EMDR. Today, this therapy is becoming more and more popular due to its results. It is known to be very effective for anxiety disorders, anger management difficulties, phobias and post-traumatic stress. 

What is EMDR?

Let’s start at the beginning. What does EMDR mean? It’s an acronym that stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and reprocessing“. Because yes, in this therapy, we will use the movement of your eyes!

It’s a psychotherapy developed in 1987 by Francine Shapiro, a psychologist.

The aim of the therapy is to reduce and extinguish the emotional charge associated with a traumatic memory or an anxious memory. It is therefore a psycho-neuro-biological therapy based on sensory stimulation.

How does EMDR therapy work?

A therapy consists of 8 different phases.

• Phase 1: First of all, you and your therapist will get to know each other, this is the starting point of the therapy. The therapist will make sure that you can be part of the people who can benefit from EMDR. He or she will discuss the reason for your consultation, your life history… the aim being to be as precise as possible.
• Phase 2: This is used to establish a climate of trust. The therapist will take the time to explain to you what EMDR is, what bilateral stimulation is… This is the moment when you should not hesitate to ask your questions!
• Phase 3: This is the target assessment. You are going to identify the traumatic event or the first event where you felt anxiety in the context of your phobia. You must therefore detail this event as much as possible. What are the emotions and physical sensations that appear when you think about this event.
• Phase 4 to 7: Start of memory reprocessing. This means that the practitioner will begin to use alternating bilateral stimulation. This stage will directly enable a progressive desensitisation by reprocessing the memories, triggers or obstacles.
• Phase 8: This phase consists of checking the therapeutic effects of the various sessions.  Based on this re-evaluation, the therapist will be able to adapt or add elements for the re-treatment.

The emergence of emotions can be intense when you are reliving the event but will quickly diminish. In addition, remember that the therapist is trained in this type of treatment and will be able to accompany you if the emotions become too intense.

When to use it?

It’s a therapy that can be used for different types of disorders: anxiety disorders, depression, all types of phobias, eating disorders, bereavement, chronic pain… It’s particularly recommended for traumatic situations (rape, attack, natural disaster…).

Undergoing EMDR therapy

• Does it really work? Does it work on everyone?

Indeed, it is not recommended for people suffering from personality disorders, cardiac disorders

• Who is trained in EMDR and where to get a therapy?

There are many EMDR training organisations in France. Anyone practising it has a diploma approved by EMDR France or Europe. Practitioners who may be oriented towards EMDR are psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists.

• How much does an EMDR session cost?

The price of a session varies depending on the therapist. Prices can range from 50 to 100 euros.

Is EMDR reimbursed?

The reimbursement depends mainly on the therapist who will perform the sessions. If your therapist is:

– A psychiatrist: Your sessions may be reimbursed.
– A psychologist: There is no reimbursement of sessions by the social security, however some mutual insurance companies reimburse a defined number of sessions
– Other therapists: No reimbursement from social security or mutual insurance companies

How long does an EMDR therapy session last?

A session can last from 1 to 2 hours. This time will vary according to the memory to be worked on. It can also be shorter for people with attentional difficulties or for children/adolescents. It is difficult to give a figure for the number of sessions needed. Indeed, it depends on the problems and traumas to be worked on. The first 2 to 3 sessions do not include EMDR, but allow you to get to know each other and to take stock of the reasons why you are seeking EMDR treatment. The number of sessions can vary from 2-3 sessions to about ten. Simple traumas (e.g. car accidents) will require fewer sessions than more complex traumas (e.g. repeated sexual abuse).

Can one practice EMDR alone?

