What Is Ergophobia?

Ergophobia (from Greek word ergon, meaning work, and phobos, fear) is an overwhelming, irrational fear of work, finding work, or functioning. Sufferers of ergophobia experience undue anxiety about the workplace environment even though they realize their fear is irrational.

Ergophobia - Fear Of Work

Causes Of Ergophobia
Ergophobia may be caused by individual fear that they are incapable of handling their job responsibilities and are destined to fail at work. Their fear may actually be a combination of fears, such fear of failing at assigned tasks, fear of speaking in front of groups of their colleagues, fear of socializing with co-workers, or fear of work meetings or committees.

As with any type of phobia, ergophobia may have developed from an incident of trauma at some earlier point in a person’s life. Losing a job or being mocked or maligned for poor work in the past could be a couple of reasons why people develop this fear. There are many potential traumatic causes, and these may not even have occurred in the work place. A person who has had extremely negative experiences making presentations in school might develop ergophobia that relates specifically to making work presentations. Similarly, past experiences where someone could not meet deadlines could cause the physical symptoms of this fear in the present. Some sufferers of Ergophobia also learn the fear from observations of other people such as their parents.

Symptoms Of Ergophobia
The symptoms of Ergophobia are individual and will vary from person to person. Some people, when confronted with their fear of work, may begin to perspire, feel slightly uncomfortable or become nauseated. Some people are so severely compromised by Ergophobia, that they may experience paralyzing anxiety and/or panic attacks.

Treatment For Ergophobia
There are several ways to treat Ergophobia. Some people may require medication to help calm anxiety in the workplace, and they also can benefit from several therapy types. The most common to treat this condition are talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and desensitization therapy. Of these three, the latter two are usually thought most effective. Some larger cities offer group therapy too, for those who suffer from this condition.

With work and time, many with ergophobia are able to make partial or full recovery and may be able to continue working with far less panic and much more confidence. Given that work is often a necessity, need to treat this condition is very high, and getting diagnosis from a professional is important also, since this may help forestall employers from terminating those who suffer from this condition.

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What Is Gephyrophobia?

Gephyrophobia (from Greek words “gephyra“, bridge and “phobos“, fear) is an abnormal, irrational and persistent fear of bridges, especially crossing bridges. Sufferers of gephyrophobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. As a result, sufferers of gephyrophobia may avoid routes that will take them over bridges.

Gephyrophobia - Fear Of Crossing Bridges

Gephyrophobia gains spotlight in recent years after the Minnesota bridge collapsed in August 2007.

Causes Of Gephyrophobia

Gephyrophobia are generally developed due to traumatic experience about crossing bridge, regardless of how irrational the trauma is. It might even result from movies, books, or stories about bridge collapse.

The flip side of gephyrophobia, which experts say is often related to a fear of heights or open spaces, is a dread of driving through tunnels, more often linked to claustrophobia, experts say. Some people suffer from one fear or the other; some struggle with both.

Thus Gephyrophobia may result partly from the fear of enclosure (claustrophobia), the fear of heights (acrophobia) or fear of water (aquaphobia). Gephyrophobiac drivers may worry about being in an accident in busy traffic or losing control of their vehicles. High bridges over waterways and gorges can be especially intimidating, as can be very long or very narrow bridges.

Whatever the cause, such Gephyrophobia lead to panicky feelings that sufferers go to great lengths to avoid crossing bridge, grinding normal routines to a halt.

Symptoms Of Gephyrophobia

The symptoms of Gephyrophobia are individual and will vary from person to person. Some people, when confronted with their fear of crossing bridges, may begin to perspire, feel slightly uncomfortable or become nauseated. At the opposite end of the spectrum, other people are so severely compromised by this phobia, that they may experience paralyzing anxiety and/or panic attacks.

Treatment For Gephyrophobia

When the fear of crossing bridges becomes intense enough to disrupt an individual’s ability to function, there are a number of ways to treat Gephyrophobia.

