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Animal Phobias

Phobia of Goats – Capraphobia

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Does Capraphobia Get Your Goat?

Do you feel threatened by a goat’s stare? Does watching the National Geographic channel become a nightmare when the show is about goats?

Do you start trembling and sweating when you see goats crossing a road or highway?

You don’t have to be embarrassed if your answer to these questions is yes. You may have a rare phobia called capraphobia. But don’t worry, you are not alone.

You may feel uncomfortable and ashamed to discuss this fear of goats with your friends and family. Nevertheless, it is no different than other phobias.

The first step in getting rid of the fear is to acknowledge it. Next, try self-help methods like relaxation, exposure therapy, and lifestyle changes. If things don’t improve, seek the help of a therapist to get your life back on track.

So, if you feel you have capraphobia but aren’t entirely sure, read on to learn about the causes, symptoms, and treatments.

Capraphobia Causes

Most phobias stem from common causes like past trauma or observing someone else with a similar phobia during your childhood. Long-term stress and genetic factors can also play a role.

You might have had bad experiences with goats in the past, or you might have visited a farm and seen a goat injure someone.

These instances could have played a vital role in the development of your phobia.

You have probably seen a list of the most common phobias, but capraphobia might not have been part of it. Nonetheless, it is a real phobia.

Let’s learn more about capraphobia.

Capraphobia Explained

Capraphobia may be a subcategory of zoophobia (fear of animals).

In the case of zoophobia, a person fears many or all types of animals.

But if you have capraphobia, you will avoid going to places where you may come face-to-face with goats, such as pet farms and farmhouses.

This “goats fear” won’t affect your day-to-day life like other phobias, but you may sometimes wish you didn’t have it.

Now, let’s take a look at the symptoms.

Capraphobia Symptoms

There are no specific symptoms to diagnose a person with capraphobia. However, some common physical and psychological symptoms may help determine if you have a phobia of goats.

Physical Symptoms

  • Difficulty breathing when you see a goat
  • Nausea
  • Increased heart rate (heart palpitation)
  • Choking sensation
  • Dizziness
  • Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
  • Chest pain

If your child has this fear, they may show the following symptoms:

  • Seeing a goat will make them cling to you
  • They will start throwing tantrums when they see a goat
  • They may begin to cry uncontrollably
  • They may freeze on the spot when they see a goat

If you see these signs, treat your child early so this doesn’t develop into a full-blown phobia.

Psychological Symptoms

  • Inability to tell what’s real and what’s not (dissociation)
  • Stress
  • Your body feels out of control
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Constantly thinking about goats

If you notice that your symptoms are severe and triggering anxiety and panic attacks, it is likely that your phobia has progressed.

How Is Capraphobia Diagnosed?

Typically, people with a phobia of goats fear situations that could trigger their phobia. They tend to avoid those situations. At first, this may seem like a solution, but avoiding the source of your fear can worsen the phobia.

Based on how severe your symptoms are you can determine whether you have an advanced or an initial phobia.

If you’re in the initial stage, you can reduce the symptoms significantly with self-help techniques.

Capraphobia Treatment

Phobias are anxiety disorders, so no medicine or surgery can completely remove the phobia. However, many self-help techniques have been effective in reducing the symptoms.

Self-Help Techniques

Relaxation
Relaxation lowers our blood pressure and relieves tension by slowing down our heart rate. This helps you have a clearer and calmer mind.

Learn more about progressive muscle relaxation techniques and practice deep breathing exercises for starters.

Regular practice will alleviate your fear while helping you develop positive thinking, improve concentration, and sharpen your decision-making skills.

Gradual Exposure
Typically, you need professional supervision for exposure therapy. But if you have only mild symptoms, you might start gradually on your own.

Begin by exposing yourself to the object of your fear—a picture of a goat, for a start.

Later, move on to facing the actual object of your fear—the goat itself.

Have someone you trust beside you, like a family member or a friend. Don’t approach the goat right away; take your time.

Initially, observe it from a distance. If possible, leash the goat or ask your friend to hold it for the time being.

Slowly work your way to getting close to the goat and touching it.

Phobias develop over the years and may take years to overcome, so take it slow.

With each step, you will gain confidence.

Modify Your Thoughts
You may have only focused on the negative aspects of the situation so far. Your mind may even exaggerate the fearful thoughts. Remind yourself that goats are not as scary as you perceive them to be.

If you see a goat, believe that you can walk past it. You may fail the first time, but with time, you will notice how your anxiety has reduced significantly.

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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