Description of the violation
Not all people know what the fear of insects is called. The general term for this phobia is insectophobia. There are several more species identified. For example, if a person is only afraid of bees, then this should be called apiphobia; fear of ants is called myrmecophobia.
Disgust and the desire to avoid insects are inherent in every person. This was necessary for the survival of the species, since some individuals were poisonous or could carry various diseases, such as malaria or parasites.
Another name for insectophobia is entomophobia. Pathological fear can occur at any age. In severe cases, a person stops leading his usual way of life, he looks everywhere for the object of his fear.
For example, the fear of flies is called dipterophobia. With it, a person will be terrified of encountering black flying insects. They can be found in stores or in garbage dumps.
How to get rid of the fear of insects yourself?
Recommendations for getting rid of insectophobia for adults:
- Find out what caused your fear and study it.
- Find out more information about the insects that cause you fear. If they do not live in your area or do not harm people at all, you will understand that there is no reason to panic.
- Get outside more often, walk in parks, visit exhibitions and greenhouses.
- When faced with “that” insect, try to remain calm and do not run away. Try to understand and convince yourself that it is not dangerous.
- When you are ready, try to touch the insect. For example, plant a beautiful butterfly on your hand.
Recommendations for getting rid of insectophobia for children
Children still have insufficient knowledge about the world around them. Uncertainty can make them feel afraid. To prevent this, use the following recommendations:
- Describe the insect to your child so that he understands that it is not a threat.
- Show him pictures of insects so that he gets used to them before he meets them in life.
- Tell him stories in which insects do good deeds. Then the child will have a good impression of them.
Why is a phobia dangerous?
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In English, insectophobia is called entomophobia. With this disorder, a person experiences an irrational fear of all insects or individual species. Even when living in an urban area, an individual will encounter different bugs.
In severe cases, fear will be caused not only by living individuals, but also by videos of them, pictures, etc. The patient will begin to develop an obsessive fear of insects. At home, he will meticulously check everything for their appearance.
On a physical level, this manifests itself in nervousness and mood swings. In the future, all this turns into diseases of the cardiovascular system. The feeling of panic prevents you from working and enjoying life. Therefore, insectophobia is a real disease that requires complex treatment.
How to get rid of fear and live calmly
It is important what condition the patient is in, especially if he is trying to cope with the phobia on his own. Experts recommend visualizing insects, purchasing books with their images, and looking at pictures in your free time. How can you get used to their appearance?
It will be progress if the patient sees something attractive in the image of the small inhabitants of the planet and begins to perceive them as a normal natural phenomenon with which one needs to be neighbors and not at odds. Psychologists also advise visiting various butterfly exhibitions more actively. There you can safely watch them.
It happens that fear is based on a horror film watched as a child or teenager. In this case, you need to look at it again, if there is such a need, then do it together with friends and relatives who can provide support if a phobia (panic attacks) occurs.
Psychologists believe that the majority of the world's inhabitants have a mild form of insectophobia. They have a fear of certain insects. Most often people are afraid of bees, wasps and bumblebees. If the fear is mild, it does not interfere with normal life activities. At this stage there is no point in thinking about treatment.
Therapy is necessary in the case of severe insectophobia, since it can easily lead to psychological abnormalities (strange behavior). The easiest way to eliminate fear is to use hypnosis. It is recommended to undergo therapeutic conversations before sessions.
An experienced doctor removes from the patient’s consciousness a phobia, a panicky fear of the small inhabitants of the earth - insects. If fear is left untreated, it will harm physical and mental health (with a phobia, shortness of breath develops, the heart rate increases, and in general the number of stressful situations in life increases). It is important to reduce risks and bring fear to the level of an acceptable norm, which is typical for the majority of the world's population.
Symptoms
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Not every person can correctly name the cause of their anxiety. It is difficult to immediately draw the line between natural disgust and a real violation.
Important! The severity of symptoms may progress.
In order to understand what insectophobia is, you need to understand the mechanisms of its manifestation. At the sight of any insect, a person falls into a stupor or hysterical state. Even if a bug simply crawls or flies past, a person gets scared and experiences a panic attack.
Any phobia cannot be explained by reason
The patient experiences an irresistible desire to run away, hide, or move away from the object of fear. On a physical level, this is manifested by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, increased heart rate and increased sweating.
Insect phobia can manifest itself in varying degrees. At the initial stage, a person may experience fear, an unpleasant sensation and a desire to get away from the object of fear. Gradually, the phobia will progress, and panic attacks will begin to manifest themselves more strongly.
At the time of the attack, the patient will experience derealization; he will not be able to answer for his actions.
At home, insectophobia, which a person may not know what it is, manifests itself as an obsessive desire to treat the room from insects. Excessive use of chemicals contributes to the development of allergies and poisoning.
In a child, the symptoms will be the same as in an adult, only brighter. The baby will cry, become hysterical and attract attention.
