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fear of fecal matter
Body Phobias

Scatophobia – The Fear of Fecal Matter or Feces

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Scatophobia Is Known as the Extreme Fear of Fecal Matter

When the “fecal matter hits the fan!” Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with the urge to go number 2, but are too scared to go to the bathroom?

Does even the thought of feces scare you? If your answer to this question is a resounding yes, then you are most likely suffering from a fear of poop phobia. Scatophobia, or coprophobia, is known as the fear of fecal matter or feces.

Scatophobia is a ‘disgust’ phobia and manifests through feelings of deep shame, disgust, and anxiety in the minds of those who suffer from it.

Scatophobia: A phobia of fear or disgust?

Scatophobia is considered to be a specific phobia that comes under the classification of anxiety disorders in the DSM-V. If you are someone who suffers from scatophobia, it’s not uncommon to experience excessive sweating, fear, and unexplained body aches.

Since scatophobia is considered an irrational fear, those suffering from it tend to withdraw and avoid social contact fearing ridicule. However, like other phobias, scatophobia is curable. There are several ways to overcome it, but you must acknowledge it first.

fear of fecal matter

Everything You Need to Know about Scatophobia

Scatophobia is known as the fear of poop or fecal matter. The word scatophobia derives from the Greek words scato which means “feces” and phobia, which means “fear.” Scatophobia is also known by other names such as coprophobia or koprophobia. Someone suffering from scatophobia may constantly suffer the stress of anxiety from merely thinking about feces. As if that’s not enough, some may even suffer panic attacks due to the intense fear of poop.

Simply put, scatophobia leads to extreme discomfort for some just by thinking about feces. Is scatophobia a form of OCD? Those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may perceive the world as being free of waste and contamination. Since poop is a form of waste, those with scatophobia may be obsessed with keeping themselves and their surroundings clean and removing feces from their bodies completely. Because of this, scatophobia can be considered as the fear of feces OCD.

Characteristics of Scatophobia

Let’s take a look at some of the key characteristics of scatophobia:

  • Uncontrollable and excruciating fear of fecal matter
  • Based on irrational thoughts, leading to distorted and extreme thoughts about the harm that can be caused when in contact with feces
  • Persistent fear that doesn’t appear at specific moments; scatophobia symptoms can appear anytime and don’t disappear until certain interventions are performed
  • Those with scatophobia will avoid contact with fecal matter at all costs; they will not even want to look at their own poop and may want to run away as soon as they can

Scatophobia Causes

It has not been possible yet to identify any single cause of scatophobia. Scatophobia, like many other phobias, can develop as a result of genetic and/or environmental factors. If you have a family disposition towards anxiety disorders or certain phobias, you are at a higher risk of developing phobias such as scatophobia. Additonally, you’re at higher risk of developing scatophobia if there were unpleasant experiences related to feces that may have taken place in your past.

For instance, you may have used a washroom or a public restroom that was unclean and had feces all over it. Or, you might have accidentally stepped on poop, saw someone poop, or had poop thrown at you which, in turn, led to ridicule and mockery by others. These incidents then triggered unpleasant feelings related to fecal matter leading to scatophobia.

Scatophobia Symptoms

Let’s take a look at the specific mental, emotional, and physical symptoms of scatophobia.

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Helplessness
  • Feeling dejected and hopeless
  • Mood swings
  • Overthinking and obsessing over poop
  • Compulsive behavior
  • Guilt and self-loathing
  • Anxiety and fear
  • Anger and aggressive behavior
  • Irritability

Physical Symptoms

  • Shortness of breath
  • Choking sensation
  • Hot and cold flashes
  • Excessive sweating
  • Trembling
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Pain in the chest
  • Dry mouth
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Confusion and dizziness

How Can I Get Over My Fear of Poop?

Someone suffering from scatophobia might feel there is no cure for their fear and that they may have to live with it forever. However, this is far from true. Scatophobia treatment is available in various forms, including self-help and professional help. Let’s look at each of these in detail.

What Can I Do to Help Myself with Scatophobia?

If you don’t want to seek professional help or believe that you can overcome scatophobia on your own, then there are various self-help techniques to choose from.

Meditation

There are various forms of meditation that can help you overcome scatophobia. Specifically, mindfulness meditation is known to be effective when it comes to treating phobias. Under mindfulness, individuals learn how to distract themselves from intrusive and disturbing thoughts related to scatophobia and divert them towards positivity. Moreover, mindfulness meditation helps you connect with yourself, your breathing, the movements of the muscles in your abdomen and chest, and the sounds around you.

Reducing Caffeine Consumption

Caffeine is a chemical compound commonly found in tea, coffee, and dark chocolate. It’s a well-known fact that consuming high amounts of caffeine can increase anxiety and the probability of panic attacks. While completely removing caffeine from your diet may not be necessary, reducing its intake will definitely prove to be beneficial. Doing so won’t cure anxiety attacks, but it will help reduce unnecessary issues related to consuming high amounts of caffeine. You might also observe a reduction in the intensity of other symptoms related to scatophobia once you reduce or eliminate caffeine.

Professional Help for Scatophobia

If self-help techniques aren’t effective, seeking professional help might be the best option. Therapists apply various techniques to help you overcome your phobia. These may include mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Let’s take a look at each of them.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Mindfullness-based stress reduction therapy is an eight-week evidence-based program that offers intensive mindfulness training to help people overcome various phobias, anxiety, depression, stress, and other mental disorders. Under MBSR, those suffering from scatophobia will be taught skills that can help them cope with their fears and reduce the intensity of their symptoms.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of psycho-social intervention often used in the treatment of anxiety disorders and OCD. In CBT, you learn how to identify and change your negative thought patterns, and come up with ways to replace them with positive thoughts. At times, therapists might also prescribe antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications to patients who are unresponsive to therapy. However, they should only be taken upon a doctor’s prescription and not consumed on one’s own will.

How to Avoid Scatophobia Altogether

If you want to avoid dealing with scatophobia altogether, try and avoid places where there are high chances of coming in contact with fecal matter. Such places include public restrooms and animal shelters. However, unlike many phobias, it’s difficult to avoid dealing with scatophobia. All creatures—including human beings—poop daily. We can’t avoid looking at or coming in contact with feces. This can be a difficult situation, especially if there are young children or pets in your living space. In these cases, it’s best to seek professional help or find self-help techniques to help overcome your fear of poop.

Summary

Scatophobia is completely treatable. If you have scatophobia, don’t worry. Find the right treatment and guidance. Very soon you’ll defeat your fears, helping you lead a normal and healthy life.

SOURCES:

https://optimistminds.com/scatophobia/
https://www.lifepersona.com/coprophobia-symptoms-causes-and-treatment

 

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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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