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Gelotophobia – The Fear of Being Laughed At
Situational Phobias

Gelotophobia – Fear of Being Laughed At

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Gelotophobia – The Fear of Being Laughed At

Do you have trouble dealing with laughter? Does the sound of laughter make you feel uneasy? Do you often feel that people are laughing at you for no reason?

It must be scary to feel that all eyes are on you. Or to think about how others laugh at your expense and find humor in your failings. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can change the way you feel about laughter.

If you’re afraid of laughter, you may have gelotophobia, or a fear of being laughed at. You’ll be happy to know that gelotophobia is treatable and not a mental illness you should fear. With the right information, you can learn to manage your fear of being laughed at.

What Is Gelotophobia All About?

There are various questions around this phobia. Let’s try and address a few.

What Is the Fear of Being Laughed At?

Gelotophobia is a simple phobia. It’s a type of anxiety disorder where you feel any sound of laughter in your vicinity is directed at you. Although no one likes to be laughed at, those with gelotophobia are over-fearful of the experience. It isn’t a simple reaction where you feel displeased. You can have serious reactions and health issues surrounding this phobia.

In some cases, gelotophobia is the consequence of a traumatic experience that affects your self-esteem and reduces your self-confidence. This may result in a severe reaction each time you hear someone laugh.

With gelotophobia, you may struggle to differentiate between light teasing and mockery. You may have a limited sense of humor. The sounds of laughter may create a negative impact on your overall mood. You may relate laughter with a past trauma and feel it could be directed at you.

Even if you’re aware of how unreasonable it is to link the sound of laughter to yourself, you may be unable to stop feeling like you are being laughed at.

What Causes Gelotophobia?

Gelotophobia has multiple causes. Read on to learn about some of the most common.

Body Image Issues

Many healthy children with weight issues often get mocked by other children during childhood. Though most children who are overweight face similar issues and eventually grow out of them, some develop a phobia or fear of being laughed at.

Bullying

Bullying is a common problem both in schools and on playgrounds. Here, more vulnerable children and those who don’t have strong social support get targeted by other children. Though bullying can have many adverse effects on the development of children, fear of being mocked is one of them.

Having a Disability

As children and even adults, those with special needs, such as cognitive disabilities or speech and hearing impairments, are often teased unnecessarily. This teasing or mockery can lead to the development of gelotophobia.

Familial Issues

A toxic familial environment where close family members mock their children or compare them can also lead to gelotophobia. Children might grow up with insecurities as parents or guardians play a major role in their life.

Low Self-Esteem

Low self-esteem or low self-confidence may cause one to feel like they are constantly being laughed at. Like with other mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, low self-esteem can lead to a phobia of being laughed at.

Studies on Gelotophobia

Based on the gelotophobia tests conducted by Willibald Ruch of the University of Zurich, many who participated in the study went to extreme lengths to avoid being mocked. One subject waited for a bus with an empty last row because the fear of being mocked by those passengers behind him was too great.

According to another study, 13 percent of people in Britain have gelotophobia, whereas Denmark has the lowest number of gelotophobes. These statistics denote the differences in the cultural environments of both countries. Considering the British sense of humor, laughing at others is common in English society. In Denmark, people do not laugh at others.

Based on another study conducted by Willibald Ruch on 23,000 people in 73 countries, he observed gelotophobia can affect 2-30 percent of the population. In Asia, the number of gelotophobes is higher due to shame culture.

Symptoms of Gelotophobia

Gelotophobia manifests in many ways and affects the everyday lives of those who struggle with the fear. Could you have gelotophboia? Here are some common symptoms:

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Avoid social events to avoid people
  • Get angry and react badly when people laugh
  • Cannot make jokes or laugh at them
  • Appear dry, cold, or shy to outsiders

Physical Symptoms

  • Blushing
  • Trembling
  • Insomnia
  • Severe stress
  • Dizziness
  • Panic attacks
  • Breathlessness
  • Pinocchio Syndrome (wooden puppet appearance)

As most who have gelotophobia don’t understand the meaning of laughter, they can often react unexpectedly to outsiders. Shouting in anger or having a panic attack are symptoms that tell you something isn’t right.

How to Overcome the Fear of Being Laughed At

If you’re wondering how to overcome gelotophobia, there are many self-help and professional methods you can try.

Self-Help

If you recognize gelotophobia tendencies in yourself, here are some strategies you can try to overcome your fear of being laughed at:

  • Make a list of the things you love about yourself
  • Maintain a journal regularly
  • Meditate, exercise, or practice yoga
  • Talk about your insecurities with those you trust
  • Find ways to build your skillset and morale
  • Make a habit of asking people how they feel about you; compare it with how you view yourself
  • Learn how to be more self-aware
  • Try to weigh your pros and cons to reduce insecurities
  • Combat negative thoughts with positive ones

These simple tips will hopefully help you take a step forward in overcoming your gelotophobia.

Professional Help

Sometimes self-help isn’t enough and you need the guidance of a professional to overcome your phobia. The first step is engaging the help of a mental health professional such as a psychologist, social worker, or psychiatrist.

Clinical Hypnotherapy

Clinical therapies include those like hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is sometimes used if you are unable to lead a normal life due to your phobia. Hypnotherapy is conducted under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a form of talk therapy. Your therapist works with you to change the way you think about a situation. This is done through discussing how you feel about a situation and how you view yourself.

Brain Working Recursive Therapy (BWRT)

BWRT is another form of talk therapy. It focuses on negative ideas you may have cemented in your thoughts. Your therapist will work with you to try to change how you view such ideas.

How to Avoid Gelotophobia Altogether

The thing about phobias is they never go away completely. However, you can reduce the effects with continued efforts, therapies, and support. To avoid feeling like you are being laughed at, here are some tips that may help:

Simple Tips to Avoid Gelotophobia

  • Build your sense of humor
  • Watch stand-up comics
  • Try laughing at yourself
  • Stop thinking so much about how other people view you
  • Observe how comedians make fun of themselves

If it’s scary to listen to the laughter of others, work to tune them out. If you can convince yourself that no one is interested in laughing at you, you might be a step closer to overcoming your fears.

Conclusion

Although laughter is the best medicine for many of us, some suffer in silence because of it. However, this fear is treatable. If you feel like you’re showing symptoms of gelotophobia, seek help soon. Don’t let laughter stand in the way of your happiness.

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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