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Other Phobias

Cyclophobia – Fear of Bicycles

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Cycling Out of Cyclophobia

Life is like riding a bicycle; to stay balanced, you have to keep moving. – Unknown

Riding a bike is something that most children learn at an early age. From trikes to training wheels, then slowly transitioning to balance bikes, bike riding is part of childhood.

But what if the thought of riding or seeing a bike causes you to become sick to your stomach? You can’t imagine going around the park on a bike. The mere mention of the word “bicycle” causes your palms to sweat and your forehead to bead with perspiration.

If this sounds like you, then you may have cyclophobia. Cyclophobia is the irrational fear of bicycles and is often called bicyclophobia as well. People who have this condition feel anxious and wary of anything bicycle-related for fear of getting killed or injured. It is a specific phobia that can cause you to miss out on the simple joys of life.

Symptoms of Cyclophobia

The symptoms of bike phobia vary from one individual to the next. The triggers and severity are also unique for each person. For instance, one may start feeling anxious at the mere mention of the word bicycle. On the other hand, some can tolerate being up close to a bike but may have a panic attack at the thought of riding it.

Most of the time, you’ll experience one or several of these symptoms if you have cyclophobia.

Physical Symptoms

  • Dry mouth
  • Irregular heartbeat
  • Nausea
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sweating
  • Upset stomach
  • Weak tone of voice

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Anxiety
  • Constant worry
  • Irrationality
  • Mood swings
  • Morbid thoughts
  • Panic attacks

 

Causes of Cyclophobia

Like most phobias, the specific cause of the fear of bicycles is unknown. However, certain factors may contribute to the development of this phobia.

Traumatic Experience

As a child, you may have experienced falling off your bike or getting hit by a bike. It’s also possible that you witnessed someone having a bike-related accident, so you learned to associate bicycles with negative experiences.

Learned Response

If you grew up in a household where bikes were perceived negatively, you might have made the fear of others your own. Even if you don’t have any direct negative experiences with bikes, you might have become cautious and fearful of them because of your environment.

Genetics

This phobia could be inherited from your family. Note that the fear doesn’t necessarily have to be cyclophobia. It can also be other phobias, like trokhophobia, the fear of wheels, and dystychiphobia, the fear of all forms of physical accidents.

Additionally, if any of your family members were diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or schizophrenia, it could cause you to develop irrational fears.

Treatment of Cyclophobia

Managing and overcoming cyclophobia is a journey. The good news is that there are plenty of effective interventions you can try.

Self-Help Treatment

The most accessible and, by far, the most economical treatment is adapting your activities at home. By changing your daily routine, you can start experiencing and viewing bicycles differently.

1. Start a Journal

Write down your thoughts and feelings before, during, and after your cyclophobia attacks. Note your triggers so you can better understand your thought processes. You can react better the next time it happens because you’ve learned to anticipate your usual responses.

2. Learn Breathing Exercises

Inhale all the positive thoughts and exhale the negative ones from your mind and body, including the fear of bicycles. Consider yoga as it can help you channel your fears out while calming your mind and body.

3. Join Support Groups

Today, there are plenty of online support groups and communities you can join. Sharing experiences with others who have phobias can make you feel less alone in your journey to recovery.

4. Talk to Your Family and Friends

A strong support system comprised of people you trust can make a huge difference in your recovery. Letting them in on your fears can help them understand you better so you can be yourself without judgment or shame.

5. Start Your Day With Self-Affirmations

Look beyond your fear of bicycles and remind yourself how strong and beautiful you are. Each morning, begin the day with self-affirmations like:

  • I can move past this.
  • I am strong and capable.
  • I will take things one day at a time.
  • My fear doesn’t define me.
  • I survived my cyclophobia before. I will survive it now.

Professional Help

Enlisting the help of a medical professional, psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist is another option. There are many available structured treatment plans that could be helpful.

1. Counseling

Talk openly with your mental health professional about your fear, how it impacts your life, and the changes you want to experience.

2. Psychotherapy

Together, you and your mental health professional will identify the root cause of your cyclophobia and then work towards changing your outlook.

3. Desensitization

Desensitization entails gradual exposure to the object of your fear. For instance, you might touch a bike or even ride one in a controlled, safe environment.

Living with Cyclophobia

Overcoming cyclophobia is hard but doable. Acknowledging your fear and deciding to move past it is the first step to living normally again.

It’s not an easy task and there are plenty of setbacks, but things can get better with a solid support system and the willingness to accept help from others. Be kind to yourself, be patient, and celebrate your wins, even small ones.

Conclusion

Cyclophobia is a less common fear but the fear is real and the anxiety that comes with it can be crippling. With the right mindset, a solid support system, and the right treatment plan, you can learn to cope this fear and eventually overcome it.

 

Sources:

https://optimistminds.com/cyclophobia/

https://drlogy.com/medical-dictionary/cyclophobia

https://www.lybrate.com/question/1226790414/what-is-the-symptoms-of-cyclophobia-and-how-i-secure-on-the-diseases

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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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