Yes, self-EMDR can be practised at home for example. In order to get the best benefits from this practice, a small protocol must be followed:

1. This first step consists of informing and training you in the practice. There are several possibilities: You can start by doing a few sessions with a therapist to understand this practice. Small training courses exist by EMDR professionals: These courses can be done online
2. Find a calm and serene place in your home where you can practice EMDR
3. Choose the right position to perform the exercises
   • Sit on a chair, stool or on the floor. The aim is to be in a comfortable sitting position for you
   • You can leave your legs crossed or stretched
   • You can cross your arms and place your hands on your chest. This position will help you to do the tapping
4. Make sure you have an acceptable heart rate. You can start by doing some cardiac coherence in order to find a stable heart rate
5. You can start practising EMDR. As when you are accompanied by a therapist, you can immerse yourself again in the memory responsible for your anxiety. Immerse yourself completely in this memory, using your different senses: sight, sounds around you, physical sensations felt, smells and tastes in your mouth at that time. As soon as the memory begins to appear, you can move on to the next step.
6. You can begin to clap your hands on your chest while moving your eyes from right to left.While doing this exercise, pay attention to the sounds made by the clapping of your hands on your chest.
7. Then, as you continue to clap your hands, move your eyes, and focus your attention on the sounds you are making, you can begin to think of positive memories and let these memories gradually take over.
8. Repeat the exercise as many times as necessary

What is the difference between fear and phobia? It is not always easy to differentiate between the two.  Perhaps you are affected by fears in your personal or professional life, but can you really speak of a phobia? When should we start working on it? We often hear people talk about phobias, let’s see together what we mean by the word “phobia” and how you can be accompanied in order to be more serene in certain environments or situations. So, what is really the difference between fear and phobia?

Fear is a normal, occasional emotion that is triggered by a potential real danger. Fear will trigger psychological and physiological mechanisms to protect oneself from this situation (face or flee for example). Thus, if I am faced with a wild animal that is dangerous to me, my whole body will prepare to flee from this situation by providing the necessary blood supply to the different parts of my body. This fear will therefore allow me to protect myself in the face of a real danger. We can compare this fear to a house alarm for example. A properly set house alarm will go off when an intruder enters the house, but will not go off when the cat moves around the house. Fear, like the house alarm, is able to detect real danger. 

If this fear is triggered too often, becomes irrational, uncontrollable and very intense, the alarm is no longer adapted to the real danger. It’s like a badly set house alarm, which will go off as soon as the cat goes to the toilet or a dust falls from the kitchen table. In the case of a phobia, the (reptilian) brain will have a wrong interpretation of the situation and will activate the alarm signal for situations that do not have a real and immediate danger.

For example: if you are walking in the forest and while walking there is the bush next to you which moves a little. Your attention will be directed towards this bush, will quickly analyse the situation to see if there is danger or not, if there is no real danger you will continue your way and forget this event. For a person who suffers from phobia: when passing by this bush that moves slightly, his brain will immediately raise an alarm of danger, with a whole bunch of related catastrophic thoughts (I’m sure it’s a wild animal that’s going to jump on me and bite me; it’s a huge snake that’s looking at me and is waiting for only one thing – to jump on me …). The analysis of the situation will be directed only towards the worst that could happen, will trigger all the mechanisms related to the danger, and the person will flee quickly. There is also a good chance that the person will never want to go through places like this again and will therefore start avoiding them. This incident will not be forgotten, but will mark the person as a time when the fear was extremely intense.

What are the most common phobias?

Phobias are classified into 3 main categories: 

• Specific phobias: Specific phobias are also called simple phobias. It is an abnormal fear of an object or situation. This category of phobias includes more than 6000 different phobias. 
• Social phobia: Is a phobia related to social activities or performance situations. People suffering from social phobia will have an excessive fear of the gaze of others or the judgment of others. In this social phobia we find the fear of speaking, the fear of symptoms related to anxiety (fear of blushing, fear of trembling…) 
• Agoraphobia: may be accompanied by panic disorder. People suffering from this phobia will be afraid of being in public places from which they cannot escape in case of need. People will therefore be afraid to go shopping, or even to leave their homes… This agoraphobia can occur in enclosed spaces or, on the contrary, in large areas.

It is difficult to make a classification of the most widespread phobias. The distribution of phobias will not be the same, depending on the studies, the places… However, we regularly find: social phobia, agoraphobia as well as several specific phobias such as acrophobia (fear of heights), zoophobia (fear of animals) and brontophobia (fear of thunderstorms), arachnophobia (fear of spiders), aviophobia (fear of flying)…

What causes phobia?

