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Other Phobias

Vestiphobia – Fear of Clothing

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Do Not Fear Clothing, Learn to Control this Phobia

Are loose clothes the only clothes you feel like you can breathe in? Does the thought of coming in contact with fabrics make you dread wearing any clothing? Do people give you strange looks when you explain this fear, or do they confuse it with exhibitionism?

If this sounds familiar, you may have vestiphobia, or a fear of clothing.

Living a normal life with a fear of clothing can be debilitating, especially when the only solution seems like self-isolation.

But not all hope is lost.

Overcoming your fear, no matter how severe, is possible with the right treatment plan. Acknowledging the fear and understanding what’s causing it is fundamental to overcoming or better managing your phobia.

 

What Is Vestiphobia?

The phobia of clothes, or vestiphobia, is a type of phobia classified under anxiety disorders in the DSM-V. Among all the phobias, vestiphobia is a rare one.

Someone suffering from vestiphobia develops an irrational fear of clothing. They avoid coming in contact with clothing and are often picky about their clothes or wear loose, oversized clothing.

However, not all cases of vestiphobia may manifest the same way.

Depending on the triggering event or stimuli, a person may fear only certain types of clothing or particular fabrics. In severe cases, the person may refuse to wear any clothing at all, resulting in them never leaving the house.

So, a fear of clothing, if left unchecked, may result in one isolating themselves.

In other cases, a person suffering from vestiphobia might also develop claustrophobia from wearing tight clothes.

Because of their fear of clothing, society often dismisses vestiphobes as nudists or exhibitionists, but those are two completely different things.

A vestiphobe is afraid of the itching or allergic reaction that clothing may cause, but exhibitionists and nudists simply do not wish to wear clothing.

 

What Causes Vesitophobia?

Vestiphobia causes, like most phobias and anxiety disorders, can include a variety of factors, both biological and environmental.

Biological factors or genetics suggest a link between a family history of mental illness and a high risk of developing anxiety disorders. So, having a family member with a mental illness or anxiety disorder puts you at a higher risk of developing vestiphobia.

On the other hand, environmental factors suggest a similar link between past experiences and phobia. Additionally, a person who watches a parent or relative struggle with vestiphobia might also develop it in the future.

The risk of developing phobias is also high for those who’ve had a traumatic experience in the past that involved fabric or clothing, such as a severe allergic reaction to a fabric.

Vestiphobia is also commonly seen in soldiers or people with a history of working in the military. With such individuals, the root cause may be a bad experience one has come to associate with certain items of clothing.

Another instance of a traumatic experience that leads to such fear is when a person grows up in an environment with strict and restrictive clothing rules.

 

Symptoms of Vestiphobia

The symptoms of vestiphobia and their severity can differ from person to person. But most people will experience at least three to five symptoms, which will last for at least six months or longer.

Physical Symptoms

  • Increased heart rate
  • Dry mouth
  • High blood pressure
  • Muscle tension
  • Trembling
  • Excessive sweating
  • Irregular breathing
  • Avoiding clothing

Psychological Symptoms

  • Anxiety when thinking about clothes
  • Anger, irritability, and mood swings
  • Guilt, shame, self-blame
  • Inability to cope with anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Feeling out of control
  • An intense sense of doom
  • Feeling trapped and unable to escape

 

Vestiphobia Treatments

Learning how to deal with vestiphobia is crucial if you don’t want the condition to worsen.

Phobias and anxiety disorders are treatable, but there’s no one solution that works for everyone. And that’s why professionals will often prescribe a treatment plan that includes one or more therapies.

However, to make therapy more effective, self-help solutions are also necessary.

Self-Help Strategies to Help Yourself

Self-help strategies may help reduce anxiety and panic responses while supporting the professional treatment plan.

Some accessible self-help practices you can incorporate into your routine are:

  • Muscle relaxation
  • Yoga
  • Massage
  • Exercising regularly
  • Deep breathing
  • Journaling
  • Getting enough sleep
  • Eating regular, healthy meals
  • Reducing caffeine and alcohol

These self-help strategies may help reduce the severity of your symptoms, allowing you to work through the treatment.

Activities such as getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and practicing yoga can all help to improve your lifestyle. They help balance nutrition while also ensuring healthy movement and rest.

Reducing stimulants may also help, as stimulants may increase feelings of anxiety.

 

Professional Help for the Fear of Clothing

Seeking professional help for vestiphobia treatment is the most effective strategy for dealing with the fear. This involves receiving support and guidance from a therapist who suggests and supervises treatments that help you manage the fear.

Here are two of the most popular therapies in these treatments:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a very common therapy used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. CBT works to desensitize individuals towards their triggers or the object of fear by changing the way they think and react to it.

It helps one address all the excessive worry and irrational thinking around the fear to develop a better mental attitude.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy works on treating phobias by gradually increasing a person’s exposure to the object of fear in a controlled environment.

Other popular therapies that your therapist may include are:

  • Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
  • Hypnotherapy

While most professionals avoid prescribing medications, it may be necessary in severe cases with debilitating symptoms.

 

Learning to Cope with Vestiphobia

Coping with a phobia of clothing may seem difficult considering how essential clothing is to our social life.

Finding a support system in family and friends is one of the best ways to cope as you move through your treatment. Support and self-help both encourage the person to look forward to healing and boost the effectiveness of the therapy.

The more you learn to cope, the less resistance you’ll face carrying out everyday tasks like dressing up for the day or touching fabrics around the house.

 

The Takeaway

Since you’ve decided to tackle your fear of clothing, you’ve overcome the biggest hurdle! Now all that’s left to do is push through therapy while relying on loved ones’ support. And in no time, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy most any piece of clothing while socializing with freedom.

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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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