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Body Phobias

Fear of Smiles

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Some People Have a Deep Fear of Smiles

Do smiles give you the creeps, make you uneasy, remind you of devious people? Are your eyes always scrutinizing faces to check for the slightest sign of smiles or laughter? Do you fear smiles behind your back?

If yes, you may be suffering from the fear of smiles or smiling– or the fear of smiley faces.

A person suffering from this fear will often find it difficult to explain themselves. Not only do they fear that their phobia may not be real, but they also worry that others might make fun of them or mock them for their phobia.

Because of their nagging fears, it’s natural for people suffering from excessive fear of smiles to keep to themselves and avoid social situations. However, that’s not the best solution. Proper care and treatment can help you recover from this fear and live a fruitful and fulfilling life.

 

Excessive Fear of Smiles Explained

It is said that a smile can light up a day. But for some, there’s a dark side to that. Smiles become something to avoid.

When a fear of smiles begins to control one’s behavior, that’s when it’s considered a phobia. And the excessive fear of smiles or smiley faces is real for many.

This phobia was discovered in 1996 by German psychoanalyst and psychotherapist Michael Titze. In his papers, Titze observed that his patients were most worried about being laughed at and would scan their environment for signs of ridicule and laughter. He noted that these patients considered themselves ridiculous and often developed psychosomatic disturbances such as lack of sleep.

Given how new the discovery of excessive fear of smiles is, this fear is yet to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and is not recognized in the official list of phobias. However, research on this phobia continues to present notable findings.

A person suffering from the phobia believes that all the laughter they hear is aimed at them. They experience a high amount of shame and anxiety and display social withdrawal, paranoia, sensitivity to offense, and fear of laughing. This often results in very low self-esteem and even antisocial behavior.

The excessive fear of smiles-smiley faces is associated with some clinical conditions like autism spectrum disorder (ASD), borderline personality disorder, and social anxiety disorder. As patients suffering from these clinical issues recognize that they are different, they are always afraid of being mocked and ridiculed and may develop an excessive fear of smiles.

Excessive Fear of Smiles Potential Causes

While the exact cause of an excessive fear of smiles is not known, there are several factors that can contribute to a person developing this phobia.

It could occur if a person had an unhappy childhood without a supportive caregiver, or if, as a child, their opinions and suggestions were not taken seriously. Experiencing bullying in school or even online can also lead to someone developing this phobia.

While it is less probable to develop the fear of smiling in adulthood, it is still possible. If a person went through a traumatic experience of being laughed at, one that they cannot overcome, they may develop a phobia.

A person’s own sense of humor also plays a huge role. For example, if someone is highly social, carefree, and takes comments jokingly, they are less likely to get affected compared to those who are very sensitive to comments and take them very personally.

On the other hand, a person with a history of mental illness is more prone to developing phobias. The slightest of triggers like a passing joke may gradually develop into a phobia.

 

Fear of Smiles Symptoms

A person suffering from this fear may experience a few or more symptoms depending upon the severity of their phobia.

Physical Symptoms

  • Aches and pains
  • Headaches
  • Breathlessness
  • Prickly sensation
  • Dry mouth
  • Appearing cold and humorless
  • Dizziness
  • Increased heart rate
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Antisocial behavior
  • Feeling of shame
  • Feeling of worthlessness

 

Excessive Fear of Smiles Treatment

There is no one proven treatment for this excessive fear, but there are a few things that can help you recover from your fear of smiles.

Self-Help

When dealing with an irrational fear, self-help can often be your best asset. Most patients recognize that their fears are irrational and working on acknowledging their illogical thought patterns helps them get better.

However, for people with this fear, many genuinely believe that they are being targeted and mocked. For such people, their fears are real and the traditional method of self-help will often be useless.

In such cases, they can work on their self-worth and realize that others’ comments are not their concern. They can try meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and relaxation techniques to calm themselves. These techniques will also help them calmly analyze a situation before reacting.

Professional Help

Reaching out to professionals and letting them properly diagnose and treat you is often the best way to overcome a phobia.

A professional therapist will be able to customize a treatment plan according to the severity of your phobia.

One or more of the following therapies can be used for the treatment for being terrified of smiles or smiling:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Exposure therapy
  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)

Medications

In rare cases, when the patient is suffering and slow to respond to talk therapy, anti-anxiety or antidepressant drugs may be prescribed.

The drugs are only meant to suppress symptoms and are not a cure for the deep fear of smiles. Their use is discontinued as soon as the patient starts responding to therapy.

 

Coping with the Fear of Smiles/Smiling

Living with this fear is difficult. For the sufferer, even sitting in a room full of people can be a challenge. Each time someone laughs, it’s like they are being personally attacked. Hence, they may skip school and only take jobs where there are very few employees.

The excessive fear of smiles is a severe condition, so don’t try to “live with it.”

Reach out to family, friends, and colleagues and let them know what you’re going through. Try self-help techniques and consult a doctor for a complete recovery.

 

Conclusion

Excessive fear of smiles, the fear of smiles and laughter, can affect both your social and professional life. It can isolate you from others and make you a magnet for many other health issues. If you suspect you’re suffering from this phobia, make sure you reach out to loved ones or professionals so you can learn to overcome your fear and get better as soon as possible.

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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