There are several possible causes for the development of phobias: 

• Genetic cause: So far, studies have not been able to demonstrate a genetic factor in the development of phobias 
• Educational cause: Parents who suffer from a phobia themselves will transmit a greater vulnerability to their child. If one of your parents has a fear of heights (acrophobia) and has told you throughout your childhood “be careful with it”, “don’t go near it, it’s dangerous”…
• Traumatic causes: The development of phobias can also be explained by traumatic events: If, for example, you have had a serious car accident, this can lead to a high level of anxiety about driving again and thus to amaxophobia (driving phobia). Trauma can also be created by witnessing an event (e.g. seeing a plane crash on television).

It is sometimes very difficult or impossible to identify the causes of the development of a phobia. Not knowing the exact cause or causes does not impact the therapy or its success.

How to overcome the phobia?

Today, one therapy in particular has proven itself in the treatment of phobias. CBTs are cognitive-behavioural therapies. Professionals trained in this type of therapy will accompany you and help you to face up to anxiety-provoking situations. Of course, rest assured, even if your anxiety will rise, the exposures to anxiety-provoking environments are sufficiently gradual that the anxiety does not rise too high. These exposures can be done in different ways: through the imagination, through virtual reality or directly on the ground in reality. While exposing you, he will help you to identify your anxiety, the physical sensations and the catastrophic thoughts that occur during the exposures. The principle of the therapy will be to work on these 3 poles: 

• Behaviour: avoid avoidance by staying in the anxiety-provoking situation 
• Emotions: the therapist will provide you with different tools to manage your emotions 
• Thoughts: Identify unrealistic thoughts and gradually change them into more realistic ones. 

The number of sessions required varies according to the person and the problem, but on average it takes about 12 sessions to extinguish the phobia.

Other therapies can be used for phobias such as hypnosis, EMDR…

Drug treatments: 

Drug treatments can also be prescribed for phobias. The most successful drugs are antidepressants, as these have a more extensive effect. 

The definition of Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is that it is an extremely common condition with harmful consequences for health and quality of life. It is a member of the family of anxiety disorders, along with phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and OCD. It refers to a pathological state of permanent anxiety that interferes with daily life and causes suffering.

Pathological anxiety?

Worrying to cope with ‘dangers

“No matter how much I’m reasoned with, I can’t help it.”

GAD, like all anxiety disorders, is progressive. While it may be possible to cope with their initial manifestations through coping strategies, they gradually take over your daily life and prevent you from living normally. These constant disturbances expose you to many health risks, mainly the development of other disorders (severe depression). However, there are real solutions to generalized anxiety and effective treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapies.

How does generalized anxiety develop?

A hereditary predisposition to anxiety?

A characteristic mode of operation

Each person experiences the situation in their own way, and the symptoms of fear of vomiting may vary according to your own experience. However, there are similarities in each case. 

What are the symptoms of anxiety related to the fear of vomiting?

The symptoms of fear of vomiting include, in the first instance, it is found that every gastrointestinal sign (noises, movement etc.) is perceived as a danger and may lead to an anxiety attack. These sensations can be physical or psychological.

Physical sensations

Therefore, the panic attack may cause an increased heart rate, breathing difficulties (hyperventilation or hypoventilation), tingling, muscle tension, dizziness, chest pain, trembling, sweating, a drop in heart temperature, feelings of tightness, chills, and nausea.

This nausea reinforces the difficulty and anxiety of the situation. Indeed, the fear of vomiting is already present, and symptoms include nausea. You therefore enter a vicious circle where the anxiety of the situation reinforces the symptoms of the fear of vomiting.

Psychological sensations

It is possible that some of your physical sensations bring about psychological sensations or thoughts related to your feelings.

Indeed, you may feel, for example, a sensation of suffocation or even strangulation that worries you. You also sometimes have the feeling that you are no longer yourself, that you are a spectator of your life, that you no longer control anything. You have the feeling that the situation is completely out of your control and that you are no longer in control of your body, your thoughts or your ideas, which gives you a feeling of unreality of the situation, sometimes to the point of feeling like you are going crazy.

