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Doxophobia – Fear of Expressing Opinions or Receiving Praise

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Your Opinion of Doxophobia?

Have you ever been handed a feedback form only to find yourself breaking out in a sweat? Do you avoid conferences or meetings where you might be asked to give an opinion? Does the idea of giving or receiving opinions fill you with dread or anxiety?

If your answers to these questions were a resounding yes, you are probably dealing with doxophobia, or the fear of expressing opinions.

It’s difficult for people suffering from doxophobia to express their opinions in front of others. The physical symptoms, combined with the psychological turmoil, are hard to ignore and can cause a lot of distress, hindering one from living a full life.

Thankfully, with advancements in medical science, there is greater awareness of phobias and ways to treat them. With various effective therapies, treatments, and medications available, you, too, can overcome your doxophobia.

 

 

 

What Does Doxophobia Mean?

The term “doxophobia” originates from the Greek words doxo, meaning honor or glory, and phobia meaning fear. So, the definition of doxophobia is essentially the fear of expressing opinions or of receiving praise. This results in the sufferer going to extreme lengths to avoid being in a situation where they may be asked for an opinion or may be praised.

Did you know that there are more than 400 phobias? And from the full list of phobias, some are phobias of disgust, where the object of the phobia produces disgust while others are fear phobias like doxophobia, where the object of your phobia triggers dread and fear.

A person dealing with doxophobia often also has low self-esteem issues. They don’t want to be on anyone’s radar, which in itself can be considered a form of social phobia. And although in a time when people seem to love exploiting their right to express their opinions, doxophobia may seem a bit unlikely. However, some people’s fear of opinions can be severe and may prevent them from having a healthy social life.

 

Cause of Doxophobia

The fear of expressing opinions and the fear of compliments may result from a number of factors. Sometimes you can point out the exact moment the phobia seed was planted, while other times, tracing your experiences and memories to find the possible root cause can be fruitless.

Doxophobia, like any other phobia, typically results from a chain of events that instills in one a fear of compliments and opinions. A childhood experience of being laughed at for a particular opinion you had or a cruel joke in your adolescent years, where compliments were only used to mock you, can cause one to doubt their own self-worth.

Individuals suffering from doxophobia may also have a genetic or hereditary predisposition to the illness.

Another reason for this fear is constantly having your opinion disregarded. A child whose opinion never mattered and was always shut down by people close to him may grow into an adult who does not express himself, which may later evolve into doxophobia.

 

Doxophobia Symptoms

A person with doxophobia may experience some or all of the following physical and physiological symptoms.

Physical Symptoms

  • Nausea
  • Shortness of breath
  • Need to get away
  • Dizziness
  • Trembling
  • Excessive sweating
  • Rapid breathing
  • Inability to articulate words or sentences

Physiological Symptoms

  • Feeling disconnected
  • Fear of fainting
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Withdrawing from others
  • A sense of shame and guilt
  • Self-blame

 

Treatment and Cure of Doxophobia

So, how does one overcome doxophobia? There is no one specific treatment for any phobia, including doxophobia. Often, a combination of treatments and therapies is used to help a person overcome the object of their fear.

Overcoming Doxophobia with Self-Help

Doxophobia, like any other social phobia, is an irrational perception of an otherwise harmless situation. Most people tend to realize this, but they do not have control over the symptoms they experience when faced with their fear.

However, a person can train themself to gradually overcome the negative thoughts and the consequent negative reactions. Self-help is one of the most effective treatment methods for any type of phobia.

The first step in dealing with any phobia is to get to the root cause that triggered the fear in the first place. Think back to the events or thoughts that cause you to fear opinions. You may also consider sharing your feelings with a close friend or family member whom you trust.

Therapies for Doxophobia

Various therapies are known to show great results for social phobias like doxophobia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, follows the principle that what we think and perceive influences our behavior, and often anxiety or stress we experience is an inaccurate depiction of reality.

Through CBT, the therapist helps you recognize your negative and irrational thoughts and guides you to replace them with positive thoughts. It can help lead the person away from their perceived reality to true reality. CBT works for most phobias as phobias are generally incorrect or irrational perceptions.

Talking Therapies

During a talking therapy session, a highly trained and experienced therapist helps you process your thoughts and feelings. The therapy is conducted in a laid-back, relaxed, and safe environment to provide the patient with the comfort and security they need to open up.

As the sessions progress, the patient is able to talk more easily about their phobia. They start to recognize the unhealthy patterns in their thought process and take the necessary steps to change them.

Medications for Doxophobia

For any phobia, medications are only prescribed in severe cases. In cases where the patient is experiencing repeated panic attacks and it is not possible to wait for the other methods to show results, medications may be used.

However, their use must be discontinued as soon as the patient starts responding to other treatments.

Learning to Cope with Doxophobia

Imagine living a life where you cannot offer your opinion or accept compliments. It can lead to a very restrictive life and may even progress to a point where other people start making decisions for you.

It is important for those suffering from doxophobia to first acknowledge and face their fears. They can then take steps to address their phobia.

Try self-help and therapy methods to overcome your fear. Although it will take some time for you to see or feel any results, with consistent work, you can experience a full life without having to deal with crippling fear.

 

In Conclusion

Doxophobia can seem like a debilitating condition that can affect many aspects of your life. However, while serious, it is still a very treatable condition.

With self-help and a little professional help, you, too, can notice a transformation in the way you perceive things. Who knows, one day, you may even find yourself expressing your opinions in that weekly team meeting!

 

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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