These can include traditional “talk” therapy that will teach the person to recognize and control their phobia, hypnotherapy, self-help techniques such as meditation or purposeful muscle relaxation, relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and visualization, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Desensitization Therapy. In severe cases of Gephyrophobia, anti-anxiety medication can also be prescribed.

If Gephyrophobia arises from other phobias, it will be necessary also to address the associated phobias from disrupting the sufferers ability to function.

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What Is Nudophobia?

Nudophobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of nudity. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry about seeing others naked or being seen naked, or both. Their fear may stem from anxiety about sexuality in general, from a fear that their bodies are physically inferior, or from a fear that their nakedness leaves their bodies–and their personalities–exposed and unprotected.

Gymnophobia - Fear Of Nudity

Read more about Nudophobia at Gymnophobia: Fear of Nudity Causes, Symptoms and Treatment.

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1. Gymnophobia: Fear of Nudity

What Is Aerophobia?

Aerophobia is an irrational, abnormal fear of flying. It is also commonly referred to as Aviophobia, Aviatophobia, or Pteromechanophobia.

Aerophobia- Fear Of Flying

For more information about Aerophobia, read Aviophobia Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

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1. Aviatophobia: Fear of Flying
2. Aviophobia : Fear of Flying

What Is Gymnophobia?
Gymnophobia (from Greek “gymnos“, naked and “phobos“, fear) is a fear of nudity. Gymnophobics experience anxiety from nudity, even if they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry either of being nude or of seeing another person’s naked body part or both. Their fear may stem from a general anxiety about sexuality, from a fear that they are physically inferior, or from a fear that their nakedness leaves them exposed and unprotected.

Gymnophobia - Fear Of Nudity

Standards of modesty (also called demureness or reticence) generally prevent public nudity. Avoidance of nudity in private situations may be a continuation of modesty, or may extend to prudishness or body shame. Only an actual fear of nudity qualifies as gymnophobia and only when the fear is beyond one’s control or is interfering with daily life can an anxiety disorder diagnosis be made.

Symptoms Of Gymnophobia
Gymnophobia, fear of nudity often goes beyond excessive modesty or prudishness and into the area of distinct body shame. A gymnophobic will go to extreme measures to obscure his or her own skin and even simply the shape of the body.

The actual phobia manifests itself in different ways. Symptoms of gymnophobia typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea and overall feelings or dread when faced with situation when they need to expose their body or seeing other people’s exposed body part. Some experience the condition almost all the time, others do so just in response to a certain stimuli.

Causes Of Gymnophobia
The causes of gymnophobia, like all fears and phobias is created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. The fear also stem from a certain incident where the victim was disclosed in front of the others that must have sparked a feeling of awkwardness in the mind.

At some point in the person’s past, there was likely an event linking nudity and emotional trauma. While the original catalyst may have been a real-life scare of some kind, the condition can also be triggered by movies, tv or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma. It might also occur from the overtly conservative family, society, or religious teachings.

As long as this association is powerful enough, the unconscious mind thinks “Ah, this whole thing is very dangerous. How do I keep myself safe? I’ll attach terrible feelings to nudity, that way I’ll steer clear and be safe”. Just like that a fear or phobia is born. Sometimes gymnophobia sufferers just get the wiring wrong.

Treatment For Gymnophobia
To treat gymnophobiac, it is important to understand where the fears come from. There are fears of harm, stem from past traumatic experience which will probably require more intensive treatment, while fears stem from low self-esteem of being seen naked will probably be easily treated with hypnotherapy and NLP sessions. Anti anxiety drugs may also be prescribed in serious situation.

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1. Nudophobia: Fear of Nudity

What Is Aviatophobia?

Aviatophobia is an irrational, abnormal fear of flying. It is also commonly referred to as Aviophobia, Aerophobia, or Pteromechanophobia.

Aviatophobia - Fear Of Flying

For more information about Aviatophobia, read Aviophobia Causes, Symptoms And Treatment.

