns. It then attempts to replace these with healthier thought and behavioral patterns.

Learning to Cope with Agrostophobia

Although there is no permanent cure for phobias, you can manage them with some self-help techniques or with the assistance of a specialist.

You can confide in a friend or family member you trust, so they may be able to support you through your journey of recovery. You may also join online communities and connect with people in similar situations.

Finding support and knowing that you are not alone can help you better cope with agrostophobia.

In Conclusion

In the long run, learning to manage your agrostophobia can help you lead a more fulfilling life. You may find yourself strolling into your friend’s yard one day and laugh when you realize you haven’t panicked despite just stepping on grass!

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
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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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