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Body Phobias

The Fear of Feet – Podophobia

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Let’s Discuss The Foot Phobia, or Podophobia

Do you look at your feet and feel intense panic?

Do you have a fear of feet touching you? Do you avoid your significant other’s feet while sleeping in the same bed?

Does the thought of a pedicure cause you to become dizzy or sick to your stomach?

If you have a hatred of feet, a fear of being barefoot, or want to keep your feet covered at all times, you may be one of the 1 in 1,000 people in the United States that have The Foot Phobia.

It may be hard to believe that this is a real fear, however, it is a phobia that causes many of the same symptoms as any other phobia. Of course, this fear is irrational—everyone has feet, right? However, those that suffer from podophobia can even have a hard time taking a shower unless they keep socks on their feet.

Some solutions can help you if you feel you have a fear of feet. The first step is to accept you have this phobia and then learn when and where this fear began. From there you can seek professional help if needed.

What Is the Fear of Feet?

Fear of feet is a phobia in which a person cannot stand looking at any feet including their own. This phobia causes the person to wear socks the majority of the time, even in bed or in the shower. Due to the constant wearing of socks, fungal infections can occur without the person realizing it.

Fear of feet comes from the Greek work podos, for “feet” and phobia for “fear.” Podophobia is different for each person. Some cannot even talk about feet or see someone wearing sandals. If you have podophobia you may have a fear of people touching your feet or a fear of feet being uncovered.

What Causes Podophobia?

The cause of podophobia is unknown, however, experts have their ideas.

Some believe that it could be caused by a traumatic event in a person’s past that had to do with feet. An example would be an older brother or sister that would kick you, which caused you to hate or fear feet. Some individuals suffering from The Foot Phobia may become angry or scared when seeing someone’s bare feet.

A few physicians believe that the fear may be genetic, meaning that it was inherited since you may not remember any reason in your past that would cause you to be afraid of feet.

Ailments such as hammertoe or bunions may be the cause of fear of feet in some as their feet may hurt due to an illness. If your feet hurt, you will have a tendency to protect them, which can lead to having a fear of not having your feet covered at all times. In some cases, even the mention of feet can cause you to remember the anguish you had which can cause you to have symptoms of podophobia.

Symptoms of Podophobia

As with all phobias, you may experience mental or physical symptoms even though you know that feet are not dangerous. You may feel completely powerless to stop the symptoms.

The physical symptoms of fear of feet include:

  • Shortness of breath when you see or think about feet
  • Fast heartbeat at the sight or thought of feet
  • Sweating
  • Shaking
  • Trembling
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness
  • Fainting
  • Always covering your feet
  • Asking others to cover their feet
  • Will not talk about anything related to feet, such as shoes
  • Withdraw from family and friends

Psychological symptoms of the fear of feet:

  • Extreme fear
  • Anxiety
  • Link feet with death
  • Link feet with dying
  • Seeing feet in dreams
  • Panic attacks

Treatments for Podophobia

Self-help: What can I do to help myself with Podophobia

It may be difficult to help yourself with fear of feet until you realize you have the problem. In most cases, a person with podophobia believes they have an illness that is causing the problem. Or they believe they are fine, they just don’t like feet or have a hatred for feet.

In the majority of cases, once the problem has been discovered, it is best to seek professional help if the issue is severe. If you are having problems performing daily tasks and social activities due to fear of feet, then therapy will do wonders.

Professional help options

Counseling has proven successful for individuals suffering from podophobia. The most effective treatment has been cognitive behavioral therapy. The main tool used is a gradual exposure to feet in a safe environment.

The therapy will help you understand that the fear of feet is irrational, which will aid in slowly overcoming the fear. In most cases, therapy begins with viewing photos of feet. The process will progress slowly, so you will feel at ease. As you progress, you may even arrange to receive a pedicure.

The entire process of combating pobophobia will be in a controlled and safe environment, so you can train yourself to see and think about feet without any fear.

In other cases, the therapist may wish to learn the cause of your fear which is known as hypnotherapy. Learning what caused the fear and how or why the fear has progressed can aid in finding the best therapy options for you. With hypnotherapy, you will have to go through your memories in a safe environment until you discover when the fear began, which will aid in helping you face your fear.

Medications Used for Fear of Feet

Most individuals with podophobia do not need medications prescribed. However, for those that are having several intense panic attacks or are anxious all the time, some medicines can help with symptoms.

The medications often prescribed are anti-anxiety or antidepressants which will help you overcome the intense feelings, so therapy will work better. Stabilizing the symptoms often aids in giving you a calm feeling as you go back through your memories to discover, and then overcome, the fear.

Simple Tips for Managing Podophobia

There may not be a way to avoid your feet or seeing feet, but there are a few things you can do to overcome the fear.

If you are trying this alone without therapy, you will need to remember that your feet are important. Then pay attention to what triggers the fear. Once you know the triggers such as watching someone kick a ball or just the sight of a foot, you may learn what to avoid.

Triggers are the most important part of any phobia. Once you learn what triggers the fear besides just the sight of feet, you can adjust your life to avoid the feelings that bring on the panic.

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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