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1. Aerophobia: Fear Of Flying
2. Aviophobia : Fear of Flying

What Is Chorophobia?
Chorophobia is the irrational fear of or aversion to dancing, often based on one’s unwillingness to become aroused, excited, or ecstatic. Chorophobia is also a fear of any event, outcome, situation or person that resembles, relates or symbolizes “dancing” of any form or kind.

Chorophobia – Fear of Dancing

Symptoms Of Chorophobia
People suffering from Chorophobia will do anything and everything to avoid Dancing of any form or kind. Any event, person or situation that resembles, relates to or symbolizes “dancing” can trigger this fear of Dancing off.

Usual symptoms of chorophobia are shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, panic, and avoidance of places where dancing would take place.

Causes Of Chorophobia
This Dancing phobia is generally caused by some influence of dancing in the person’s life through the media, cinema, childhood experiences, family experiences, dreams, books, news events, etc.

Chorophobia is often associated with other fears, such as the fear of embarrassment (or social phobia) or the fear of crowds.

Treatment Of Chorophobia
Treatment can vary widely, to the extent of consulting a personal therapist or by hypnosis. When chorophobia is associated with other fear, treating the originating fear will be more appropriate. For example, if the fear of dancing is caused by some low-esteem in dancing ability, taking a private dancing class can improve the condition tremendously.

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What Is Aviophobia?
Aviophobia (from Greek word avio, air and phobos, fear) is an unwarranted, irrational and extreme fear of being on an airplane (aeroplane), or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also sometimes referred to as aerophobia, aviatophobia or pteromechanophobia.

Aviophobia - Fear Of Flying

Aviophobia can be a distinct phobia in itself, or it may be an indirect combination of one or more other phobias related to flying, such as claustrophobia (a fear of enclosed spaces) or acrophobia (a fear of heights). It may have other causes as well, such as agoraphobia (especially the type that has to do with fear of open spaces). It is a symptom rather than a disease, and different causes may bring it about in different individuals.

The fear receives more attention than most other phobias because air travel is often difficult for people to avoid—especially in professional contexts—and because the fear is widespread, affecting a significant minority of the population. A fear of flying may prevent a person from going on vacations or visiting family and friends, and it can cripple the career of a businessperson by preventing him or her from traveling on work-related business.

Commercial air travel continues to cause a significant proportion of the public and some members of the aircrew to feel anxiety. When this anxiety reaches a level that significantly interferes with a person’s ability to travel by air, it becomes an aviophobia.

Causes Of Aviophobia
The causes of Aviophobia varies from individual to individual, and whilst no two individuals are the same, most fall into one or more of the following categories:

• A Single Traumatic Incident:
  A highly stressful or frightening real event at which, instantaneously Aviophobia is created. Similar to, say, a child being bitten by a dog and developing an immediate phobia, a single traumatic incident is a one-time experience at which there is such extreme fear – even if only for a moment – that the nervous system ‘learns’ to associate fear to help the individual avoid such situations in future.

  The initial fear, by the way, may be nothing to do with flying. We often hear from clients that the problem started at a time when they were under extreme stress for something completely unrelated, but the mind somehow associated the negative feelings to flying anyway.

• An Associated Traumatic Experience:
  This is where the individual does not directly experience the fear, but ‘associates’ to someone who does, either in a real situation, or, more rarely, when watching someone in a movie – or even a dream – experience a traumatic event.
• A Slow Build:
  A slow build occurs when a mild case of Aviophobia escalates over time to become a severe one. What is happening here is that the individual is ‘accumulating’ fearful associations to flying, so that the evidence used by the mind and nervous system is becoming increasingly irrefutable that fear is the appropriate emotion.

  Sometimes Aviophobia can simply be developed from seemingly harmless experiences, or seem like ‘its always been like this’. The truth is it hasn’t always been that way (there’s no such thing as a new born baby with irrational fears and phobias) but it may have started way back in an early childhood, possibly school, experience.

