Entomophobia- Fear of insects
With summer on the way there are people who dislike being out of doors as they have a pathological fear of insects, both the harmful and non harmful varieties. This fear is called Entomophobia. The insects Entomophobs fear can include spiders, bugs of any shape of size, mites, cockroaches, bees or any other creature that is small that seems to crawl on the floor. The sufferer does not have to come into contact to experience the fear, simply seeing an insect is enough to set off the anxiety. Sufferers can have a certain degree of control indoors by cleaning and being able to prevent, as much as possible, insects getting into the house. However, out of doors is a different matter entirely, here the sufferer feels at the mercy of these creatures and therefore will attempt to avoid being outside for any length of time. This fear can start from a reasonable place, in that there are people who have severs allergic reactions to bee stings, and therefore one would want to avoid contact. Also, this fear can be passed down from parent to child without the child being aware of why they have the fear in the fist instance.
Additionally, this fear can be caused as certain insects carry diseases like malaria or fevers like Ebola which cause sufferers undo panic. I say undo, because these diseased insects usually can be found in certain geographic areas which may not be where the sufferer is based.
The symptoms of Entomophobia are much the same as any other phobia, including palpitations, sweating and shortness of breath.
The use of behavioural psychotherapy including hypnosis and systematic desensitization are generally the best courses of action for these sufferers. Using Mindfulness relaxation can also help the client to overcome the stresses of this condition.
