Index
What is insect phobia?Because we are afraid of insectsSymptoms of entomophobiaExaggerated fear of insects: the meaningInsect phobia: all or just some?Entomophobia: Is there a cure?How to help children with a fear of insectsEntomophobia in mass culture
Bees, spiders, ants, cockroaches… insects can cause a certain feeling of disgust for their decidedly particular aesthetic appearance. For some, however, disgust turns into a real phobia , an irrational and uncontrollable fear that triggers physical and psychological reactions of a certain intensity, and which can even compromise everyday life.
In this article we will explore the fear of insects which, in cases of phobic disorder, becomes a real phobia of insects .
What is insect phobia?
Let’s start with what insect phobia is called. In psychology, it is called entomophobia . The etymology of the word entomophobia has Greek roots and derives from the combination of entomòs – insect and phobos – fear. Literally, so entomophobia is the fear of insects .
Entomophobia is a form of zoophobia and, like arachnophobia , is one of the fears of animals that is classified in the DSM-5 as a specific phobia within anxiety disorders . Does entomophobia have a psychological meaning? And what are the most common symptoms? And again, how to overcome the fear of insects?
Because we are afraid of insects
Entomophobia can have several causes, like many other types of phobias. Why are you afraid of insects? There are two fundamental reasons:
- “prehistoric” reason: many studies hypothesize that phobias have roots in human evolution. Fear, moreover, is a very useful emotion, because it allows the body and mind to react promptly to a situation perceived as dangerous. Probably, even with regard to phobias there is a certain evolutionary and, as some argue, also genetic heredity (an example is this study on anxiety disorders to which, we recall, phobias belong);
- psychological reason : among the causes of psychological entomophobia there may be a trauma, perhaps experienced in childhood, or a situation only observed and not experienced firsthand which, however, has left a mark. Furthermore, the so-called vicarious learning can occur , i.e. learning that arises from observing the behavior of others. For example, a child’s fear of insects may be caused by a parent’s previous entomophobia, or by the fact that a parent has not encouraged the child to cultivate a healthy relationship with animals.
Karolina Grabowska – Pexels
Symptoms of entomophobia
How to recognize entomophobia? Now that we know why insects trigger fear, let’s try to understand if there are any symptoms to which we can associate a diagnosis of phobia and not simple fear or disgust. As with other types of phobic disorders, entomophobia also manifests itself with physical and psychological symptoms, such as:
- physical symptoms : sweating, tachycardia and increased blood pressure, nausea, dizziness;
- psychological symptoms : anxiety attacks , anguish, brooding, panic attacks , avoidance of situations in which one can “run the risk” of encountering the phobic object.
Let’s remember that, for it to be a phobia, the person must find himself suffering consequences on his own life . In the case of entomophobia, for example, the irrational phobia of insects can lead the person to not have contact with nature : he will not take a walk in the park, in a garden or in the forest for fear of being able to even see a insect.
Exaggerated fear of insects: the meaning
Especially in the case in which it is not a trauma experienced in the first person (such as being attacked by a swarm of bees), entomophobia can hide a fear of the unknown and which, for this reason, arouses the thought that it is probably danger. But why is man afraid of insects?
Insects are animals which, over the centuries, have been invested with a vast and varied symbolism : in the Bible we read that one of the plagues of Egypt was the invasion of locusts, a symbol of destruction and the power of evil.
Crickets, beetles and flies had the same negative meaning, while some of the insects considered “positive” could be bees, a symbol of industriousness, or ladybugs, still a symbol of luck today. The psychoanalytic meaning of this phobia will therefore be sought on the basis of what the insect symbolizes for the person who fears it.
With such a deep-rooted negative representation, it is no wonder that the reputation of many insects has always been that of animals to be feared or repulsed, also due to their physical structure. At the sight of an insect, an entomophobic person may experience:
- the phobia of feeling insects on one’s body
- the fear of insects under the covers or in the house
- the fear of buzzing insects
- the phobia of insects in the ears
- the fear of killing insects.
In short, a person suffering from entomophobia can experience the phobic disorder as truly disabling and, from the short list we have just seen, it seems that there cannot be suitable places for entomophobics , given the great diffusion of numerous species of insects!
But which are the most scary insects? What is the fear of ants called? And what is the fear of bedbugs called?
Insect phobia: all or just some?
We have seen what entomophobia and symptoms depend on but, within the phobia itself, there are a series of variations that define the phobia towards a specific insect . A person may therefore suffer from:
- cimephobia : the phobia of bedbugs
- papiliophobia : the phobia of butterflies
- blatophobia : the phobia of cockroaches
- myrmecophobia : the phobia of ants.
Furthermore, one may have a phobia of flying insects , large or small insects , stinging insects , and still a phobia of orthoptera insects including grasshoppers, crickets and locusts.
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Entomophobia: Is there a cure?
As with many other phobias such as agoraphobia , megalophobia , vomiting phobia , fear of long words or even fears that are not quite phobias such as trypophobia , the most effective solution is psychological therapy . This, through the use of psychotherapy techniques such as graduated exposure , aims to guide the person to a different management of the anxiety caused by the phobia itself.
More than one entomophobia test has also been developed, such as the one created by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Sessions with an expert can help the person understand what lies behind her phobia and how not to be afraid of insects.
How to help children with a fear of insects
As we have seen, insects can arouse reactions of fear and disgust even in the little ones . The fear of insects in children is manifested by distancing behaviors, but also by reactions such as crying, withdrawing into oneself and silence. At the sight of the animal, children could therefore have a “block” or run away reaction. How to get rid of the fear of insects in children?
Parents can be of great support for children who are afraid of insects, first of all by promoting knowledge of their function within our ecosystems . Explaining how insects behave in their natural habitat can dispel the irrational beliefs that fuel fear.
Adults can then help children overcome their fear of insects by validating their emotions , while encouraging them to face the feared situations: “I understand that you are afraid, it is true that crickets can jump, but they won’t hurt you. Let’s watch them together.”
When it limits daily activities, insect phobia in children becomes disabling . For example, the child could refuse to go play in the park for fear of running into the dreaded insect. In these cases, parental help alone may not be enough . A professional specialized in this disorder (such as a Unobravo online psychotherapist ) will be able to gradually lead the child to overcome the phobia of insects and live with them .
Entomophobia in mass culture
The world of insects causes disgust but also fascination and, as we have seen, for centuries these animals have been invested with symbolic and metaphorical meanings. Even the media and culture have dealt with the theme of insects from innumerable points of view.
Among the films that we can mention there is, for example, Phenomena by Dario Argento, in which horror and yellow intertwine creating a remarkable suspense, or the TV series The Perfection , which also aroused symptoms such as nausea and vomiting in viewers during the watching some scenes.
A book that can help parents deal with a child’s fear of insects is The Secret World of Insects. A guide to the discovery of the most incredible and numerous animals on the planet , an illustrated book written by the entomologist Marco Di Domenico which helps the little ones to familiarize themselves with different species of insects, understand how they are made and what role they play within the ecosystem