• Associated Phobias:
  Aviophobia may be an indirect combination of one or more other phobias and fears related to flying:
  * a fear of closed in spaces (claustrophobia), such as that of an aircraft cabin
  * a fear of heights (acrophobia)
  * a feeling of not being in control
  * fear of vomiting, motion sickness can make the person vomit, thus making flying hard.
  * fear of having panic attacks in certain places, where escape would be difficult and/or embarrassing (agoraphobia)
  * fear of hijacking or terrorism
  * fear of turbulence
  * fear of flying over water or night flying
  * the result of hormone release during pregnancy
  * the result of difficulty with the regulation of emotion when not in control due to developmental issues
  * fear of crashing resulting in injury or death

Symptoms Of Aviophobia
Aviophobia is a level of anxiety so great that it prevents a person from travelling by air, or causes great distress to a person when he or she is compelled to travel by air. The most extreme manifestations can include panic attacks or vomiting at the mere sight or mention of an aircraft or air travel.

How people react to aviophobia is as diverse as the reasons why people have anxieties around the flying experience. A common reaction is to avoid flying as much as possible. There are a number of celebrities who go to great lengths to arrange their personal and professional lives to avoid flying. Other reactions include the kind of physical effects associated with a white knuckle flyer, such as sweating, rapid heartbeat and breathing, and nausea. Other reactions can be more dangerous for the passenger and other on the aircraft, such as using drugs or alcohol deal with the experience, or being abusive to other passengers, the cabin crew, or to airline representatives.

Generally, people who experience aviophobia report two basic kinds of symptoms.

• Physiological reactions to fear and stress include muscle tension and tremors, heavy labored breathing, heart palpitations, chest pain, abdominal and intestinal discomfort, sweating, weakness, dizziness, prickly sensations, dry mouth, and flushed or pale face.
• Psychological symptoms include impaired memory, narrowed perceptions, poor or clouded judgment, negative expectancies and perseverative thinking.

Treatment For Aviophobia

• Education
  In some cases, educating people with aviophobia about the realities of air travel can considerably diminish their fear. Learning how aircraft fly, how airliners are flown in practice, and other aspects of aviation can assist people with aviophobia in overcoming its irrational nature. Many people have overcome their fear of flying by learning to fly or skydive, and effectively removing their fear of the unknown. Some people with aviophobia educate themselves; others attend courses (for people with the phobia or for people interested in aviation) to achieve the same result. Some airline and travel companies run courses to help people get over the fear of flying.

  Education plays a very important role in overcoming the fear of flying. Understanding what a certain sound is or that an encounter with turbulence will not destroy the aircraft is beneficial to easing the fear of the unknown. Nevertheless, when airborne and experiencing turbulence, the person can be terrified despite having every reason to know logically that the plane is not in danger. In such cases, therapy—in addition to education—is needed to gain relief.

• Therapy treatment for Aviophobia

  Behavioral therapies for aviophobia such as Cognitive behavior therapy and Systematic desensitization rest on the theory that phobia is due to an initial sensitizing event (ISE) that has created the feelings of fear. In other words, the initial sensitizing event was the first time that the person felt those intense feelings of fear.

  Hypnotherapy generally involves regression to the ISE, uncovering the event, the emotions around the event, and helping the client understand the source of their fear. It is sometimes the case that the ISE has nothing to do with flying at all.

  Recent neurological research by Allan Schore and others using EEG-fMRI neuroimaging suggests that fear of flying is not the result of a single sensitizing event, but – like other affective disorders – is the result of chronic exposure to emotional dysregulation in childhood which hindered development of the right prefrontal orbito cortex, rendering it unable to carry out its executive role in the regulation of affect.

  When there is no history of panic attack, Cognitive behavior therapy may be useful. But methods based on cognition are of limited value when there is a history of panic disorder. When the ability to regulate ones emotional state is dependent upon means to escape, fear of panic can be extreme when flying.

