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Other Phobias

Sparkalaphobia – The Fear of Glitter

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Fear of Glitter: A Real Phobia? Yes.

Do you avoid decorations for fear of coming across something glittery or shimmery? Have you ever skipped out on attending a birthday party to avoid seeing anything glittery? Does the thought of accidentally getting glitter on your body cause you to sweat and go into a panic attack?

You’re probably facing a fear of glitter, also known as sparkalaphobia.

Like any other phobia, sparkalaphobia can be difficult to talk about. You may be afraid of sounding silly or of being mocked. But it’s important to know that this fear of glitter, though irrational, is a real fear that can be managed.

If you, too, are looking for ways to deal with this irrational fear, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading as we decode the root cause of glitter phobia and help you find ways to overcome it.

What Can Cause the Fear of Glitter?

Sparkalaphobia causes can have multiple roots that can all influence whether a person develops this fear. Genetics and trauma are the two most common causes.

Genetics

If any of your family members were known to or have an anxiety disorder, you’re more likely to develop a phobia. But genetics alone don’t cause a phobia.

Traumatic Experiences

A traumatic experience surrounding the object of fear can also develop into a phobia.

In the case of sparkalaphobia, it may involve a situation where you were drenched in glitter and fell seriously ill shortly after. Or it may result from years of watching a close relative struggle with a phobia or severe anxiety.

Some Things You Need to Know about Sparkalaphobia

Sparkalaphobia is an irrational fear of glitter or shimmering, sparkly objects. A person with this fear may avoid coming in contact with glitter at all costs. That means avoiding parties and festive crowds, not looking at Christmas cards, or staying away from certain professions.

But how this fear manifests is not the same across the board.

Some glitter phobics will only fear loose glitter and not the closed glitter inside balloons or phone covers. Others, however, will be afraid of even the thought of glitter.

In extreme cases, a person who is scared of glitter may fear the presence of glitter even when they can’t see it. This isn’t uncommon considering how sneaky loose glitter can be when it’s out in the open.

Symptoms of Sparkalaphobia

Just like how a phobia’s intensity varies from one person to another, so can the symptoms of sparkalaphobia. Some people may only experience mild panic when around glitter or sparkly objects, whereas others will go into a full panic attack in a similar scenario.

In most cases, the symptoms will typically include some of the following:

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Intense fear or dread
  • The need to escape
  • Avoidance of glitter or situations that expose one to glitter
  • Fear of losing control
  • Sense of things being unreal
  • Sense of impending death or doom
  • Fear of dying

Physical Symptoms

  • Chest pain
  • Tingling sensation
  • Sweating
  • Trembling
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness
  • Dry mouth
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Shortness of breath
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Confusion
  • Hot flashes or chills

Treatments for Sparkalaphobia

Sparkalaphobia may impact a person’s life on a day-to-day basis or only rear its head during the festive seasons. Either way, if your fear of glitter is preventing you from living life to the fullest, there are many ways you can take back control.

Self-Help

Self-help is a helpful strategy that can work for a diverse list of phobias. It involves helping yourself deal with the symptoms of the phobia, so you can lead a better life. Self-help methods also work hand-in-hand with professional treatment.

Lifestyle changes, for example, can help reduce the severity of your symptoms and also improve your overall physical and mental health. These changes can include healthier meals, proper sleep, regular exercise, and more.

Some may also find relief from their symptoms by cutting down on negative lifestyle habits, such as heavy caffeine consumption.

Meditation, deep or rhythmic breathing, and yoga are also great ways that can influence your anxiety responses and help you cope with your anxiety and panic.

Professional Help

Seeking professional help is a huge step for someone experiencing a phobia. It requires one to first accept the severity of their condition and acknowledge the need for intervention.

Here are some treatment pathways you’ll likely undergo during your professional treatment:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a top recommendation for anyone suffering from a phobia. It involves working on the glitter phobic’s thinking patterns and changing problematic thoughts into more constructive and positive ones.

Exposure Therapy (Desensitization)

Exposure therapy is the next best treatment for sparkalaphobia. In this type of therapy, the patient is gradually exposed to the object of their fear in a controlled environment to lessen their fear responses and desensitize them. A therapist will help you learn healthy ways of coping while you’re exposed to your fear.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy

EMDR therapy is another popular form of treatment for PTSD and trauma responses. It uses eye movements or rhythmic tapping to influence the way your brain stores and analyzes painful memories.

EMDR works to desensitize you, so you can associate your traumatic memories with relaxation instead of stress or anxiety.

 

Learning to Cope with Sparkalaphobia

Overcoming your sparkalaphobia can be a long process. In the meantime, you want to learn strategies to help you cope with the object of your fear.

Talking to someone you trust is one of the best things you can do to help you in your journey of dealing with your fear. Confiding in a close friend or family member about your feelings can provide support and understanding.

You can also attend a self-help group where you can share your experiences with others facing similar issues. You may feel less lonely relating with others who are dealing with something similar. If you’re uncomfortable joining a public group, you can find similar support by writing your feelings down in a journal.

You may also want to consider learning more about your phobia by reading articles online or taking courses. Be cautious though; let someone else look up articles for you first so you don’t come across images that trigger your fear.

Let’s Conclude

Having a glitter fear can make an enjoyable life stressful and anxiety-ridden. And while overcoming fear is a challenge, it’s worth the reward of being able to have fun at a birthday party or New Year’s celebration.

And who knows, in time you may also feel comfortable walking into a party store or opening your holiday greetings cards yourself.

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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