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Environmental Phobias

Xylophobia – Fear of Wooded Areas

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Over the River and through the Scary Woods: Xylophobia

Do you avoid camping, hiking, and outdoor activities that take you into or near a wooded area?

Does the thought of stepping into the woods cause you to break a sweat and tremble?

You might be dealing with a fear of wooded areas called xylophobia. And while not a serious health or mental condition, xylophobia can rob you of the wonders of the outdoors.

Xylophobia is an irrational fear, which makes it hard for you to explain to your friends why the woods terrify you. The fear and general lack of support can together make you feel isolated and lonely.

Thankfully, xylophobia is treatable. Keep reading to learn how to overcome your fear of woods and more.

 

 

What Causes the Fear of Wooded Areas?

Do you repeatedly ask yourself, why am I scared of the woods at night? The answer may include a combination of factors.

Genetics

People with a family history of mental illness are at a higher risk of developing a phobia.

Traumatic Experience

A prank gone wrong or a traumatic experience involving a wooded area can also lead to a person developing xylophobia.

Learning

Sometimes, xylophobia causes can be environmental. For example, growing up with a parent or relative who has xylophobia or another anxiety condition increases your risk of developing a similar phobia.

Rational Fear of the Woods

Many people exhibit a rational fear of wooded areas. Some may fear becoming lost, some fear being attacked by a wild animal, some even fear being attacked by humans in a dark forest. However, these are rational fears, whereas xylophobia is an irrational fear.

 

Everything You Need to Know about Xylophobia

Also known as hylophobia, xylophobia is an irrational fear of wooded areas that can also transform into a fear of trees at night, wooden objects, wild animals, or forest sounds.

It can also be the other way around where a person develops xylophobia in response to another fear.

Unlike most other phobias, xylophobia is difficult to diagnose. Most people are unaware of their symptoms, because they live in cities and towns far from wooded areas. They may not encounter wooded areas in their daily lives.

If they do have a phobia, they may easily avoid visiting wooded areas and successfully sidestep the onset of symptoms for most of their lives.

For those who do live near a wooded area, avoidance isn’t an option. They may become aware of their feelings of fear sooner and suffer more severe symptoms. Living in constant fear of wooded areas can begin to impact their daily activities. This fear struggle may cause them to seek solutions for their phobia beyond avoidance.

 

Symptoms of Xylophobia

Xylophobia symptoms occur in response to the presence of triggers. These triggers most often include or are related to the subject of fear. In the case of xylophobia, a trigger can be the sound of a twig of wood snapping, a forest scene, or anything similar.

Below are some symptoms which may occur in response to a trigger.

Physical Symptoms

  • Chills
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sweating or trembling
  • Dry mouth
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Irregular heart rate
  • Tensing of the muscles
  • Body aches

Psychological Symptoms

  • Constantly avoiding wooded areas or objects
  • Irrational thoughts or overthinking
  • Anxiety and fear when thinking of wooded areas
  • Insomnia
  • Inability to cope with anxiety
  • Delusions
  • Memory lapse or fatigue
  • Panic attacks

According to the DSM-5, a person may have xylophobia when they exhibit one or more symptoms for at least six months.

 

Dealing with Xylophobia

Like most other phobias on the list of phobias, xylophobia is treatable. But no one treatment is specifically designed for the condition.

At present, the recommended xylophobia treatment involves a combination of self-help and professional therapy.

Self-Help Strategies

For a person suffering from severe anxiety, seeking professional help can prove challenging. That’s where self-help is beneficial.

Self-help strategies, such as those mentioned below, can help one deal with and reduce anxiety outside of professional therapy.

Exercise and Yoga

Physical exercise and yoga are effective self-help strategies that lessen the effects of stress and anxiety on your mind and body.

Meditation

Practicing meditation regularly is beneficial for anyone wishing to reduce their xylophobia symptoms.

Meditation helps you become more mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It helps you to reflect and refocus your attention on helpful subjects and constructive thoughts.

Limit Caffeine Intake

As you increase your mind and body practices, you also want to reduce your intake of caffeine. High caffeine consumption has been linked to an increased risk of anxiety and panic attacks.

 

Professional Help for Xylophobia

Your therapist can choose a professional treatment based on your symptoms, root cause, and severity of the anxiety. Two of the most common treatments for phobias include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is the most common treatment for a range of phobias and anxiety disorders. It focuses on helping individuals recognize negative thoughts that feed their feelings of fear. The therapist then works on replacing such thoughts with constructive ones.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy also focuses on reducing feelings of fear. But unlike CBT, exposure therapy works on desensitizing individuals to the stimulus by slowly exposing them to triggers of increasing intensity.

Along with exposure, this therapy also works to teach better coping skills through the use of relaxation techniques.

 

Coping with Xylophobia

Coping with a phobia takes a combination of both self-help and professional therapy in addition to support from loved ones.

You also want to gather as much reliable information about your condition as possible. Ask a professional for advice on dealing with feelings of fear and anxiety. Use the internet to gather more information about the wooded areas around your region and the plants or animals you may find there.

If you do plan to make a woodland visit, take someone along or inform a close friend of your plans. Make sure to carry all essential items like food, water, first aid, GPS, and whatever makes you feel less anxious.

 

Takeaway

Mild xylophobia is easier to combat on your own with some self-help, knowledge, and safe exposure. But a phobia with more severe symptoms may require professional help.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from xylophobia, fear not. The condition is treatable.

With proper treatment, any person can learn to better manage their feelings of fear and enjoy the great outdoors and all it has to offer.

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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