Fear of insects is characteristic of many people of different ages. According to leading experts in the field of phobias, this fear was transmitted to modern man from his distant ancestors. Insectophobia (the scientific name for fear) can lead to the development of a severe panic attack at the sight of any insect. Moreover, a person can be frightened not by the living thing itself, but by the image of a terrible monster that is associated with it and quickly pops up in memory. This violation requires treatment by conducting psychotherapeutic practices under the supervision of a specialist.
Treatment
Insectophobia treatment takes place in two stages:
- Search for the cause: a traumatic situation in the subconscious, memory.
- Work on the situation, rethinking.
First, the therapist finds the cause that triggered the phobia. The patient sees the situation differently. The cause is eliminated - the symptoms also pass. Over time, a person completely gets rid of the phobia.
Ancillary therapy is also carried out. This is the binding of positive associations to insects of the species that scares the patient. Psychologists show fear on the other hand, explain the degree of real danger. The patient understands how exaggerated his fears have been. Panic no longer arises. As needed, the doctor will prescribe medication to eliminate anxiety and manifestations of fear that are destructive to the body.
Insectophobia symptoms
The fear that arises in a person at the sight of insects or even at the thought of them is accompanied by characteristic symptoms:
- Signs of panic, which the patient is unable to cope with on their own. He tries to run away from the cause of his fear, to hide from her.
- Blanching or redness of the skin. This is one of the symptoms of a panic attack.
- The emergence of a sharp need to use insecticides or other means that repels insects. This action is seen as an attempt to temporarily solve your problem.
- Putting on protective clothing and masks when walking outdoors.
- Refusal to travel to nature, so as not to expose yourself to insects once again.
The symptoms of phobia also include an unreasonable expectation of danger, in this case, the appearance of hated insects in the field of vision.
Few facts
There are peoples who today live in nature, far from civilization. They are constantly in contact with insects of different species and are not afraid of them. There are several reasons for this:
- Insects do not feed on people, they have no need to attack. (Exception: mosquitoes and ticks).
- After a tick bite, it is enough to go to the first-aid post, where they will help you.
- Mosquito bites do not spread AIDS. Not a single case was recorded, despite the fact that the disease is very common.
- The bee stings you and dies. She will only attack as a last resort. So don't be afraid of bees. Be calm. Move away. This will be enough.
- Everyone is afraid of spiders. But few people know that even tarantulas do not have a deadly poison. In many species, only females are poisonous during the breeding season. This drastically reduces the chances of death. Not all poisonous spiders are poisonous enough to make a person die. It is enough to study the information, to know what measures to take in case of a bite.
Now think about whether your fear is justified?
Types of fear
This type of phobia has certain subtypes. They differ in the insects to which a person develops a reaction. These include: apiphobia, mermecophobia, arachnophobia.
Fear of bees
This kind of phobia, in which a person experiences fear at the sight of bees, is called apiphobia. This fear is mainly affected by people who were once bitten by bees. And also such fear can be experienced by those who have an allergic reaction to the bite of these insects. If you are allergic to a bee sting, a very dangerous reaction of the body in the form of anaphylactic shock can develop. This can even be fatal.
Therefore, they can experience panic even at the sound of a flying bee. Since childhood, parents can form such fear in a child, protecting him from bees and wasps, which is understandable. But such over-concern can lead to the development of a phobia. If there is such a problem, a person may experience:
- weakness;
- increased sweating;
- dizziness;
- high blood pressure.
Mermecophobia and fear of bites
Sufferers of this phobia experience intense fear at the sight of ants. This fear can develop against the background of a fear of bites or a reluctance to get ants into a dwelling. They can ruin food and clothing. All this causes a certain reaction in a person. People experiencing this fear may exhibit inappropriate behavior. Cry or scream at the sight of these insects. In severe forms, a person may even lose consciousness.
Often such people refuse to work in the garden for fear of meeting ants. But due to the fact that ants live in colonies, they are forced to move to new places. Therefore, these insects often come into the field of human vision..
But people who associate their fears with these insects have only one desire - to get rid of them. Such people even react to the image of ants. In some cases, even nausea and vomiting occurs. Therefore, such fear can cause many problems for its owner.
Arachnophobia disease
This phenomenon in human behavior is characterized by a fear of spiders. According to scientists, this problem is observed in every fifth inhabitant of the planet. There are many different assumptions about the reason for this fear. This could be due to having negative contact with the spiders, which led to the phobia.
Most of the reasons that can develop this fear are unfounded. Many spiders that live in the city are harmless to humans. As a rule, they are indifferent to his behavior. Arachnophobia is a psychological disorder that is not genetically transmitted, so this fear can only be acquired.
People with this fear develop an uncontrollable sense of fear when they see arthropods. There may be a retardation of the reaction or, conversely, a desire to urgently run away from the location with them. And also there is a rapid heartbeat, pallor of the skin and an uncontrollable attack of panic.
