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Environmental Phobias

Ecophobia – Fear of Your Home

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Home Sweet Home, Not for Everyone

Typically, when you think of home, you think of a safe space where you live. Unfortunately, for some, a home is the exact opposite. Rather than a place of safety and security, one’s home becomes a place of terror.

This fear of one’s home is called ecophobia.

Ecophobia causes unexplainable anxiousness when one thinks about going home or being at home. For some, the home itself ends up as simply a place to store personal items, because they cannot bear to be there.

It’s a challenge to explain why the familiar living room, bedroom, or kitchen is the last place you want to be while everyone around you finds comfort at the prospect of home.

The good news is that there are ways you can deal with this phobia and eventually overcome it. First, educate yourself. Try to discover why you have this fear, and then work through the steps to alleviate symptoms.

Let’s read on.

What Is Ecophobia?

The irrational fear of home or home surroundings is called ecophobia, also referred to as oikophobia.

Fear of one’s home surroundings may cause you to avoid going home. You may find that you prefer being anywhere else but your home. You may have a nagging feeling that being home may bring you harm, or perhaps you fear something unpleasant will happen.

You may find yourself making excuses for why you’d rather spend your time elsewhere, or you might even start living as a nomad. Some may feel they would rather not have a permanent address that ties them down to a specific space.

Ecophobia can cause you to be away from home as much as possible. This fear escalates when you are physically present within the house and may even lead to panic or anxiety attacks.

As one can guess, this form of phobia may eventually negatively impact one’s social relationships with family and those they grew up with. At some point, it might even affect one’s career.

Ecophobia Causes

Like most phobias, there is no specific cause for ecophobia. However, there are a number of factors which may trigger such a fear.

Generally, the causes for ecophobia can be classified into two groups: biological and environmental.

Biological Factors

Genes play a major role in determining whether a person might develop phobia.

If anyone in your family has a history of mental illness, anxiety, or phobia of any sort, it increases the probability of you developing a phobia, including ecophobia. This genetic tendency for developing phobias or mental disorders is called diathesis-stress relationship.

Environmental/Experiential Triggers

If one already has a genetic predisposition for developing mental health disorders, a traumatic event may trigger ecophobia.

This event can be a traumatic experience one had while growing up that carries into adulthood. If a person was afraid of their parents or was subjected to violence and aggression when they were young, it can create an association between one’s home and negative feelings, eventually resulting in ecophobia.

Ecophobia may also develop if one feels threatened and unsafe in their house. Again, there are many possibilities why one may feel and think this way. It could result from a traumatic incident one has witnessed or was subjected to. A break-in, a fire, an abusive relationship, or countless other personal and traumatic events could leave you scared of your own home.

Other environmental factors such as natural disasters and calamities can also instill fear in a person. Some may fear their house may be destroyed by a tornado or fear being trapped inside during a housefire.

Symptoms of Ecophobia

What symptoms one may experience with ecophobia will depend on how severe the phobia is. While some may only feel a slight discomfort at the thought of being home, others may experience hyperventilation or panic attacks.

Here are the common symptoms of ecophobia:

Physical Symptoms

  • Cold sweat
  • Dry mouth
  • Fainting
  • Increased heartbeat
  • Gastrointestinal distress
  • Nausea
  • Numbness
  • Shaking
  • Shortness of breath
  • Smothering sensation
  • Tightness in the chest
  • Tingling sensation
  • Vomiting

Psychological Symptoms

  • Varying levels of panic
  • Irrational thoughts of losing control and embarrassing yourself
  • Not being able to think or speak logically
  • Thoughts about being harmed and dying
  • Wanting to cry or give in to the fear

How Do You Deal with Ecophobia?

Depending on the severity of one’s ecophobia, it can eventually take a toll on one’s life and relationships.

One of the most important things to address when dealing with any phobia is to manage the anxiety and depression that may result from it. Besides, the more you try to escape your fear, the more intense it becomes. This can lead to more unhappiness and anxiety.

Like any other irrational fear, ecophobia can be dealt with in numerous ways. There are various options available today when it comes to treating a phobia.

Remember, your home should be your territory, so let’s face the fear of your home before it consumes you.

Ecophobia Treatment

Most people outgrow their fears. However, when it comes to phobias or irrational fears, these fears can worsen with time and become increasingly disruptive if left untreated.

If you believe you have ecophobia, consider the following treatment options.

Self-Help Methods

Understanding your fear is the first step toward overcoming it. It is also one of the hardest but most important steps of self-help.

It’s important to understand, however, that this is not an overnight process. You’ll have to put in the effort and take the steps needed to deal with ecophobia.

Reflection can be helpful. So, let’s begin with the following questions:

  1. Do I have anything to be afraid of?
  2. What’s the worst that can happen to me in my house? How will I handle it?
  3. On a scale of 1-10, realistically, how likely is my fear/anxiety to materialize?
  4. Based on my past phobia attacks, did anything negative happen to me?
  5. Do I want to be free of this phobia?

Keep visiting these questions and write down your answers. Remember, it’s acceptable to have different answers in the beginning. But once you become more confident, your answers may evolve, and you may eventually be able to transcend the fear.

Calming activities like meditation and journaling can also be helpful when dealing with anxiety.

Professional Treatment

If you believe your ecophobia is too severe to deal with on your own, seeking professional treatment from a licensed therapist can be a good way forward.

Typically, the therapist will ask you to share your fears in-depth before they recommend the best treatment method for you. Some of the standard therapy treatments for phobias include neurolinguistics programming, exposure therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy, and systematic desensitization therapy.

Coping with Ecophobia

Living with a phobia such as ecophobia can be one of the hardest things to do, but don’t let that stop you from trying to make progress.

It’s vital that you work to empower yourself. Seek the treatment you need to manage your fears with confidence. It is possible to reach that point where going home feels welcoming rather than causing you distress.

In Conclusion

It’s good to have a place to call home. Feeling safe and comfortable in our space is part of a happy life. Don’t let an irrational fear of home take that away from you.

With the right treatment and self-help methods, you can overcome this phobia and have a safe haven of your own.

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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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