Finally, you have this strong feeling of not being able to manage anything anymore that it can go as far as the feeling of dying.

What are the consequences of emetophobia on daily life?

The fear of vomiting is all around you, and brings various symptoms and consequences. This inevitably has consequences in your daily life, in the longer or shorter term, with varying degrees of intensity.

Avoiding outings

Going out of the house means running the risk of meeting people coming home from a party, or running into someone who is ill and can infect you (with a stomach bug for example). You therefore limit your activities, so that you are not regularly in the company of other people. In short, you avoid all places where there is a risk of people coming together and where you could possibly vomit or see someone vomiting. This implies a risk of de-schooling or de-professionalisation.

Distancing yourself from all potentially “dangerous” situations

Anxiety about nausea is so great that all situations that could possibly generate nausea are avoided: transport, places with unpleasant smells, and for women even avoiding getting pregnant for fear of nausea or seeing their baby vomit once it is born.

Social isolation

You are afraid of many situations, so you no longer dare to take part in certain activities proposed by those around you or by your colleagues. Firstly, because you are afraid of having anxiety attacks with these people. Secondly, because you don’t dare talk about it around you. You are afraid that people will find out, that they will judge you, that they will not understand you. So you prefer to decline proposals, avoid situations and stay in places where you feel safe. But as time goes by, you realise that you are losing friends, that those close to you are offering you fewer activities, and you feel increasingly alone.

Constant fears

Today, you fear many situations. Whether it is outside, inside, or even your own. In fact, you are even afraid of your own body. You don’t always trust it, you fear it will fail. You are afraid that at any moment it will reject the food you have ingested, that it will fall ill, that it will not resist alcoholic drinks sufficiently… This fear limits you greatly in your activities but also in your hopes of recovery. These anxieties and all the consequences they have can lead you to have negative or even black ideas, and tend towards depression or even suicidal thoughts.

Professional or educational consequences

While emetophobia affects all spheres of life, symptoms of the fear of vomiting necessarily impacts on your job or schooling. Being in the workplace means that you run the risk of someone getting sick in front of you or passing on their illness. It also means having to eat in the canteen or self-service restaurant when you don’t know where the food comes from. It is also possible that the toilets in the school are not perfectly clean and make you sick. Your diet is affected, your body changes, you are afraid of other people’s judgement and also prefer to avoid them at all costs.

What other conditions can be linked to emetophobia?

Emetophobia is often associated with four phobias: agoraphobia, anxiety disorder, hypochondria or social phobia. It is true that for a long time, emetophobia was considered ‘only’ as a comorbidity linked to these anxieties. But, little by little, researchers have realised that it is an anxiety in its own right and that the other associated phobias are the consequence of this suffering from vomiting.

Agoraphobia

Indeed, since you avoid all situations where people or yourself are likely to vomit, you avoid many public places and create anxiety in many similar situations. You avoid being in crowded places, because this increases the risk of running into a sick person. You avoid empty spaces, because you don’t know how to get out of this situation and go to a place that reassures you. You hate places that are too closed, because you feel trapped in situations that make you feel uncomfortable.

Social phobia

In the same way as agoraphobia, social situations make you anxious. You worry about any situation that might lead you to see vomit or to vomit yourself. So you avoid people because they are ‘dangerous’ and a risk to you. You also fear that they will notice your anxiety. You do not want to have a panic attack in front of others. So you prefer to avoid all places where people are likely to be present.

Eating disorders

In addition to phobias, eating disorders may accompany this phobia. Indeed, you tend to control all the food you eat. At first, you avoid eating out, because you don’t have enough knowledge about what you might eat. Then you make your own food, making sure you don’t put in heavy food and checking the expiry dates. Ideally, you try to eat frozen food to maximise the chance that the bacteria are dead. Finally, you hardly ever eat, if at all, because you are far too afraid of eating something that might make you vomit. So you pay particular attention to your food in all its forms, whether it is prepared, preserved or eaten. All this is a great source of anxiety for you.

