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Rare Phobias

Melanophobia – Fear of the Color Black/Dark Colors

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Melanophobia: Rare but Real

Do you find yourself consciously avoiding people who are dressed in black? Have you ever been freaked out by someone wearing black eyeshadow? Does the color black remind you of death, mourning, or other depressing feelings?

If so, you are probably experiencing melanophobia, a phobia of the color black.

Melanophobia is a tricky phobia to manage. After all, how long can you avoid such a common color? This fear can significantly limit someone’s life.

Like any other phobia, however, there are ways to cope with melanophobia. Here’s everything you need to know about the fear of the color black and how to treat it.

 

What Does Melanophobia Mean?

If you go through a common list of phobias, you’ll find a surprising number of phobias that concern seemingly common and natural things. One of these is melanophobia.

Now, you may wonder, is melanophobia a real thing? Unfortunately, it is.

Melanophobia is the fear of the color black. A person with this melano color phobia will find themselves avoiding anything colored black. This can be difficult as it’s such a common color and often a significant part of special events.

For example, in the Western world, the color black is associated with mourning and death. This makes it difficult for someone suffering from melanophobia to attend funerals.

People who are obsessed with cleaning may also develop this fear as they will associate the color black with dirt and dust.

A person suffering from melanophobia may also develop nyctophobia, a fear of the dark. They may tend to avoid going out at night or sleeping in a dark room.

 

Melanophobia Causes

Like all other phobias, knowing the exact cause of melanophobia is not possible. However, there are several factors that may contribute to the development of this phobia.

Genetics

A person may be predisposed to developing phobias. If, for example, there is a family history of phobias or someone in the family has an anxiety disorder, the chances of someone developing melanophobia increase.

Environmental and Cultural Factors

The environment a person is raised in can significantly impact their mental health. If a person has been subjected to emotional trauma or has been taught to associate the color black with negative emotions, there is a greater likelihood of them developing melanophobia.

Many cultures also associate the color black with death and mourning. And if someone faces the loss of a loved one, they may associate their loss with the color black, which can then result in a phobia.

Past Experiences

Often, children see or listen to horror stories that are often portrayed in the dark or have a lot of dark colors associated with them. They may even have been traumatized by someone trying to scare them using the color black. Such experiences can lead to connecting the color with a fear response, which may develop into a phobia.

 

Melanophobia Symptoms

Depending upon the severity of the phobia, a person may experience multiple or all of the symptoms listed below.

Physical Symptoms

  • Sweating
  • Nausea
  • Irregular heartbeat
  • Perspiration
  • Dry mouth
  • Headache
  • Diarrhea or abdominal pain
  • Insomnia
  • Trembling
  • Inability to articulate words or sentences
  • Muscle tension

Physiological Symptoms

  • Anxiety when seeing or thinking about the color black
  • Feeling disconnected
  • Feeling the presence of someone
  • Afraid to go out at night
  • Hallucinations

 

Melanophobia Treatment

There is no specific treatment for melanophobia. Typically, the treatments used to treat other phobias are also applicable to this phobia. And often a combination of two or more treatments is used for treating the phobia of the color black.

 

 

Self-Help

People with melanophobia realize that their fear is irrational and they can work around that to overcome their phobia. The first step to self-help is recognizing and accepting their fear of the color black. They need to understand that the color poses no risk on its own and that their fear stems from whatever they are associating with the color.

It’s also important to share your fears and thoughts with close friends or family members whom you trust and try to build one’s confidence.

Yoga and Exercise

Yoga and exercise in general are known to show positive effects on people suffering from anxiety disorders like phobias. Exercise releases endorphins and can help you cope with stressful situations. Yoga helps one achieve a meditative state, which helps relieve anxiety and redirects your attention to more rational and healthy thoughts.

Therapies

Therapies are widely used to treat specific phobias like melanophobia. If a person is not able to overcome their fear with self-help, it is advisable that they seek professional help.

The therapist will access the severity of the phobia and create a treatment plan with the necessary therapies and medication if necessary. Some of the therapies the doctor may consider to treat melanophobia are:

Exposure Therapy

In this therapy, the patient is gradually exposed to the object of their fear in the presence of a professional and in a controlled environment. A patient with melanophobia will first be exposed to objects with small patches of black and gradually move on to holding completely black objects until they have no severe negative reaction to them.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT works on the principle that our thoughts and beliefs influence our behavior. Through this therapy, the patient is guided to replace their negative and irrational perceptions related to the color black with more positive and rational thoughts.

Medication

A doctor will only prescribe medication if the melanophobia is severe and if no other therapy has worked. The medication will be stopped once the patient starts responding to therapies. The medications help relieve the symptoms of the phobia such as panic attacks and anxiety. Generally, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressants are prescribed for patients with melanophobia.

 

Learning to Cope with Melanophobia

In a world full of colors, living with melanophobia can become restrictive. It may drastically affect a person’s life and disrupt their daily activities. It is important for those struggling with melanophobia to acknowledge their fear and seek necessary treatments.

Self-help has shown very positive results in dealing with anxiety. Coupled with other therapies, melanophobia can be treated.

 

In Conclusion

Melanophobia, the fear of the color black, can affect the normal functioning of an individual. And although it may not seem serious, it can have a lasting, negative impact on the person. With regular treatment, however, the phobia can be easily managed.

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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