Phobia And Fear Of Bugs And Insects

A phobia of bugs or insects may cause a person to have an enormous amount of anxiety, panic attacks or even loss of consciousness. Some people may not like seeing a bug, but they are able to deal with it without experiencing a major anxiety attack. When the fear is irrational and over exaggerated, it may then be known as a phobia.

Entomophobia

The name for the fear of insects is Entomophobia. Some people have phobias of a specific insect or bug such as a spider, which is known as Arachnophobia. A fear of centipedes is known as Chilopodophobia.

Sometimes these phobias may affect the quality of a person's life. I have a phobia of bugs and insects and I have had anxiety attacks and excessive worry when encountering certain insects and bugs. The fear is so intense that I will think about the insect or bug for several hours after seeing it if it is inside my home or another person's home. I will have difficulty concentrating on anything else and thoughts of the insect or bug will take over my mind. I also experience shallow breathing, nausea and intense itching for a few days after seeing a certain insect or bug inside of the house.

Some people seem to have little to no problems getting rid of a bug, discarding it or putting it back outside. They are able to move on and go about their lives after encountering a bug. Of course, they may feel some kind of anxiety at first, but it usually does not ruin the rest of their day. A person with a bug phobia may get sick to their stomach with really bad nausea, a racing heart and sometimes a full blown anxiety attack with shortness of breath. There have been times where I have felt these symptoms and even times I have felt that I may lose consciousness or pass out.

If I encounter a particular insect or bug in the house, I will keep the lights in the house on all night. This causes me to lose sleep and I toss and turn, while scratching my skin, thinking that an insect or bug is crawling on me. The fear is so intense that it disrupts my life for a few days.

Help For Insect Or Bug Phobia

Do you experience similar symptoms after seeing an insect or bug? Is there a specific insect or bug that makes you feel terrified and interferes with your life? If so, then here are a few tips on how to try to calm your fears and keep your cool when you encounter an insect or bug.

Therapy

Speaking to a psychologist or mental health therapist may be helpful in overcoming your phobia. Mental health therapists may be able to provide help for several different phobias, including Entomophobia. If you feel that this phobia is something you would like to control, then talking to a therapist about it might be a good first step.

Exposure

Exposure and desensitization may be a way to treat this phobia. You may want to start out by looking at a photo of a bug or insect until you get used to seeing it. Look at it for a few seconds one day and then gradually increase the time you look at it by a minute or more. Then the next step might be watching videos of the bugs crawling or insects flying around.

Educate Yourself

You may want to read a book about insects and bugs or do an online search about a certain insect or bug to gain more information about it. You might also want to watch an educational video on bugs and insects. Sometimes gaining more knowledge about things that we fear may be beneficial in helping to overcome that fear. Also, it might be helpful to find ways to prevent certain insects or bugs from coming into your home or near it.

Visit An Insectarium

Visiting an insectarium is something you may want to do after reading about or looking at photos of insects and bugs. Some people may have fears of getting bit or stung by a particular bug or insect. Learning more about these creatures may help to lessen some of your fears. At an insectarium, there is the opportunity to be exposed to many different insects and bugs, but it may help to talk to people who have knowledge and experience working with them. This would be a big step in helping to conquer your phobia. It would give you plenty of exposure and after following these steps, you may be able to desensitize yourself and have less fear the next time you encounter a particular bug or insect.