Fear is a protective mechanism that helps a person protect his body from danger. In moderate manifestations, this is an absolutely normal reaction, but intrusive panic attacks are mental abnormalities, which are called phobias. In this article, consider one of them - the fear of insects.
What is the name of fear of insects?
Experts call this phenomenon entomophobia or insectophobia. It is considered one of the varieties of zoophobia - fear of animals.
Absolute fear of all insects is rare, usually panic attacks occur when contacting a particular species. The most common types of insectophobia are:
- Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders.
- Apophobia is the fear of bees.
- Mirmekofobiya - fear of ants.
In addition, one of the attendant problems may be scotcifobia - fear of insect larvae and worms.
Fear of insects - why does a phobia occur?
Psychologists consider children's trauma to be the main reason for the development of irrational fear before the considered representatives of the animal world. At an early age, babies are very impressionable and insect bites lead to their phobia and phobia. In addition, the huge role played by the behavior of parents - because children take the example it is with mom and dad. If a child sees the fear of adults in front of insects, then he will involuntarily begin to fear. Especially when contacting spiders and various beetles, the kid usually hears threats and warnings about being stung or bitten. This leads to the emergence of an unconditional fear of insects, which often turns into an irrational disorder - a phobia, especially if the child was actually stung or bitten.
Another important factor is the media, feature films and literature. Reports that people are dying because of poisonous insects, of course, frighten not only children, but adults. Therefore, even inoffensive representatives of the animal world begin to cause fear. In addition, the authors of many works and scripts for films use insects as negative characters and terrible creatures. As a result, an unreasonable fear is formed in a person, and panic attacks occur.
And, finally, the last, but no less significant reason is the appearance of insects. They differ significantly from the person, as a form of the body, the number of limbs, and the way of movement. Therefore, often insects are perceived as something alien and unnatural, and such a person is afraid by nature.
Fear of insects - a curable phobia
If irrational fear is very strong and significantly interferes with life - it is better to contact a psychologist who will help to cope with the problem. Independent steps must also be taken:
- try to learn about insects more information. To do this, you can buy specialized literature or find cognitive articles in the Internet. In addition, there are many television channels and television programs that tell of the animal world;
- at the sight of an insect that causes fear and panic attacks, control your breathing and try not to run away;
- gradually convince himself that no harm will come from the insect, its dimensions are much inferior to the size of the human body, accordingly, it is much more defenseless and, most likely, too afraid;
- to visit pet stores, where insects are sold, to examine them through glass or an enclosure;
- In time, you can contact the most pleasant insects, for example, butterflies or ladybirds.