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Rare Phobias

Quadraphobia – Fear of the Number Four

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One, Two, Three . . . Don’t Be Afraid of Four

Quadraphobia: A Rare Phobia

Do you feel anxious whenever you come across the number four? Do you find yourself avoiding words, activities, and places involving the number four?

Has the number four become an obstacle to your work, relationships, and everyday life? Does fear that you may encounter it cause your heart to race or trigger panic attacks?

If so, you might have quadrophobia, a fear of the number four. Quadrophobia is a real mental health issue, and it can cause serious distress and disruption in your life.

Fortunately, there are ways to cope with quadrophobia and take control of your life. You can learn to manage your fear and live a happy, healthy life with the right combination of self-help and professional treatment.

 

Meaning of Quadrophobia

The specific condition of people having anxiety attacks or a strong fear involving the number four is called quadrophobia. The fear may be specific to the number four, or it may be generalized to other numbers or arithmophobia as well.

As a result, people who suffer from this phobia may avoid places or things that have the number four in them, such as Fourth Avenue or the fourth floor of a building. They may also avoid anything that is quadrilateral in shape, such as a square.

Likewise, some quadrophobics may experience intense anxiety when they are placed in or around places where there are only four objects.

What Are the Probable Causes of Quadrophobia?

The causes of quadrophobia are unknown, but in general, it is considered to be rooted in deep-seated beliefs or personal experiences.

If there’s one number many people in Eastern cultures fear, it’s the number four, and for good reason. In particular, the Chinese culture’s number four is pronounced “si,” which sounds close to their word for “death.” This leads some people to equate the number four with not just death, but also misfortune and the devil.

The same could be said of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures, where the local term for the number four is also homophonous (pronounced similarly) to death. Consequently, a number of Asian countries avoid using the number four for products, telephone numbers, car license plates, hotel rooms, or even elevators.

This numerical fear, on the other hand, should not be dismissed as mere Asian superstition. The number thirteen has a similar negative meaning in Western culture.

Some other possible causes of quadrophobia could include:

  • A bad experience with the number four (e.g., being bullied by someone with the number four as their student number).
  • A belief that the number four is unlucky or represents death.
  • A fear of the unknown or of change (as the number four can represent new beginnings).
  • A dislike of the sound of the word ‘four’ or of the number four

What Are the Symptoms of Quadrophobia?

Quadrophobia may sound like an unrealistic fear, but it’s a real condition and its symptoms can be severe. So it’s important to take the symptoms of quadrophobia seriously and not mock individuals who suffer from them.

Psychological Symptoms

People with quadrophobia can’t help but feel apprehensive when they see or hear the number four. It seems to bring up bad memories and feelings of anxiety.

Some people even struggle to work or study near or around the number four because it feels too risky.

They may experience symptoms such as:

Physical Symptoms

Physically, quadrophobia triggers will cause the following, but the symptoms might vary:

  • Shivers
  • Feeling faint
  • Sweating a lot
  • Tightness in the chest
  • Vomiting
  • Breathing difficulties
  • Stomach discomfort
  • Uncontrollable trembling

How Is Quadrophobia Diagnosed?

Quadraphobia is usually diagnosed after a person has been tested for other anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Quadraphobia is more likely to be diagnosed if the person has a history of fear or anxiety about the number four.

Treatment of Quadrophobia

Quadraphobia can be a real problem and often limits people’s lives in ways they never imagined. But there is hope. Sufferers can learn to manage and overcome their fears.

Potential Professional Options

Talk therapy is a well known and effective treatment for quadrophobia.

More treatment for quadrophobia typically involves cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps individuals learn how to think differently about their fear and how to manage anxiety related to it.

Other techniques like exposure therapy and systematic desensitization may also be used to gradually reduce fear responses. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, mindfulness, and meditation may help reduce stress and anxiety.

Additionally, medications such as anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants may be prescribed depending on the severity of the symptoms.

 

 

Self-Help Methods

The best way to live with quadrophobia varies depending on the person’s individual circumstances and personality. However, some tips on how to live with quadrophobia include:

  1. Accepting that quadrophobia is a real and crippling fear. Don’t try to hide or deny it. Instead, learn about and understand it.
  2. Ensure that you have an adequate support system in place, whether that means close friends or family members who can understand and empathize with your concerns.
  3. Be honest with yourself about when and where you’re likely to feel most anxious. Plan ahead of time, and try to slowly expose yourself to places where you know you’ll be especially vulnerable.
  4. Stick to a routine as much as possible, so that you don’t feel trapped by the constant fear of panic attacks. Try to schedule regular dates with friends or other activities that you enjoy.

Remember, quadrophobia is a condition that can be managed, and there are ways to help reduce your anxiety. With the help of a supportive community, it’s possible to overcome your fears and live a normal life.

How to Avoid Altogether

Although you cannot avoid the phobia altogether, you can find ways to deal with it better and calm yourself when needed.

  1. Create a distraction. When you start to feel anxious, find a distraction such as listening to music, doing a crossword puzzle, or engaging in another activity that helps you relax.
  2. Create a support system. Find friends, family, or a support group that you can talk to about your fear. This can provide a safe space for you to express your feelings and gain insight from others who may have similar experiences.
  3. Challenge yourself. Take small steps to challenge your fear of the number four. For example, look at clocks that have a four in their time, count out loud to four, or even stand near a number four.

Parting Thoughts

Quadrophobia can be a difficult condition to manage, but it’s important to remember that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. With the right help, you can take the fear out of the four corners of your life and learn to live to the fullest!

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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