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Other Phobias

Xyrophobia – Fear of Razors

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Fear of Razors – A Deep Cut

Have you been avoiding shaving because of your fear of razors? Do you avoid going into bathrooms for fear of finding someone shaving? Does simply looking at a razor fill you with dread?

If so, you may have xyrophobia or fear of razors.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely you can avoid razors in your everyday life, which puts you in a bind. From hyperventilating at the sight of razors to having a panic attack listening to someone talk about a shaving accident, hiding this fear isn’t easy.

Thankfully, coping and overcoming it is.

Whether you’re trying to figure out your symptoms or finding ways to overcome them, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn all you need to know about xyrophobia!

What Causes the Fear of Razors?

Your unique anxiety around razors must have got you wondering, why am I so scared of razors?

Like all phobias, the fear of razors is an irrational fear. This also makes xyrophobia causes challenging to narrow down. But they’re often rooted in a person’s environment or genetics.

So, if someone has a family history of mental illness or anxiety disorder, they’re likely to develop symptoms of xyrophobia. And this likelihood will increase if the person comes in contact with a trigger.

A person may also develop a fear of razors due to environmental factors, such as growing up watching a parent or relative struggle with a similar or different phobia or going through a traumatic experience involving razors or sharp-edged objects.

The risk of developing a phobia may also increase with an imbalance in the neurotransmitter levels of the brain.

Regardless of the cause, the phobia creates a strong subconscious link in your mind between razors and negative emotions, resulting in a negative panic response.

So, although figuring out the exact cause of the fear isn’t easy, there are ways to treat the phobia and eventually overcome it.

But first, let’s work from the start: What is xyrophobia? Read on for more.

 

Everything You Need to Know about Xyrophobia

Xyrophobia is a fear-type phobia that results in a fear of razors. It is categorized as an anxiety disorder in the DSM-V, but xyrophobia isn’t as irrational as some on the list of phobias.

It creates a fear of shaving and shaving products in general. Not only does the person fear razors, but they also develop anxiety simply thinking about razors.

Left unchecked, the fear quickly translates into avoidance behavior, where the person avoids going to places they may encounter a razor. So, it may cause a person with xyrophobia to struggle to cope with going into the bathroom in fear of finding a razor there.

 

Symptoms of Xyrophobia

Xyrophobia symptoms can occur when a person comes in contact with razors or thinks about them. The makeup of symptoms can differ for every person and is best diagnosed by a licensed professional.

To be diagnosed with a fear of shaving, a person must experience at least three to five of the symptoms given below. And these symptoms should last for at least six months or longer.

Physical Symptoms

  • Dry mouth
  • Shakiness or tremors
  • Excessive sweating
  • Muscle tension
  • Hyperventilation
  • Increased heart rate
  • Nausea
  • Feelings of dizziness or fainting
  • Hot/cold flashes
  • Migraine

Psychological Symptoms

  • Anxiety when thinking about razors
  • Butterflies in the stomach
  • Panic attacks
  • Anxiety when in proximity to razors
  • Inability to cope with anxiety
  • Avoiding razors
  • Fear of impending doom
  • Depression

In severe cases, a xyrophobe may also require hospitalization if they come in close contact with razors, are unable to deal with their fear, or let it fester for too long.

 

How Do You Deal with Xyrophobia?

Acknowledging your phobia is half the battle won. And while there is no one solution that guarantees a cure, incorporating self-help practices and seeking professional help should be your next steps.

Self-Help Solutions for the Fear of Razors

Self-help strategies can improve the effectiveness of your xyrophobia treatment. They can also help strengthen your mind and body so you’re better able to cope with your triggers.

Some of the best self-help strategies you can try are:

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise can help reduce your stress while also filling your bloodstream with feel-good chemicals.

Eating a Healthy Diet

Eating nutritious, balanced meals helps keep your body functioning at its optimal, which can be helpful during the treatment.

Practicing Mindfulness

Regularly practicing mindfulness techniques can help you release some of your stress while also allowing you to relax.

Reducing the Use of Stimulants

Reduce your intake of stimulants like coffee and alcohol, which are known to increase anxiety symptoms.

Professional Help for Xyrophobia

When you’re ready to seek professional help, here’s what you might expect your therapist to prescribe. While these are not the only treatments for anxiety disorders, they’re the most popular and effective ones.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is the most popular therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as phobias. It helps identify your triggers and negative thought patterns and guides you to replace the irrational thoughts around the fear with positive ones.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT involves working on the person’s fear responses and changing them into positive responses that help them cope better with the fear.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is a form of treatment that involves gradually exposing the patient to their phobia triggers through thoughts, stimuli, and eventually the object of fear itself.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

MBSR therapy involves managing anxiety and stress through lectures, group sessions, discussions, meditation, yoga, and more.

 

Learning to Cope with Xyrophobia

The journey toward a cure for a phobia is a long one. So, learning how to cope with the condition is necessary if you want to live a normal life.

Practicing self-help should put you on a path to improved mental health. It is also helpful to rely on close family and friends for support.

When you have a healthy support group to back you up on difficult days, living with the fear of razors won’t feel as debilitating. It’ll also make your treatment more effective.

 

The Takeaway

As long as you’re not one to shy away from overcoming your fear of shaving/razors, there are plenty of solutions to help you get over your xyrophobia.

With the right attitude and consistent actions, a cure is so much closer. And so is the day you can put all thoughts of razors to rest.

 

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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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