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Environmental Phobias

Megalophobia – The Fear of Large Objects

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Decoding Megalophobia – The Fear of Large Objects

Have you ever been terrified when standing at the base of a large building? Does a rock that is exceptionally large freak you out, but you don’t understand why?

Do you find yourself faking sick from school on field trips days that involve visiting skyscrapers? If yes, then you may suffer from megalophobia.

Does even the thought of a large object break you into a sweat? You probably can’t even figure out how to explain this to someone without sounding like a fool.

It may not be easy to live with a fear like this, but don’t give up. Think positively and reassure yourself that you can get through this. The very first step is to understand why your fear exists in the first place.

What Causes the Fear of Large Objects?

In most phobias, the root cause is generally found to be a traumatic experience from your past. Megalophobia is no exception. Understanding where your phobia comes from will go a long way in overcoming it. Due to this one particular event in your past, you may feel anxious or suffer panic whenever you’re around large buildings or monuments. As a matter of fact, even the name of the phobia itself can shed some light on your fear. Megalophobia traces back to the Greek word megalos, which means big or great, and phobia, which means fear.

Something as historical and scenic as the Statue of Liberty may make you feel like running away from New York City altogether. But you can’t avoid the objects of your fear indefinitely. It’s important that you face the root cause rather than practice avoidance.

Almost every phobia article will tell you that phobias are nothing more than an irrational fear. And while that is true, that doesn’t help you feel better at all, does it? The fear may be irrational, but to you it feels very real. However, fear can only be classified as a phobia if it starts to hinder your everyday life. Your daily activities, such as going for a jog, going to work, or even something as simple as grocery shopping, could be hindered by that obnoxiously large building that they built downtown.

Symptoms of Megalophobia

Megalophobia, not unlike any other phobia, is a mental disorder. And hence, it can result in various symptoms. These symptoms can be both physical or psychological in nature. Listed below are some of the symptoms suffered by people who have megalophobia. Why don’t you see for yourself whether or not you relate?

Psychological Symptoms

One of the most common and most dreadful psychological symptoms you may feel is anxiety. Today, individuals tend to take anxiety very lightly, but if you are someone actively going through it, you know just how serious it is. You may start to experience panic attacks when you’re near a skyscraper or say perhaps, the Eiffel Tower. The panic builds up inside you making it very difficult to go about your day-to-day activities. In short, the psychological symptoms of megalophobia include panic and paranoia, excessive anxiety, and a deep feeling of dread near large objects.

Physical Symptoms

One of the most common physical symptoms seen in most phobic people is nausea. You may also feel a minor ache in your chest or feel your pulse rising. Among other physical symptoms, you may feel dizzy, lightheaded, and may even start to sweat profusely when you see or even think of anything large.

Once you start to recognize the symptoms, it may be time to accept that you need to do something about your phobia. It may be time to consider getting help.

Self-help: What Can I Do to Help Myself Tackle Megalophobia

Self-help usually isn’t as easy as it sounds. Helping yourself can sometimes be more difficult than helping others. But the first step to helping yourself solve an issue like this is to accept that there is an issue in the first place.

Somewhere deep down you know by now that panicking every single time you see something big isn’t normal. Still, you may have trouble accepting that there is something medically wrong that needs your attention.

Avoiding a problem and hoping it goes away isn’t self-help. You need to have the courage to face it and then conquer it. The human mind will believe what it hears repeatedly. Tell yourself it’s okay.

Reassure yourself that no matter how much it freaks you out, you can take the route to work that cuts through that massive skyscraper downtown. Allow yourself to believe that nothing will happen to you if you choose to drive on that huge bridge which will no doubt cut your commute time in half. Tell yourself you’ll be fine.

Expose yourself to those things that you fear. Slowly but surely, plan a trip to the closest monument, and then go visit it. If you allow yourself to have some confidence in yourself, you can conquer just about anything, including megalophobia.

Professional Help for Fear of Large Objects

Self-help techniques not working as well as you had hoped? It may be time to consider seeking out some professional help. Therapy would be advisable. A therapist can advise you on what treatment method would be best to help you conquer your fears. There may not be any definitive method to treat megalophobia, but there are options you could choose from.

Coping with Megalophobia

With the right treatment plan, you will see your fears and anxiety gradually begin to diminish.

Now, all of the above-mentioned methods can’t guarantee a full recovery from any phobia. But they will teach you how to cope with your fear.

Learning to control and overcome your megalophobia will go a long way in helping you lead a normal life. You’ll no longer be the awkward kid who got spooked by the Statue of Liberty. You can finally move on from such incidents that have held you captive in the past.

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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