Hypochondria

Similarly, your anxiety can also lead to hypochondria. This is because you are so afraid of getting sick and risking vomiting. So you have obsessive thoughts about hygiene, and even have health rituals that make you feel safer.

Some tips for dealing with emetophobia

Don’t be afraid to talk about it

It is not always easy to talk about your emetophobia. First of all, because it is a fear that is still not well known, and that people do not talk about. Around you, you may not know anyone who has the same fear and so you find it difficult to express yourself on this subject.

It is also possible that you are afraid of other people’s judgement. People around you minimise your anxiety, comparing it to the disgust they may feel when they see vomit. You therefore feel little understood, little supported, and alone in your anxiety.

Moreover, you may not know where to turn. If you don’t feel understood or you don’t dare to talk about it to those around you, you can talk to your doctor or make an appointment with a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Talk to health professionals who will be able to refer you, if necessary, to other health professionals who are more competent to treat your anxiety. It is possible that you are talking to a professional who has little knowledge of the subject or who is not interested in it, and that he or she is not benevolent enough to reassure you about it. If you do not have a clear and reassuring answer, do not hesitate to talk to someone else.

It is also possible that you do not talk about it because you are afraid of being confronted with questions such as “What is it that scares you?” or “Why are you afraid of it? You may not be able to describe what you are afraid of or you may not have the answer. You are afraid of something that is difficult to describe by yourself and you are afraid that you will be discredited for your anxiety.

Take time to understand your anxiety

Don’t let the anxiety get to you without understanding it. Try to ask yourself: what is it that is making me anxious? Is it the fear of being afraid? Is it the fear of losing control of yourself? Can this anxiety be linked to an event that you are aware of? When does your anxiety start to appear? What are the things that are most distressing?

Asking yourself about all these elements and about your anxiety will allow you to rationalise by understanding point by point how it manifests itself.

Managing your panic attack

When you feel the panic attack coming on, take time to breathe, slowly, deeply. Breathe in calmly through your nose, then out through your mouth. Don’t be afraid of the emotions you may be experiencing, and take the time to try to see what is happening in your body and within you. Whatever you can feel physically.

Think of a pleasant moment that you have experienced, a moment that makes you feel good. Try to feel all those sensations that you could feel in that good moment.

Then try to pay special attention to some of the things you see around you, some of the sounds, some of the things you can touch or smell and taste. Take time to describe everything, and to feel everything.

How to treat emetophobia?

Early treatment prevents the symptoms of the fear of vomiting from worsening or spreading to other anxieties (social phobia, agoraphobia, eating disorders, etc.). It is therefore important to think about it, to dare to talk about it, and to treat it as soon as possible.

Think of talking about it to someone you trust (GP, psychologist, psychiatrist or any other health professional) who will be able to help you and guide you. It is possible that if your emetophobia is developed and you suffer from anorexia, you may be offered hospitalisation. This may not be the right thing for you, but this disorder is still too little known for all the professionals to be aware of your real suffering. So don’t hesitate to talk about it with your doctor.

In everyday life

Remember not to avoid all situations that may be distressing to you. Try to continue to do some activities that do not make you feel too comfortable, without generating too much anxiety. Remember to breathe well and pay particular attention to your breathing. If it makes you feel better, be accompanied.

As soon as you have the opportunity, make an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychologist to help you.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has proven to be particularly effective in the treatment of phobias and in particular emetophobia. Indeed, cognitive behavioural therapies suggest that the phobia has arisen as a result of events (traumatic or not) and that it is possible to extinguish the anxiety linked to the situation in the same way.

It is true that when one suffers from emetophobia, one will avoid situations. For example, one will not take transport, go to alcoholic parties, go to buffet restaurants, avoid fresh produce etc. This seems coherent, we will not naturally expose ourselves to situations that are difficult for us, and that make us anxious. And yet, this behaviour reinforces anxiety about the situation, as it is therefore associated with negative automatic thoughts such as “I can’t go to my colleague’s farewell party, as the team may drink to excess and one of them may vomit”. The approach should therefore be the opposite: the more we expose ourselves to a situation, the less anxious it is, as we get used to it.

