Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
3K
3K
740
3K
Menu
Menu
static-img
Environmental Phobias

Technophobia – The Fear of Technology

Share This Article
Share Post

Technophobia – The Excessive Fear of General Technology

Do you suffer from the fear of technology or anything highly technical?

Does using a smartphone or complicated remote control make you panic?

Are you afraid that machines will take over the world? Do you refuse to adopt new tech and view it with suspicion?

If you answered yes, you may have technophobia. It’s common to be nervous about using unfamiliar technology. While it’s okay to be flustered, some people have more extreme reactions, such as panic attacks or severe anxiety. You don’t have to live with a constant dread of using new technology. There’s always a way to cope with a phobia. Find out how to overcome technophobia and why you have this condition.

What Is Technophobia?

You may ask yourself, why am I afraid of technology? Technophobia is the fear of advanced technology or complex gadgets. This fear of technology is more widespread than you’d think. Technophobia is common, since technology is constantly changing. Not everyone can learn new instructions and processes change differently, triggering this phobia. That’s not surprising, since using the latest gadgets and apps can be quite bewildering. This confusion can inspire fear. After all, there can be serious consequences when you don’t use technology properly.

Technophobes have abnormal anxiety about the effects of technology. The fear can be related to anything that seems to be scientifically advanced. You can see this depicted in movies, where Skynet or evil robots kill off humanity. Anything newfangled can cause a technophobic person to panic or worry. It can be robots, computers, AI, weapons, smartphones, cloud technology, mobile applications, coding, the internet, and so on. Some with technophobia are even afraid of losing face-to-face interaction with people due to the ensuing digital era. This lack of personal connection can be disturbing.

Is technophobia a mental illness? No, it is not officially recognized as a mental illness. Those with technophobia also do not experience disgust toward technology.

What Causes Technophobia?

If you’re curious about the origins of this phobia, we’ve listed them here for you.

Wariness of the Unknown

Technophobia comes from a person’s strong sense of stability and cultural norms. We are all hardwired to fear the unusual and unfamiliar. When anything new comes our way, this is our natural response. When a person likes being in control of a situation, a new gadget may challenge their norms and instill fear.

Doomsday Scenarios

Technophobia can also stem from the risk of misuse of the technology. You can see plenty of evidence of this in the news and historical accounts. From there, it’s not a stretch to think of technology as the reason behind apocalyptic scenarios. The fear can be triggered by anything. It can be that robots will lead to doomsday or that EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attacks will halt society. Some technophobes are certain that technology will be used to invade our privacy.

Self-Doubt

Technophobia also develops when we fear social exclusion for lacking the skills to adapt to new technologies. If you’re not competent in dealing with new gadgets, your self-esteem may take a hit. In a bid to preserve your dignity, you may become reluctant to use these devices.

Age

Age is said to be an indicator, although technophobia is not limited to any particular generation. While older people are afraid of not understanding tech, younger people are afraid of technology taking over their jobs. This has happened before. In the early 1800s, farmers and laborers protested the use of machinery. These Luddites were afraid that they would lose their jobs, which eventually came true during the Industrial Age.

What Are the Symptoms of Technophobia?

Now that you know the top technophobia causes, let’s look at the symptoms. The symptoms of technophobia vary in different people. The fear becomes a phobia when you take extreme measures to avoid situations where you come across technology or refuse to use it.

A technophobe may resort to:

  • Refusing to learn or update their knowledge of devices
  • Criticizing new technology
  • Rationalizing the aversion
  • Feeling overwhelmed when confronted with complex instructions

Here are other physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that indicate one may be a technophobe:

Physical Symptoms

  • Dizziness
  • Breathlessness
  • Heart palpitations
  • Sweating
  • Shaking
  • Tingling sensations or numbness

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Fear of losing control
  • Fuzzy thoughts
  • Withdrawal
  • Fear of being left out
  • Anger
  • Fear of change

Technophobes go to great lengths to avoid technology. They often depend on others to use technologically advanced devices.

Guide to Coping with Technophobia

So how do you treat technophobia? You can take professional guidance to treat technophobia, or you can start taking initiatives on a personal level. Let’s look at these options a little more in depth.

Self-Help Strategies for Technophobia

Many phobias can be managed on your own, as long as they’re not too far out of control. With a few simple changes or additions to your daily routine, you may see a dramatic reduction in your symptoms and reactions related to technophobia.

Acceptance

Technophobia treatment starts the day you acknowledge your phobia and stop rationalizing the resistance. If you accept that it is irrational and treatable, then you are already a few steps ahead. Getting to the root of your phobia will help you make positive life changes.

Physical Activity

Cardio workouts decrease your anxiety. The rush of feel-good chemicals while doing physical activity eases stress. Consider adding biking, jogging, or swimming to your daily routine.

Stress-Management Techniques

You can also learn to deal with anxiety by distracting your thoughts and focusing on something else. That’s what makes deep breathing, yoga, and meditation so effective. Take your time, you don’t necessarily have to keep up with the pace at which technology is moving. Don’t add on to the stress you’re already going through. Give yourself time to adapt to the technology.

Seeking Professional Help

If self-help techniques fail to make a difference, getting professional help is your next step. Your technophobia may have some deep-rooted issues that need resolving. Your therapist can help you identify these. During the process, you’ll gain perspective and understand yourself better. Therapists use certain techniques to reduce the anxiety associated with the object or situation of fear. They may use cognitive behavioral therapy or psychodynamic therapy to treat your technophobia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you to face your fear with rationality. It allows you to take time and let go of the negative feelings. With time, you learn not to respond to technology with aversion or fear.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic therapy allows you to explore your childhood issues and traumas that may have triggered your technophobia.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy exposes you to the object of fear little by little until you are desensitized.

Other therapies your licensed medical practictioner may use are:

  • Talk therapy
  • Dialectical behavior techniques (DBT)
  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction

These therapies have a lasting effect, but they do take time. It’s important to be patient when it comes to dealing with phobias.

How to Cope with Technophobia

Avoiding technology provides a temporary sense of relief. However, the phobia will only grow stronger the more you do this. This phobia can be so severe that it affects your career. After all, technology is now being used in most jobs. Getting that promotion or even staying employed may depend on your ability to learn new tech, fast. And if you live in a city, it’s impossible to avoid technology. From public transportation to shopping, you’re expected to handle these tools.

So what can you do? You don’t have to go through this unpleasantness all your life. Keep these in mind:

  • Tell yourself there is nothing wrong with technology
  • Use technology often. The more you use an item, the more comfortable you become with it
  • Make it your everyday task to use some form of technology

Your goal is not to become tech-savvy but to live with technology harmoniously.

Summing Up

New technology usually inspires excitement over technology. After all, tech promises easier, faster, and better ways of doing things. However, someone with technophobia will view new technology with suspicion. They are wary of the impact these advancements have on their way of life. With time and effort, technophobia can be overcome. You may not become an early adopter, but you should be comfortable with using new gadgets and apps. Don’t lose hope. Eventually, you can lead a normal life in the age of technology.

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.
0LikesShare Post

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.
This Pop-up Is Included in the Theme
Best Choice for Creatives
Purchase Now