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Body Phobias

Fear of Bones or Skeletons

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No Bones about It, Unless You Suffer from Cartilogenophobia or Skeletophobia

 

Is Halloween a difficult time for you? Do decorative skeletons hanging from windows and doors keep you holed up inside your home? Or is it the mere thought of a femur or a rib bone that keeps you up at night? If so, you may have a fear of bones.

The fear of bones is known as cartilogenophobia, while the fear of skeletons is skeletophobia. Those suffering from these rare phobias may have terrifying visions of skeletons moving on their own as portrayed in scary movies. For others, a simple chicken bone may send them into a panic, while a deer carcass alongside the highway can bring on nightmares for weeks.

Some with a fear of bones may have a deep fear of seeing exposed bones from an injury.  Bones revealed in an x-ray may cause nausea or heart palpitations. Skulls or skeletal models like those found in classrooms or museums are often triggers for this fear.

While these excessive fears may seem trivial to those not suffering from cartilogenophobia, those with this fear know their feelings are real. They may know that there is no actual danger, but the fear overrides their judgement.

So, how does one develop an excessive fear of skeletons? The fear may originate from natural human fears. Seeing a skeleton or pile of bones can be a subconscious warning of danger. Bones mean one thing in simple terms: something or someone has died. And humans have a natural fear of dying.

For others with this fear, bad past experiences with bones or skeletons may be the root of their phobia. Incidents such as being frightened by a prank or visiting a haunted house where skeletons pop up from a fake coffin could have planted the seeds of phobia. There is no solid, scientific explanation why some develop phobias or excessive fear in response to incidents while others don’t.

Skeletophobia and cartilogenophobia are similar phobias.

Cartilogenophobia, and in some cases skeletophobia, may be considered phobias of either fear or disgust. Those suffering from cartilogenophobia may not be able eat meat off of the bone, be it chicken, beef, pork or any animal cooked with the bone.

Symptoms of Skeletophobia and Cartilogenophobia

Like most phobias, skeletophobia and cartilogenophobia may cause a variety of physical and mental/emotional symptoms. These symptoms may appear with certain triggers or activities. Understanding your symptoms and triggers can make it easier for a mental health professional to properly diagnose you.

Physical Symptoms

  • Difficult breathing
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Complete loss of appetite
  • Hyperventilation
  • Dry mouth
  • Increased heart rate
  • Trembling or shaking
  • Sweating
  • Lightheadedness
  • Confusion
  • Dizziness

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Moodiness
  • Feelings of dread
  • Panic attacks
  • Fear of becoming sick from eating meat with bones
  • Fear of museums or areas that may house skeletons
  • Obsessive thoughts about bones or skeletons

Related Phobia – Fear of Hair

Self-Help for Skeletophobia and Cartilogenophobia

If you suffer from an excessive fear of bones or skeletons you may be able to help better manage your fear through self-help methods. Start by gradually exposing yourself to bones or skeletons. Start with plastic or artificial bones, handle them, study them. Teach yourself that bones and skeletons are, in most cases, harmless.

Another option is to educate yourself about bones and the fear of bones. Become an expert on bones and skeletons by researching books and websites. Draw pictures or sketch skeletons and bones. You may in time come to feel the excessive fear is unfounded.

Professional Help for Skeletophobia and Cartilogenophobia

If your phobia is serious, limits your lifestyle, or causes severe physical and mental health issues, promptly consult a mental health professional. Your doctor of therapist may recommend one or more of the following treatment methods to help you overcome your fear.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT uses mindfulness-based practices under the guidance of a trained professional. It is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that helps you stay present and calm in a stressful situation.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

NLP is a method that uses therapy to reframe unhelpful thoughts, so how you view bones and skeletons becomes more rational. If successfully done, you may still not like bones, but you will no longer be so fearful of  them.

Exposure Therapy

Most professionals recommend this method as a way to manage phobias and desensitize yourself. It starts with visualizing the trigger, in this case, touching, feeling, or looking at bones and skeletons. Over time you will expose yourself to more situations where you may come in contact with bones.

Medication

Anti-anxiety or beta-blocker medications may be prescribed, but only as a last option. These products may help reduce your physical response to fear triggers, but do not treat the fear itself.

Final Thoughts

As we have discussed, educating yourself is a great start to overcoming your fear of bones. And if needed, seek professional help. With time and dedication you may be able to toss this problem out like an old bag of bones.

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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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