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fear of decaying matter
Environmental Phobias

Seplophobia – The Fear of Decaying Matter

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The Fear of Decaying Matter Is Officially Called Seplophobia

Did you know glass bottles can last for a million years, while plastic bags and styrofoam cups can last forever? In contrast, it takes just five days to a month for kitchen scraps to decay completely. Does the thought of decaying matter such as this scare you?

Decay can be gross. Most people react with disgust and the gagging reflex upon seeing anything rotten. However, those with seplophobia have a more intense reaction: sheer terror.

Seplophobia may cause you to shake in panic when dealing with your fear of decaying matter. Are you asking yourself if it’s possible to master your fear of decaying matter? Read on to learn how to manage your thoughts and cope with this fear.

fear of decaying matter

What Is Seplophobia?

Seplophobia is the fear of decaying matter. It’s derived from the Greek sep, meaning “decay,” and phobos meaning “fear.” Seplophobia is also called septophobia. Seplophobia is a specific phobia, so it’s a fear directed at a certain object or situation. Seplophobia may limit your daily life and affect your mental health.

Do you hate touching soil because it may contain decaying matter? Do you tremble at the mere thought of anything rotten? Perhaps you have a garden, but you don’t add compost because of your decay phobia. Your extreme anxiety may even lead to panic attacks.

A Phobia of Fear or Disgust?

The symptoms mentioned above are all hallmarks of seplophobia. No wonder seplophobics take extreme measures to ensure they are nowhere near decaying matter. They may persistently worry about future events that involve decaying matter. This is called anticipatory anxiety. The sufferer also goes into flight-or-fight mode when encountering decaying matter.

When they think about the past, they may have intense feelings of anger, guilt, sadness, and hurt. Seplophobia may cause a person to fear decaying matter so much that they resort to avoidance behaviors. In severe cases, they don’t only avoid situations or objects with the decaying matter but also the thoughts about it.

Even when a person is not physically in contact with decaying matter, the brain can react the way it would in a fearful situation. This is because fear is a physical response to our patterns of thinking, the thoughts we attach to decaying matter.

If you have seplophobia, you may show the following behaviors:

  • Refusal to watch movies that show decaying matter
  • Avoiding gardens and farms
  • Do everything possible to avoid decaying matter

Every seplophobia sufferer is different. The images, videos, sounds, and words they associate with decaying matter are also different.

What Causes Seplophobia?

Seplophobia causes are the same as that of other specific phobias. At times, there may not be an apparent cause that generated the fear. But it’s largely one’s genetic predisposition to anxiety disorders and traumatic events that work in tandem to develop seplophobia.

Genetics

People who have a family history of anxiety disorders or specific phobias are more likely than others to develop phobias such as seplophobia. They have a genetic predisposition to it. However, this alone is rarely a reason for a full-blown phobia to develop. But if genetics is combined with a traumatic event, it can turn into a phobia quite easily.

Traumatic Events

Some people go through an emotionally charged event involving decaying matter. For example, kids can develop aversions towards decaying things because of the smell or texture. This is reinforced when a caregiver shouts “No! Don’t touch that!” when kids approach rotten food. Eventually, that aversion can develop into a phobia.

What Are the Symptoms of Seplophobia?

The severity of the symptoms of seplophobia depends on the underlying cause of the phobia, the individual, and the intensity of their fear. It can range from a mild uneasiness to panic attacks.

The closer you get to decaying matter, the more anxious you will get. Seplophobia symptoms are similar to that of other specific phobias.

Physical Symptoms

  • Dizziness
  • Shaking
  • Heart palpitations
  • Breathlessness
  • Chest pain
  • Sweating
  • Nausea
  • Stomach problems
  • Numbness or tingling
  • Hot or cold flashes
  • Feeling unsteady
  • Feeling of choking

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Obsessive thoughts
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Flashes of negative images of decaying matter
  • Fear of fainting
  • Fear of losing control
  • Withdrawal
  • Anger
  • Sadness
  • Guilt

Self-Help Guide to Treating Seplophobia

When seplophobia interferes with daily tasks, treating it is necessary. Don’t fret; there are several seplophobia treatment options out there. Some of them can be done on your own while others require professional help. Here are some popular self-help techniques to curb the anxiety related to seplophobia:

Meditate

Meditation brings you back to the present. Since your attention is on all of your senses, you can let go of any anxiety.

Practice Yoga

Yoga is essentially meditation but with movement. With yoga, one concentrates on breathing and lets go of unessential feelings. In the process, you let go of the stress and anxiety caused by seplophobia.

Physical Activity

Physical activity such as cardio workouts like jogging, swimming, and aerobics are recommended for those with phobias and anxiety. You come out smiling because your body releases happy hormones. These help counteract the negative emotions brought about by a phobia. Exercising regularly keeps you in a good mood and eases the stress related to seplophobia.

Journaling

Writing down what you are anxious about can significantly reduce your stress. Vent your stress on paper. Don’t forget to jot down the things you are grateful for. This will remind you of positive things and happy feelings.

Getting Professional Help for Seplophobia

If self-help techniques fail to make a difference and the condition seems severe, seek help from a professional. A professional therapist can help you discover the root of the issue, so you’ll be able to understand yourself better. Although there’s not one seplophobia treatment that guarantees an instant or complete cure, there are some techniques that work on most phobias.

Exposure therapy aims at desensitizing you to decaying matter bit by bit until you are no longer anxious around it. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to bring rationality to your thought processes. It tries to replace negative thoughts with positive ones.

Here are some other treatments methods for seplophobia:

  • Talking therapy
  • Dialectical behavior therapy
  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction
  • Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

Your psychologist will suggest a treatment option based on your specific condition.

How to Cope with Seplophobia

How long can a person avoid coming into contact with decaying matter? Avoidance is a quick fix, but does it do any good? No. Here’s why: When you rely on avoidance behaviors, your fear of decaying matter worsens with time. It then starts hurting you and limits your life. You are responsible for managing your emotions. To feel differently, you’ll have to consciously change what you think about and how you use your body.
Here are some tips that will help you cope:

  • Take a deep breath and relax. It may seem hard, but it changes a lot of things.
  • Prepare your body for stressful situations by doing meditation and yoga.
  • Gradually expose yourself to your fear.
  • Don’t rationalize your fear.
  • Keep positive thoughts handy. Imagine a happy place in stressful times.

Take your phobia seriously, but don’t allow it to take over your life.

Conclusion

Seplophobia, or any kind of phobia, can seem insurmountable. But with these tips and information, you can overcome your fear of decaying matter. Just don’t expect instant results, as all of these interventions take time. Eventually, you could be adding compost to your flower beds without cringing in fear.

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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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