The aim of cognitive-behavioural therapies is therefore to make a gradual and progressive exposure to the situation that is anxiety-provoking for you, in order to, little by little, extinguish the intensity and duration of the anxiety. In the case of emetophobia, you will first be exposed in easier contexts, before you come to see someone vomiting in the toilet after a drunken evening for example. With gradual exposure, you will get used to the situation and regain serenity.

In addition, in parallel to this “physical” work, the psychologist specialised in CBT works with you on the automatic thoughts you have about the situation and on the management of your emotions.

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET)

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy is part of the cognitive therapy stream. The principles and objectives are therefore similar, but with the possibility of exposure to the environments in a safe place, where the psychologist has control over the whole environment. Indeed, the gradual and progressive aspect is facilitated and feasible in all circumstances: the psychologist makes all the adjustments and chooses the environment adapted to your situation. He can remove or add certain anxiety-provoking stimuli at any time. The psychologist accompanies you, step by step, and directly in the situation, providing you with alternative strategies, techniques for managing your emotions, and tools for understanding and apprehending your automatic thoughts. This technique will allow you to replace dysfunctional thoughts with more functional ones and to overcome the anxieties linked to the situation.

Virtual reality allows you to (re)experience all anxiety-provoking situations, whatever and wherever they may be. You can therefore understand your anxiety, while decreasing its intensity and duration, until your situational or anticipatory panic attacks are completely extinguished. You see the results gradually and are aware of them. You gradually regain your self-confidence and increase your self-esteem in these situations.

Access to anxiety-provoking situations and contexts is thus facilitated, you see gradual results and you will gradually regain serenity. Virtual reality will quickly allow you to see these results. In a few weeks, you will be able to get rid of these anxieties.

Zoophobia is a fear of animals. This phobia is quite common in young children and for some people it persists into adulthood. For people with zoophobia, this condition can be very destabilising and distressing.

Understanding zoophobia better

A person suffering from zoophobia has an intense, obsessive and irrational fear of all animals, large and small, in an undifferentiated way or of a specific animal (cats, dogs, snakes, spiders, etc.). In this case, the fear of animals is considered as a specific phobia. It is then given its own name: entomophobia, for example, refers to the fear of insects.

Zoophobia should not be confused with the sensitive fear of dangerous or threatening animals, such as the fear of wild bears or poisonous snakes. These are anxious reactions out of proportion to the actual threat. Most of the time, it occurs in anticipation or in front of animals that do not show any aggressive behaviour. It is therefore a fear that regularly causes misunderstanding, distress and/or concrete dysfunction in the individual’s daily life.

The causes of this phobia are multiple

Understanding the cause of the fear of animals is an important part of therapy. Zoophobia often originates in childhood and can be attributed to a traumatic event with an animal. For example, in the majority of cases of cynophobia – the fear of dogs – it is triggered at an early age as a result of a bite or attack, even if this did not necessarily lead to an injury. The risk is then systematically overestimated and each dog is perceived as a threat that the individual will try by all means to avoid in a self-preservation perspective. The repetition of these behaviours reinforces the trauma and favours the appearance of panic attacks at the mention or contact of the object of the phobia. 

Phobic behaviour towards animals can also come from the people around you. Indeed, if you systematically see your parents or relatives being very anxious in the presence of one or more animals, sometimes to the point of preventing you from having any contact with them, you will have a much greater chance of developing zoophobia, even if there is no traumatic experience at its source. Education also plays a major role in the propensity to feel anxiety. A family circle that overemphasises the risks of every situation will again make you much more prone to anxiety disorders such as zoophobia.

The symptoms of animal phobia

The symptoms that are usually associated with zoophobia are often those that are also found in panic disorders in general. They are also common to most specific phobias but also to complex phobias such as agoraphobia or social phobias. Thus, if a zoophobic person is confronted with the object of his or her fear, he or she may experience one or more of the following particularly distressing manifestations:

• Difficulty breathing, hyperventilation
• Panic attack
• Increased blood pressure and heart rate
• Dizziness, discomfort
• Nausea
• Vital need to escape
• Hyperstress, anxiété
  

Depending on your degree of zoophobia, these emotional reactions can be extremely intense and difficult to bear. The problem is that they are mostly systematic. As a result, you will develop a very strong tendency to avoid all risky situations, which can be a real handicap in your life in the long term, especially at the social and family level, preventing you, for example, from visiting family members who might have a pet.

