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Hierophobia – The Fear of Holy Objects

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Decoding Hierophobia: Fear of Saints or Holy Objects

What most people believe to be atheism may not be true for everyone.

Have you ever come across someone who despises holy or sacred objects?

Perhaps they loathe the Bible and refuse to engage with someone who’s carrying one. Or they simply go berserk when they see a priest or other clergy member walk toward them.

This isn’t merely bad behavior or someone who believes in logic and science. Instead, it’s a type of phobia known as hierophobia or hagiophobia. Etymologically speaking, both hiero and hagios mean sacred or holy in Greek.

Everything You Need to Know about Hierophobia

Hierophobia is the irrational fear of saints or holy objects. It may seem absurd, since most of us look toward God or a higher power to manage and overcome our fears and insecurities.

So what specific things are we afraid of? This fear can be triggered by sacred objects such as the Holy Bible or a rosary. It even extends to religious clergy such as priests or the Pope, and finally, sacred places like a church or temple, and rituals performed at such holy places.

If you feel you may have hierophobia, chances are, when faced with anything sacred or religious, you may experience intense anxiety and discomfort. Your response to the fear stimulus can often come off as offensive to people around you and they may try to shame or guilt you for it. But don’t be disheartened—your feelings and anxiety around the issue are valid. Read on to learn the reasons behind those feelings and ways to combat them successfully.

Do I Have Hierophobia?

If you can’t bear being in the same room as a priest, or at a religious ritual, or near sacred items, you may have hierophobia.

This isn’t just a normal aversion, it’s a morbid fear that grips you and prevents you from dealing with circumstances involving the stimuli, particularly if your family and friends are religious.

Before we discuss ways to overcome it, let’s take a closer look at the causes of hierophobia.

What Causes Hierophobia?

The cause of hierophobia is generally unknown, but it is thought to stem from past events or genetic predisposition.

Trauma

If someone has a morbid fear of clergy such as a priest, they may have been physically assaulted in a sacred space or by a religious figure. What this means is that the issue isn’t the robe or church but that someone wearing those robes made this individual feel unsafe and violated. As a result, they may never recover from this experience without professional help.

Genetics

Another cause of hierophobia could be genetics. Research shows that having an older family member with phobia increases your risk for developing a phobia as well.

An increased risk occurs with twins too. According to studies, if a twin sibling has a specific phobia, the other twin has a 30 percent chance of developing phobia. So, if you know of a family member who suffers from a morbid fear of any specific stimulus—or even hierophobia—you may be experiencing it as well.

Environment & Upbringing

The environment and upbringing of a person can sometimes have a major impact on the development of phobias. Perhaps someone was raised in an environment hostile toward religious items and priests. As a result, they may acquire this particular phobia.

In some cases, one can acquire a phobia over time if they were overexposed or compelled by society to participate in violent rituals involving sacred items.

Symptoms of Hierophobia

Do you think you or someone you know suffers from hierophobia? Listed below are some of the possible symptoms for this fear. Keep in mind, hierophobia symptoms can appear in different ways for different people, both mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Physical Symptoms

  • Sweaty palms and feet
  • Hot or cold flashes
  • Muscle tension
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Nausea or diarrhea
  • Dizziness
  • Trembling
  • Dry mouth
  • Breathlessness

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Panic attacks
  • Anger, irritability, and mood swings around holy things
  • Social withdrawal
  • Obsessive and anxious thoughts about sacred items or clergy
  • Feeling detached around sacred holidays
  • Inability to sleep because of preoccupied thoughts
  • Avoiding all things considered holy

Treatment: How Do You Deal with Hierophobia?

It may be difficult to find dedicated treatment options for hierophobia as experts are still trying to understand the root cause of the condition. However, like any other type of phobia, there are effective treatment options that will soothe your anxiety and minimize triggers.

Self-Help Methods for Hierophobia

When dealing with phobia, one of the first places to start is with yourself. Self-help methods can have a positive impact on how you manage and cope with your fear.

Meditation and Yoga

Yoga helps in promoting physical and mental well-being. It helps with reducing stress levels and in managing anxiety and depression. It also helps improve sleep quality and is thought to be an excellent grounding exercise for the body and mind.

Similarly, meditation cuts out the mental chatter and roots you to the present moment. It is also a good tool to lean into parts of ourselves that are uncomfortable and hard to deal with. Start with meditating for about ten minutes a day and you can either focus on your breath or bodily sensations to give yourself something to work with.

Self-Help Groups and Social Therapy

Both online and offline, there are several self-help groups for people with phobias so they can begin to understand themselves better. It also allows them to share their experiences with others in a safe space without judgment or criticism.

Lifestyle Changes

How we lead our lives can have a huge impact on our mood, energy levels, and overall disposition. That’s why a few simple lifestyle changes can be helpful in learning to overcome phobia. For instance, sleeping less than seven hours a day can lead to irritability, anxiety, and sluggishness, so increasing our sleep time can make a huge difference.

Another lifestyle adjustment we can make is to adjust our diet to be sure we’re getting enough nutrients. Our immune system and mental health suffer as a result of bad dietary habits. Other habits to include would be cutting out (or minimizing) caffeine and alcohol intake.

Professional Help

While self-help may not be enough for everyone, visiting a medical expert to aid with hierophobia is always a good option.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Psychotherapists frequently recommend CBT to assist people to cope with phobias like hierophobia. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps those struggling with phobia to determine why they behave or react the way they do in response to their fear stimulus, in this case, clergy or sacred objects.

Exposure Therapy

This form of therapy is conducted under medical guidance by exposing the patient to the fear stimulus in small, safe increments.
With hierophobia, a therapist may simulate an environment similar to a church or temple to induce a reaction from the client. They will progressively be exposed to the stimulus in a controlled environment until the severity of the symptoms reduces and the client is fairly comfortable being in such places.

Conclusion

If you’re struggling with hierophobia, seek medical care. If your phobia affects you and keeps you from living a fulfilling life, it’s worth going to therapy and overcoming your fears in a safe space instead of choosing to run away from them. You don’t have to be a hostage to your fear.

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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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