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

Tyrannophobia – Fear of Tyrants

Share This Article
Share Post

Tyrants and Those Who Fear Them

Do you feel like something bad will happen to you if you interact with someone cruel or oppressive? Have you ever felt uncomfortable when watching movies or reading books that involve authoritative tyrants?

Do you worry that our leader or leaders will move towards or become tyrannical?

If the thought of being around someone tyrannical triggers your fight or flight response, then you may have what is known as tyrannophobia — a fear of tyrants.

It can be hard to explain why demands from authority figures, families, or partners put you in a defensive state. But this phobia may cause you to feel constantly on edge when you’re around someone you view as tyrannical.

However, you don’t have to lose hope. You can work to gradually overcome your fear of tyrannical figures. And a major part of dealing with tyrannophobia is understanding where this fear stems from and its symptoms, so you’ll be better equipped to overcome it.

What Is Tyrannophobia?

Like other phobias, tyrannophobia is a phobia based on irrational fears and thought patterns. But this fear of tyranny or dictatorship has some real and tangible basis. It can be an all-too-real fear depending on the socio-political environment a person is living in.

A tyrant is essentially someone who is cruel and oppressive and holds excessive power while disregarding the comfort, well-being, and rights of others. It’s natural to be wary of such a person, but when that turns into intense fear or disdain, it can become a problem.

Besides, given the current political and social unrest, it only makes sense if your natural caution about tyrannical figures has worsened to a point of becoming a phobia.

So, while understandable, tyrannophobia can still be stressful and difficult to live with.

And since tyrannophobia doesn’t land too high on the list of phobias, it can be a bit tricky to diagnose.

 

Tyrannophobia Causes

The causes of this fear can vary from genetic to environmental. More often than not, phobias are rooted in childhood experiences.

Did you have a strict teacher or a cruel parental figure who treated you badly if you didn’t adhere to their demands? Perhaps you had a tyrannical boss at your first job who left you feeling defeated. Your tyrannophobia may be rooted in any of these situations.

Meeting tyrannical people, undergoing traumatic experiences, or even just learning about tyranny throughout history can all lead to a development of fear of tyranny. It can create a deep-rooted distrust in authority figures, whereby you may feel threatened, anxious, panicked, or helpless, even when they are not a direct threat to you. When these feelings intensify to a point where you feel paralyzed by fear, it can be considered a phobia.

 

Symptoms of Tyrannophobia

The symptoms of tyrannophobia can vary from one person to another and generally include both psychological and physical symptoms.

Psychological Symptoms

  • Panic
  • Anxiety
  • Dread
  • Feeling helpless or not in control
  • Uncomfortable or defensive when asked to follow instructions
  • Nightmares
  • Intrusive thoughts connected to tyrants

Physical Symptoms

  • Shaking
  • Sweating
  • Trembling
  • Chills
  • Hot flashes
  • Racing pulse
  • Breathlessness

 

Self-Help Tyrannophobia Treatment

Self-help strategies can be very effective for managing tyrannophobia. They will not only help your anxiety resulting from the fear but also help you feel more in control of yourself and your reactions to situations.

Meditation, yoga, positive visualization, and deep breathing can all help regulate your nervous system, which can be beneficial in managing tyrannophobia. These relaxation techniques can help manage your stress and anxiety response by reducing muscular tension.

These methods also help reduce the psychological symptoms of tyrannophobia by alleviating stress. You will be more grounded and in control of your body and mind, allowing you to feel confident when facing a tyrannical figure.

Professional Help to Cope with Tyrannophobia

Self-help techniques can be effective, but they can only do so much if your tyrannophobia is severe. In such cases, you might have to consult a mental health professional to learn ways to better cope with tyrannophobia.

A mental health professional will typically help you develop healthy coping mechanisms that allow you to control and manage your phobia. This will reduce how severely you are impacted by a triggering situation and enable you to regulate yourself better. Therapists often use different strategies to improve your resilience, reduce your fear, and encourage you to alter your perception of tyrants.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common approach used to treat phobias. The therapist will guide you to identify and challenge the negative thought patterns and beliefs associated with tyrannical figures. It can help you realize that you are in control of a given situation and that an authoritative individual may not actually have any power over you.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy can be an effective option when performed under the guidance of an experienced professional. It involves gradually increased exposure to your fear triggers — in this case, a tyrant — until you develop resilience. This form of therapy will slowly increase your tolerance while your discomfort, fear, and anxiety surrounding a tyrant will reduce. Your phobia will eventually become more manageable as you are slowly exposed to it more.

You can also try mindfulness meditation or hypnotherapy to better cope with your tyrannophobia.

When coupled with self-help, professional therapy can go a long way in reducing the overall impact that tyrannophobia has on your life and your mental health.

 

Coping with Tyrannophobia

If your tyrannophobia fear becomes severe, it can impact your overall quality of life. Thus, it is always better to seek treatment as soon as possible to avoid letting it get out of hand.

You may not be able to completely avoid situations or individuals that trigger you, but you can minimize your exposure and reduce the risk of making your tyrannophobia too problematic.

This includes limiting exposure to social media or news that triggers your stress and anxiety, avoiding confrontations with authoritarian figures, and seeking supportive and positive relationships with encouraging individuals.

Self-care activities such as exercise, meditation, and getting restful sleep can also be helpful for managing stress. You can also try to set firmer boundaries and learn to say no to individuals that make you feel triggered.

 

Conclusion

Tyrannophobia can gravely impact your life. If you perceive your boss, professors, parents, or other authority figures as tyrants, it could cause problems in the workplace or while pursuing your education.

However, as is the case with all phobias, it is possible to manage and cope with tyrannophobia over time. With patience and care, you can overcome your fears and live a happy, fulfilling life!

 

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