Possible treatments for zoophobia

Zoophobia is nowadays very treatable. Cognitive-behavioural therapies (CBT) are currently the most indicated treatment method because of their effectiveness and the rapid results they show. These therapies are structured around :

• elaboration sessions in which the person with zoophobia talks in depth about his or her panic fear and reactions, both physical and psychological, with the therapist in order to explore the causes and possible sources of the fear;
• desensitisation sessions in which they are exposed to animals or images of animals to become familiar with them. In in vivo exhibitions, therapy animals have been specially trained for the treatment of people in distress.

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapies (VRET) to treat zoophobia

The anxiety felt by zoophobic people is often too intense to consider confronting the animal directly. Virtual reality therefore offers a relevant and practical alternative to overcome this difficulty. It works on the same principle as CBT, seeking to make the fearful reactions to animals disappear completely through repeated exposure, with the important difference that the individual will be immersed in a realistic virtual world that has been entirely recreated. With the help of the therapist, he or she will be able to practice emotional management techniques in a risk-free environment and gradually regain confidence in his or her ability to deal with this type of situation.

Drug treatments

People with zoophobia can also take medication to manage zoophobia. This option is usually used in cases where people suffer from such severe fear and anxiety that other types of therapy cannot be undertaken directly. Medication will be used to ease the phobic reaction to animals so that the patient and therapist can then work together in sessions and develop a plan for the patient to work on at home to control their fear.

If you recognise yourself in the description of a zoophobic person, it is quite possible that you do indeed suffer from zoophobia on some level. As with many phobic disorders, this can be quite difficult to fully accept. Some phobias are the result of past experiences, while others may be inherent in you, regardless of the contact you have had with the source of your fear. More likely, it is a combination of both, but if your history with animals is becoming increasingly problematic, you may want to seek professional help to get your life back on track.

Emergency tips!

However, if you find yourself facing an animal that terrorises you and you feel completely helpless, there are some useful strategies to know about in order to get out of this mess. Beware: these are by no means lasting solutions for recovering from your disorder.

The most important thing to do when faced with such situations is to try to control your breathing. The increase in your anxiety level when faced with a situation that you strongly fear will generally lead to an increase in your breathing and heart rate, which in turn will increase your anxiety level. You can then carry out heart coherence breathing exercises such as square breathing (breathe in through your nose, hold your breath, breathe out, then hold your breath for the same length of time for each step). This should help to bring your anxiety levels down and restore a modicum of serenity.

If you are accompanied, do not hesitate to ask for help from the person who is with you and rely on him or her. He or she can physically help you if the bodily sensations you are feeling are too disturbing for you to move forward normally. But it is important to realise that seeing someone react calmly to a situation that your brain identifies as a great danger will help you to better control your anxiety at the moment, but also in the future. 

Finally, the last recommendation is also the best known: if you are confronted with an animal that is considered harmless, it is better to avoid running. When you run, you draw the animal’s attention to you and it will tend to follow you. Therefore, try to concentrate on your breathing, ask for help from people you trust and keep going even if you are very slow.

Often associated with astraphobia, which is the fear of thunderstorms, or kerunophobia, the fear of lightning, brontophobia is the excessive fear of thunder. It is one of the ten most common phobias in the world and affects not only children, but also adults and animals. 

Most of us startle at the rumble of thunder and do not develop other symptoms. However, the opposite is true for people with brontophobia, for whom the fear is uncontrollable. They are not always able to calm their fear and, without help, they feel completely threatened during storms. This phobia is more common among children.

Brontophobia in children

First of all, it is important to realise that the vast majority of children are afraid of storms. This is a normal reaction, as these are natural phenomena that can be very frightening for them. Even if a storm does not usually last very long, the strong wind, the lightning, the darkening of the sky and above all the sudden thunder are more than legitimate reasons to frighten anyone, especially if they do not understand what is going on – which is generally the case for children. 

