Domatophobia- Fear of houses or being in a house
This is a rather unusual phobia as most people feel that their home is a place of safety and sanctuary, a place where a person looks forward to returning even after having been to more exotic or interesting places. A person with a pathological fear of houses (their own or others) is said to suffer with domatophobia. For these sufferers houses, any houses, can appear to be unsafe and stifling. Claustrophobia may be at the heart of this fear, but it can also stem from irrational anxieties like the house being haunted or possessed, which might stem from childhood traumas of frightening films or television shows, etc.
Other potential causative factors can be having had a negative of traumatic experience in ones home, like being in the house when a burglary takes place of if a person may have witnessed domestic violence in the home. Unusual sounds in the dead of night can send sufferers into a full blown panic episode.
This is not a fear only for the young, many elderly people develop a dislike for being in the house. This can be due to the emptiness of the place when their children leave home which can lead to depression. Also, as people get older they may not be able to move about the house with the same flexibility as before and this can serve to be a reminder of age and mortality
The use of hypnotically based psychotherapy can often help these sufferers as well a teaching mindfulness based meditation to help the client learn to control their anxieties until they are overcome entirely.