Entomophobia or fear of insects
Entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia, is the fear of insects. Fear is relatively common in the United States, especially in urban areas, where contact with insects is rather unusual due to the lack of interaction with nature.
Not surprisingly, insects have been a cornerstone of fear for many people over the years. Although relatively small, these creepy, crawling creatures cause panic in many.
How to get rid of blattophobia - fear of cockroaches: treatment
Cockroaches in the house are unhygienic and disgusting. But it is not mortally dangerous, especially since they can be successfully dealt with. If you are familiar with this problem, read the article “How to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment once and for all: drugs and folk remedies for cockroaches.How to buy poison, scarers, traps and effective remedies for cockroaches in the Aliexpress online store: price, catalog ", it may be useful to you.
Blattophobia: disgust towards cockroaches turns into wild fear.
But people suffering from blattophobia, at the sight of an ordinary domestic Prusak, his bags - ootecs or even feces, experience terrible fear, panic or hysteria, their pulse rate changes, their legs go numb, and even a stroke may occur. The irrational fear of cockroaches must be fought with psychotherapy methods:
- hypnosis
- cognitive therapy
- taking pharmacological drugs
Insectophobia - panic fear of insects
Insectophobia is a mental disorder that manifests itself in a strong fear of insects. Its other name is entomophobia. As a rule, a person suffering from this disorder is not afraid of all creatures in a row, but some of their separate varieties, for example, bees, wasps, cockroaches, flies, ants, fleas, spiders, bedbugs. Some patients have a fear of all insects.
Phobia manifestations can range from dislike and disgust to panic horror from just looking at a flying or crawling insect.
How to stop being afraid on your own
There are psychological trainings teaching how to get rid of arachnophobia on your own. The most effective behavioral technique is the approach of a person with an object of fear.
The addiction begins with small individuals and ends with exotic large-sized animals. Those individuals who can overcome their fear will get rid of arachnophobia forever.
Keeping a spider in his home and caring for him will help a person cope with the problem on his own. In this case, the body turns on the mechanics of overcompensation, which completely frees the subject from the negative feelings he had towards insects.
Another good way to suppress phobias on your own is computer games that simulate the behavior of fearful people in virtual reality. Scientists have proven that the effectiveness of computer games will increase 2 times when a person touches the monitor with his hand.
Fear of being bitten
Some people worry about being bitten by an insect. Panic can span the entire spectrum of emotions, from fear of pain to fear of illness. There are also natural allergic reactions, especially bee stings and fire bites of ants, as well as poisonous insects, but in general, fear of common insects such as house flies, cockroaches and the like does not give fear of being bitten. However, the vast majority of insect bites are irritating, and most fears of being bitten are disproportionate to the risk.
Some people worry about insects in their homes or bodies. According to an article in the Cultural Entomology Digest, people with such fear often carry objects that they believe are pest control tools. In the article, researcher Philip Weinstein points out that fears of infection can be a sign of delusional thoughts, and not a simple phobia. The psychologist treating insectophobia must carefully analyze the thoughts and behavior of the client in order to accurately diagnose and treat the problem.
Information for the article is partially used from here.
For what reasons can a phobia appear?
Studies have shown that those who fear arthropods do not know how arachnophobia develops. Let's look at the main reasons why people are afraid of spiders.
Personal experience
Fear of arthropods is often associated with an unpleasant personal experience when you first meet a spider.Parents try to limit the contact of the child with the insect, as a result of which the child develops a dislike for these individuals.
Gradually, the feeling of dislike develops into a fear of spiders and even into a phobia.... A negative attitude towards spiders also appears in those individuals who have suffered from a bite of an individual in the past.
Genetics
Psychological disorders are passed from parents to children. If one of the adults suffers from arachnophobia, then there is a high probability that the disease with genes will be passed on to the child.
This fear will drive your baby throughout life, causing him to react violently to spiders. This fact is confirmed by the fact that arachnophobia is a problem common in certain regions of the world.
Congenital feature of the nervous system
Individuals with psychological disabilities have several phobias. Panic attacks are activated when an arthropod suddenly appears in front of a person's eyes. Very often, people with a disturbed nervous system perceive the movements of an animal for attacking actions.
Misleading childhood learning
Common reasons for the development of arachnophobia in children include: watching horror films and reading books in which the main characters were spiders. Teachers' stories about ancient arthropod species, distinguished by their gigantic size and deadly bite, can serve as an impetus for the emergence of fears.
Modern biologists have proven that arachnid insects have not become more dangerous in the process of evolution. There is no scientific evidence confirming that giant spiders remained on earth.
Suddenness
The sudden appearance of spiders can cause a panic attack in humans. On this basis, his pulse rises or blood pressure rises. Strong fear is experienced by persons who did not notice the approaching insect.
Anxiety is due to the structural features of the spider's body... A small torso, combined with long and numerous legs, panics arachnophobes.