Fear of insects: basic concepts and features
At the sight of arthropods, insectophobes cannot calm down for 2-4 hours. During this time, patients are in a state of stress. Patients feel a sense of anxiety, tremble and do not leave the safe room.
Fear of insects manifests itself in the form of the following symptoms:
- sweating increases, pupils dilate;
- there is pallor of the skin, tremors of the limbs and head;
- psychomotor agitation develops: skeletal muscles tense, especially the long back muscles;
- a panic attack begins upon contact with an insect: a person tries to hide or runs out of the room;
- behavior becomes inappropriate; when trying to stop the patient, aggression and fear are observed.
In case of possible contact with an insect, the insectophobe provides himself and loved ones with maximum protection:
- buys special pesticides, which he subsequently sprays himself and his living space with;
- wears thick clothing that covers as much of the body as possible;
- stops ventilating the room;
- tries to rarely go outside.
In such a situation, the patient should seek advice from a psychotherapist. It is important to identify the pathology in time and begin to fight it. As a mental disorder progresses without appropriate treatment, the patient is capable of causing harm to himself and others.
This nervous system disorder may be generally referred to as entomophobia or insectophobia. In addition, there are several conditions that differ from each other depending on the type of insect:
- Apiophobia is the fear that a person experiences when seeing bees,
- Arachnophobia is a very common disorder that is the fear of spiders,
- scoleciphobia or unexplained panic in front of small larvae of worms or insects,
- Myrkecophobia – fear of ants.
Reasons for appearance
A phobia of insects is called insectophobia. It does not always appear in childhood; adults are also susceptible to this disease. There are several theories about the reasons for its appearance.
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The first was developed by Freud. He believed that defense mechanisms are hidden in the subconscious. Man forcibly suppresses them and actively explores nature. As a result, the smooth functioning of the psyche is disrupted, and subconscious fears begin to work distortedly.
Important! The peculiarity of subconscious fears is that they are not realized by a person.
There is another theory in psychology that explains why people are afraid of insects. It was developed by behaviorists, in other words, specialists in behavioral psychology. According to the conditioning pathway, a phobia is formed after a traumatic situation.
The child perceives certain things more acutely. If an insect appears unexpectedly, stings or greatly frightens, the baby will be afraid of history repeating itself for a long time.
In an adult, fear of insects can also appear after a traumatic history. For example, in case of a bee attack or a serious complication after a bug bite.
Impressionable people can watch a horror movie or read a book where the main danger comes from insects
Another option for the appearance of a phobia is acquired. According to him, a child copies the behavior of an adult. Therefore, if one of the family members has insectophobia, then it is highly likely to manifest itself in children.
Where does the fear of insects come from?
This theory greatly influenced science, but has already lost its popularity. Freud explained this by a connection with a mechanism that pushes stimuli into the subconscious that protect a person when danger arises. Man sought to keep nature under control and drowned out these signals of hidden alarm. This caused distortions in his mental defense mechanism.
This theory is supported by most scientists. Her followers say that insect phobia is formed at a time when a person feels fear, in two ways: conditioned and modeled.
Stopping an attack
Entomophobia is another name for the fear of insects. Its main difficulty is that a person can encounter bugs even indoors. This is especially true for countries with high humidity levels. Therefore, you need to know how to quickly and correctly stop a panic attack.
Important! Any medications can be used only after consulting a doctor.
The moment a person discovers an insect, you need to move 3-4 steps away from it. Don't try to crush it and destroy it. If it is a butterfly or moth, then just open the window and let them fly out.
Don't try to suppress a panic attack. At the moment it appears, you need to take a deep breath and exhale slowly, repeat this 10 times. You can mentally count your actions. It is advisable to focus on another object to divert attention from the insect. You can touch your rosary and count out loud. It is necessary to forcibly switch thoughts to something else that is not related to the subject of fear.
Treatment of insectophobia
Getting rid of any phobia is not so easy. It is better to use a combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy. The purpose of medications is to reduce the level of anxiety, restlessness and nervousness. Constant use of medications allows a person to normalize the psycho-emotional background.
Important! You should not self-medicate; it is better to take only those medications prescribed by your doctor.
Antidepressants and tranquilizers are used as drug treatment.
Psychotherapy
Correction of insectophobia is possible with the help of a psychotherapist. A specialist can help determine the cause of the problem. With the help of this information, a person changes his attitude towards the problem.
Therapy may take 5-6 months
During psychotherapy, an artificial situation is created where a person is faced with the subject of his fear. This allows him to adequately assess the degree of danger of the insect, and gradually the patient begins to perceive bugs differently.
Another type of therapy is a colorful description of an insect, which causes a negative emotional reaction in a person. At the end of the session, the therapist explains that the phobia has no real basis.
Insectophobia can cause real inconvenience. To get rid of it, it is better to use an integrated approach: psychotherapeutic + medical. This is the only way to get rid of the problem forever.
