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Environmental Phobias

Heliophobia – The Fear of the Sun

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Putting the Spotlight on the Fear of the Sun

Do you worry that the glorious, blazing sun is your sworn enemy? Do you avoid it at all costs or take serious protective measures when forced to go out in the sunshine?

The anxiety you feel when you’re out in the sun and the breathlessness you experience afterward—there’s no way to explain these things to anyone.

It can be challenging and exhausting to live with this fear. You may also fear that if you tell someone about this, they won’t understand you and may even ridicule you.

The good news is that you don’t have to live with this fear. There are ways to cope with it and lead a normal life like everyone else. So, how do you deal with heliophobia? Read on to learn more.

Possible Heliophobia Causes

Like all other phobias, there’s no specific cause as to why someone may have this phobia. However, in some cases, you may have been traumatized by an incident in the past that included a severe sunburn, and now you’re afraid to go out in the sun for fear of it happening again.

Having heliophobia can also be a learned response from your parents, who may have had the same fear as you. Most of the time, a phobia will have a genetic or heritable link.

Some Things You Need to Know about Heliophobia

We can categorize all phobias into two types: fear and disgust. Fear is generally a reaction to a survival threat, while disgust is primarily connected to contamination or a possible threat. Heliophobia is considered a fear since people who suffer from it feel constantly anxious that they will die of skin cancer or another deadly disease.

People who have this phobia may go to great lengths to avoid encountering the sun; even the thought of the sun can bring on feelings of panic. Like any other phobia, heliophobia can interfere with your ability to socialize, which can reduce your quality of life.

As a heliophobic, you may never venture outdoors during the day. Or you may wear a lot of clothing, apply sunscreen generously to exposed skin, and wear dark sunglasses.

Heliophobia Symptoms

All phobias are characterized by objects or things that trigger fear and anxiety in you. However, you will find similar symptoms across all phobias. Here are some physical and psychological symptoms of heliophobia.

The physical symptoms of heliophobia are:

  • Difficulty breathing
  • Nausea
  • Dry mouth
  • Increased heart rate
  • Uncomfortable trembling
  • Feeling dizzy
  • A choking sensation

The psychological symptoms of heliophobia are:

  • Anxiety attacks
  • Uncontrollable thoughts
  • Fear of losing control
  • Not being able to step outside
  • Getting very upset

As a sufferer, you may find one or all of the symptoms mentioned above, depending on the severity of your phobia.

How Is Heliophobia Diagnosed?

You need to visit a doctor or therapist who can diagnose this fear. They will discuss your symptoms with you, both physical and psychological. They will also review your social, medical, and psychiatric history to evaluate the severity of your phobia or anxiety.

Be sure to tell your doctor or therapist about your family’s phobia history, too, as that will help in the diagnosis process.

Heliophobia Treatments

Like any other phobia, there are treatment options that can help you cope with the fear of the sun. While you can opt for professional treatment, self-help has benefitted some who have heliophobia.

If you find self-help methods are not improving your symptoms, professional treatment might be in order. Those who are having frequent panic attacks and feel their phobia is something impossible to control should visit a doctor or therapist as soon as possible.

When Should You Seek Treatment for Heliophobia?

Many people who have mild heliophobia are able to step out of their house and, sometimes, lead a normal life. But each individual is different. So if your phobia seems to be getting worse by the day, seek treatment.

When Should a Person Seek Treatment

  • When it is getting more difficult each passing day to lead a normal life
  • When your symptoms are getting worse each day
  • When you are having frequent panic attacks

The symptoms above show up in severe cases of heliophobia, but you shouldn’t wait until it gets worse before getting help. The sooner you seek help for your phobia, the more likely you are to overcome it.

Self-Help

When you start working on your own fear, you gain a different perspective you may have been missing before. There is no fear of judgment here, and since you are the only one who knows what you’re going through, you’ll better understand your phobia. You may be able to develop a plan to completely rid yourself of this fear or at least be better able to manage it.

During this time, you might also be able to share your phobia experience with a therapeutic group of community of members like you. You can also focus on replacing your negative thoughts with positive ones.

Meditation

Through meditation you can learn how to calm yourself during anxiety attacks. You will be better equipped to take control of your life and your feelings and train your mind not to dwell on your fears. Meditation can also help you live in the present, which reduces the impact of childhood trauma.

Additional Self-Help Tips

  • Share your feeling with your family and friends
  • Recognize your feelings and thoughts
  • Partner up
  • Join group therapies
  • Practice breathing techniques and yoga

Professional Treatments

If you find self-help options aren’t effective, visit a doctor to get a personalized plan on how to manage your phobia. Some of the professional treatments for heliophobia include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy has been proven effective for phobias time and time again. You are exposed to your fears in a controlled environment until you become accustomed to them.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

An eight-week, evidence-based mindfulness program, MBSR helps people who suffer from anxiety, stress, depression, or other mental ailments. The purpose of this course is to provide systematic training in mindfulness. It also helps you develop the ability to cultivate a compassionate, conscious attitude towards your thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and impulses.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy utilizes techniques similar to exposure therapy to help you understand your emotions, behaviors, and thoughts more fully. Your therapist will give you several exercises to help you cope with your phobia and reduce anxiety.

Learning to Cope with Heliophobia

The techniques mentioned above have been proven beneficial for many, but they may not work for you or completely eradicate your phobia. They will, however, definitely help you understand your thoughts and feelings better. This will eventually help you deal with your fear.

An uncommon phobia such as heliophobia can affect your life in various ways. It may make you doubt your own feelings and thoughts. But this phobia can be managed. With proper treatment, you’ll be able to hang out with friends in broad daylight and maybe even go to a beach on a sunny day.

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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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