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Situational Phobias

Kleptophobia – Fear of Stealing

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Kleptophobia Is the Irrational Fear of Stealing

Kleptophobia, the fear of stealing, can cause intense anxiety in those who suffer from it. If you have a fear of stealing, you might feel anxious in any situation where stealing might be involved. The thought of taking something unlawfully—even by accident—can bring on a host of physiological and psychological symptoms.

If you have a phobia of theft, you may go to extreme lengths to avoid anything that could be construed as stealing. You might even refuse to pick up a penny off the ground because you’re afraid it might be considered stealing, even though it’s not.

As a kleptophobic, you’ll avoid places and situations that might trigger the fear. This extreme avoidance may give you temporary relief from your anxiety, but it may also reinforce your fear in the long run. In fact, you might find yourself avoiding more and more things because you’re afraid they’ll trigger your phobia. But let’s be clear: avoidance itself is stealing your chance to live a normal life.

Are you living with kleptophobia? Maybe it’s time you faced your fear. Yes, this can be difficult, as it may mean denying yourself control in certain situations. However, by making the effort, you may still be able to overcome this fear. Read on to learn more.

Symptoms of Kleptophobia

With kleptophobia, even the thought of taking something unlawfully may bring on symptoms and in some cases lead to panic attacks. During a panic attack, individuals with kleptophobia can experience an increased heart rate, rapid breathing, increased blood pressure, muscle tension, trembling, and excessive sweating, among other symptoms.

Common Psychological Symptoms Include:

  • Feeling anxious when thoughts of theft arise
  • Anxiety or panic when hearing about theft
  • Consistently avoiding situations where stealing or thoughts of stealing could occur
  • Difficulty coping with the intense fear and anxiety caused by the phobia

Common Physical Symptoms Include:

  • Muscle tension and cramping
  • Shaking
  • Sweating
  • In severe cases, panic attack

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms and if they’re causing distress in your life, try self-help methods or seek help from a mental health professional. Licensed professional can work with you to develop coping strategies and techniques to manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Potential Causes of Kleptophobia

The origins of kleptophobia are unknown, but it’s likely that both genetics and environmental factors contribute to its development. If you have a family history of mental illness, especially anxiety disorders or specific phobias, you’re more likely to develop kleptophobia. This could be due to your genetic makeup. Environmental factors may also contribute to the development of this condition, such as experiencing a traumatic event associated with the fear.

It is important to note that the exact causes of kleptophobia are unknown, but it’s generally accepted that both genetic and environmental factors play an important role in the development of any mental disorder. Therefore, it can be helpful to consider both factors when understanding your risk of kleptophobia.

Some Possible Treatments

Professional Treatment Options for Kleptophobia

If you’re experiencing severe anxiety or panic attacks related to kleptophobia, it’s important to seek help from a mental health professional.  A licensed professional can help you learn coping strategies and techniques to manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one commonly used treatment for anxiety disorders, including kleptophobia. This type of therapy helps people understand the thoughts and behaviors that cause their anxiety and teaches them skills to change those thoughts and behaviors to reduce anxiety.

Exposure therapy is another possible treatment method. Exposure therapy for kleptophobia involves gradually exposing the client to the fear in a controlled and safe environment. This may involve the individual holding onto small objects such as coins or pens and gradually increasing the object’s value over time. The therapist may also encourage the client to imagine theft or a situation where theft is possible. It’s important that a therapist gradually increase the level of the client’s exposure to the fear in order to effectively help overcome it.

Psychiatric medications, such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications, may also be helpful in managing kleptophobia. These medications can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, such as panic attacks, and make it easier to participate in therapy and other treatment activities. It’s important to consult your doctor before starting any medication, as they can have side effects and may not be suitable for everyone.

It is important to note that there are no specific treatments for kleptophobia, and the most effective treatment plan depends on the specific needs and circumstances of the individual. It may be helpful to work with a mental health professional to determine the best treatment for you.

Self-Help Options for Kleptophobia

  • Exercise and yoga
  • Meditation
  • Limit drugs, alcohol and caffeine

Kleptophobia is a rare condition and not many resources are available. Using self-help methods in conjunction with professional therapy, such as with a psychologist, can be helpful in finding ways to manage and treat the condition.

In Conclusion

Do you think you may have trouble with this powerful fear of stealing? Rest assured, treatment options are available to help you overcome kleptophobia. Call your doctor or mental health clinic and see what they have to offer. And hey, health insurance may even cover the cost. Take the first step today and seek help.

 

 

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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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