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Situational Phobias

Dromophobia – The Fear of Crossing Streets

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Does Crossing Streets Scare You?

Do you dread crossing the street? Does the mere thought of crossing a street send you into a panic? You may enjoy taking walks in the park or even a stroll down the lane, but do you freeze up as soon as you meet a curb? You’re most likely to turn around at this point, regardless how much fun you’re having, or where you’re going.

If you relate to any of the above, you may have a phobia, called dromophobia or agyrophobia.

Being terrified of crossing streets is a difficult condition to manage. Imagine not being able to get to all the places you need to or want to because you cannot bear to cross the street.

To get to the root of the problem—and treat it—you must first understand what this disorder is about.

What Is Dromophobia?

Dromophobia is the excessive and irrational fear of crossing the road or streets. It is the fight-or-flight response that rears up in a person when they think about or stand in front of a crossing. This response may occur both when the phobia sufferer is alone or with a companion.

People suffering from this phobia see vehicles, busy roads, and crossroads as a serious threat to their safety. The condition could have resulted from a vehicular accident or witnessing one (e.g., having seen someone run over by a vehicle). The phobia sufferer has developed an intense fear of crossing roads or of moving vehicles. As one can imagine, this condition can be debilitating. One can lose opportunities and miss out on essential activities or social events because of the phobia.

Besides being a self-preservation tactic, dromophobia could also be inherited from a parent or a close relative. Another probable cause would be a chemical imbalance in the brain. Research suggests that people with chemical imbalances in the brain can develop anxiety disorders. Phobia is a form of anxiety disorder.

Whatever caused the phobia, having the condition can impede a person’s ability to function in society and live life to the fullest.

Dromophobia Symptoms

Being cautious of road accidents and unruly drivers is common sense. But in the case of individuals with dromophobia, the fear they experience is extreme. Thus, risk becomes overestimated, and the phobia sufferers exhibit real physical manifestations of their terror-filled mental states.

Physical Symptoms of Dromophobia

The common symptoms exhibited when the phobia is triggered include:

  • Freezing
  • Trembling
  • Hot flashes
  • Cold flashes
  • Temporary paralysis
  • Shock
  • Elevated heart rate
  • Nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • Loss of appetite
  • Sweating
  • High blood pressure
  • Fainting

Psychological Symptoms of Dromophobia

  • Anxiety
  • Apprehensive anxiety
  • Becoming hysterical
  • Screaming
  • Panic attack
  • Depression

Self-help for Dromophobia or the Fear of Crossing Streets

How to overcome dromophobia on your own? The following options should help.

Meditation

Meditating helps with relaxation. A relaxed mind can take your thoughts off from the object of your fear. You can focus on more positive possibilities than being preoccupied with the possibility of you getting struck by a car.

Meditation can do wonders in helping you cope with your symptoms. You can also meditate through a particular “freeze moment” or when you encounter a trigger to your condition. Keep practicing meditation, and watch yourself manage your symptoms better than ever.

Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises are great for alleviating both stress and anxiety. They can also help in coping through a bad episode. As you stand in front of the road, the pedestrian lights turn red, and the vehicles stop, take a deep breath with each step you take as you walk toward the other side of the road. Doing so will help calm your nerves.

You can repeat this exercise several times as a coping mechanism for your symptoms, and also a way to respond productively when faced with the object of your fear.

Crossing with a Companion

This is a simple yet helpful way of coping with your disorder. To get to the places you need to go to, ask a spouse, friend, or colleague to walk with you as you cross the road. Always getting help is not feasible, as you may not always have someone around. But when you are presented with this option, why not give it a try and see if it helps?

From these instances, you could possibly draw confidence from your companion, and that feeling of assurance can slowly grow to make you less scared of crossing streets without help.

Talk to Someone

Speak to loved ones and friends about your condition. Also, try getting into a community of fellow sufferers and be reminded that you are not alone. Learn how others manage their symptoms and draw some emotional support and confidence from their journeys or success stories.

Your disorder is most likely taking a toll on your loved ones too. It is important to speak to them and help them understand what you are going through and how they can help. Having someone you can discuss your thoughts and feelings with is crucial to avoid depression or self-isolation resulting from the phobia.

Physical Exercise

Exercise has been proven effective in dealing with stress and anxiety symptoms. Engaging in physical activities releases ‘feel-good’ chemicals called endorphins, which can help alleviate your mood.

Keep in mind that the exercise need not be excessive. Light aerobic exercises can make enough difference in your physical and mental well-being.

Good Diet

Practice good diet habits and avoid foods that can worsen your symptoms. For instance, coffee has caffeine—a stimulant that can increase anxiety. Taking proper care to eat the right things would help tremendously with coping through your treatments.


 

Professional Help for Dromophobia

Exposure Therapy

This involves gradually exposing the patient to their phobia triggers, in a controlled environment, until they can confront their fears on their own. The therapist may begin by asking patients to visualize themselves crossing the road, first with a companion and then on their own. Eventually, the therapist may facilitate an exercise involving the patients crossing the street while the doctor watches.

Exposure therapy is a popular, long-term treatment and has been proven to produce good results.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT involves having patients examine and reflect on their own mental and emotional processes. The aim is to help patients develop coping skills and learn ways on how to modify their way of thinking and responding to the object of their fear.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

This long-term dromophobia treatment therapy serves to provide patients with many tools and strategies on how to cope and even keep their symptoms at bay. Some of the techniques involved in DBT include, among others: half-smiling; mindfulness meditation; and coping ahead. All DBT exercises aim to teach the patients how to apply all that they learned during the sessions in real life, especially in situations that could trigger their condition.

Overcoming dromophobia is difficult. But once you’ve decided to take it on, keep in mind that you’re not alone. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the people you trust the most—they’ll lend a helping hand. If you’re ready, getting professional help is also encouraged. In no time, you’ll be able to catch up on all the things you’ve missed on the other side of the road.

Stories Submitted by Our Readers

Dromophobia

Hi, I’m a 21-year-old living with Dromophobia, the fear of crossing roads. The fear began when I was a teenager riding my bike and was hit by a person driving past who could only see from one eye. I was crossing the road in the bike lane but the person that had stopped at a stop light did not see me as I was on their right side, and they could not see with that eye. From that time until now every road seems to be a danger to cross, which has now grown to include parking lots. This is very embarrassing as I truly cannot cross a road unless someone is with me. If I have to cross a road alone, I have a panic attack. I’ve tried deep breathing and even trying to talk through the fear out loud so I could cross the road to no avail. I have gotten appointments with therapists however I have to walk across a road and just cannot do so due to the fear. The fear is so bad that even if I’m in a neighborhood and there are no cars in sight, I cannot step one foot into the crosswalk. I wonder if I will ever be able to live a normal life and ever cross a road alone.

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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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