  Research on effectiveness of virtual reality therapy as a treatment for aerophobia has been disappointing. Research by Smith and Rothbaum showed virtual reality therapy to be only as effective as sitting on a parked airplane and thinking about flying. Panic often develops rapidly through processes which the person has no awareness of. Thus, techniques based on conscious intervention may not connect with – nor equal the speed of – unconscious processes involved in causing panic. The need to control panic when flying led to the development of an intervention based on Object relations theory which is intended to operate unconsciously, establishes a sequence in unconscious procedural memory through repeated viewing of video which links potentially threatening flight situations to feelings associated with empathic interactions

  Often even intense fears can be alleviated through the use of imagery in just a few hours, without needing to give therapy “in vivo” – (on the plane itself).

• Medication For Aviophobia

  Aviophobia may be treated by the use of psychoactive medications. For individuals experiencing anxiety due to a phobia, the standard psychiatric prescription might be any of a number of different psychoactive medications such as benzodiazepines or other relaxant/depressant drugs. Psychiatrists are sometimes reluctant to prescribe any medication for the treatment of fear of flying due to the need for patients to medicate irregularly. Though benzodiazepines effectively reduced anxiety on the ground, research indicates higher anxiety and sharply increased panic when flying versus placebo.

  Some individuals with fear of flying may self-medicate with other psychoactive substances—particularly alcohol, which is served in many commercial airline cabins—in order to deal with their anxiety. Most mental health professionals would advise against consuming alcohol as a medication both due to the strong risk of dependency (alcoholism) and due to the particular physiological effects on the body of air travel. In a pressurized cabin, the lower-than-normal oxygen content of the air will cause an alcoholic beverage to have a significantly enhanced effect on the body—resulting in a perhaps surprising level and rapidity of intoxication from only one or two drinks. On the other hand, some professionals believe that if an individual is capable of controlling his or her drinking—i.e. is not an alcoholic—and consumes only a small amount at a time, that an alcoholic beverage before or during a flight may be beneficial as a short-term treatment of mild fear of flying. Most would still advise a more long-term strategy of therapy.

More resources for Aviophobia
Fear of Flying: Symptoms, Medical Issues, and Treatment
Fear of flying – Wikipedia
Fear Of Flying Basics

Related posts:

1. Aviatophobia: Fear of Flying
2. Aerophobia: Fear Of Flying

What Is Dromophobia?

Dromophobia is an irrational and abnormal fear of crossing streets or roads. It is also commonly referred to as Agyrophobia or fear of crossing road.

Dromophobia - Fear Of Crossing Streets

Read more about Dromophobia at Agyrophobia – Fear of crossing roads: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment.

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1. Agyrophobia: Fear Of Crossing Roads

What Is Anthophobia?
Anthophobia (from Greek roots anthos, flower, and phobos, fear) is an abnormal, irrational, intense and persistent fear of flowers. Though sufferers generally understand that they face no threat from flowers, they invariably experience anxiety at the sight or thought. There is no specific flower which causes this fear, any genus or species of flowers can instill fear. So can any flower part, such as a petal or stem.

Anthophobia is not to be confused with anthrophobia, the fear of people.

Causes Of Anthophobia
Anthophobia is usually caused by traumatic experience in the past that is linked emotionally to flowers. Many of the times, anthophobia is not caused by an actual event but triggered by harmless events at very young age, like movies, TV, or perhaps seeing someone else experiencing trauma.

When the negative association is strong enough, the sufferer mind defies thinking rationally and trapped in the helpless condition. Some will experience the fear all the time, but most actually respond only to direct encounter with flowers or flower parts.

Symptoms Of Anthophobia
Common symptoms of anthophobia are breathlessness, dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack, although different people experiencing anthophobia in their own way and may have different symptoms as such.

Treatment For Anthophobia
Anthophobia usually does not require diagnosis, since most people can avoid situations where they will encounter flowers. However, if the problem actually become prohibitive, anthophobiacs can visit practitioners for hypnosis therapy. Anti-anxiety drugs can also be prescribed in some situations.

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