Therefore, it is not uncommon to see a child screaming, crying, or hiding under the bed to escape the storm. These behaviours are manifestations of the intense anxiety that the child feels when lightning strikes. Sometimes this can even lead to a panic attack. To avoid this, it is essential to reassure your child with comforting words and to make him/her understand that thunderstorms are a natural phenomenon that presents risks, it is true, but that one can easily protect oneself from them. 

To do this, it may be useful to start by offering a rational explanation adapted to your child’s level of understanding, namely that a thunderstorm is a meteorological phenomenon in which the cumulonimbus – the “big clouds” – become charged with an electrical voltage attracted to the earth, producing an electric arc between the sky and the ground. Explaining is unfortunately not enough to bring down the anxiety sufficiently, so it is also necessary to create a diversion. A very good way to do this is to calculate together how far away the storm is from where you are by counting the number of seconds between the lightning and the thunder and multiplying this number by 350, which is the number of metres the sound travels in one second. The most important part of this reassurance is to listen and take into account the emotions your child is expressing. Acting as if this anxiety is totally irrational because there is no reason to fear the storm can quickly prove to be counterproductive and encourage avoidance in the child, which could then lead to the development of a real phobia in the near future. 

However, this reassuring posture can be difficult for many parents to adopt as many adults also have a deep-seated fear of thunder and storms.

Brontophobia in adults

If this is your case, consoling a child in a storm will indeed be particularly complex because although your words may emphasise the positive outcome of the situation, non-verbal language will tend to betray your real emotions. Therefore, if you also feel an irrepressible need to flee and very distressed even when you are completely safe, you are most likely brontophobic.

The symptoms of fear of thunder

People who suffer from brontophobia are often filled with anxiety during thunderstorms, even if they are safe in their homes. Like most phobias, panic attacks, crying, sweating and rapid heartbeat can occur when the person is in the grip of their fear.

What is unique about brontophobia, however, is that most brontophobes will seek out company to reassure them during a storm. This can greatly reduce the severity of their symptoms. People with brontophobia may also try to hide from a storm, by covering their ears or climbing into cupboards. They will also pay attention to the possibility that a storm is approaching much closer than other people, feeling an impending sense of dread that is likely to make their symptoms worse.

The symptoms caused by brontophobia are numerous:

• Anxiety during storms 

• A strong interest or even obsession with monitoring weather patterns 

• The need to seek company during a storm 

• The desire to hide from the storm 

• The refusal to leave one’s home because of the potential danger of storms. 

In extreme cases, brontophobes may become obsessed with watching weather reports and tracking storms in rainy weather. Sometimes they may even refuse to leave the house without first checking the weather to see if they will be safe. International pop star Madonna, for example, has admitted to being highly brontophobic. She says she cannot take part in an outdoor concert until she has consulted several weather reports from different sources confirming that there will be no storms.

Thus, the fear of thunderstorms can even lead to a kind of agoraphobia, where the person suffering from brontophobia refuses to leave her house because no other place is safe. Panic attacks can also have a detrimental effect on a person’s body, with symptoms worsening over time if not treated properly.

Combating brontophobia

Distraction is often the first key to treating brontophobia, which is one reason why having company during a storm can help alleviate the symptoms. If the phobia is more severe, professional help may be needed.

Cognitive and behavioural therapies (CBT) are the most effective treatment approach. With the help of the therapist, the person with brontophobia gradually frees himself from his fear. CBT works on two essential fronts. On the one hand, the brontophobic individual is gradually exposed to the object of his or her phobia to enable him or her to become accustomed to and desensitised to the sight of a storm, which will then no longer provoke the disproportionate emotional reactions as before. The therapist also works on the irrational beliefs, the automatic and catastrophic thoughts that arise each time a storm is mentioned, because it is these deep-rooted ideas that mainly motivate the fear.

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapies (VRET) to treat brontophobia

However, confronting the brontophobic person, even gradually, with the storm can be complicated on a practical level but also because of the intense anxiety felt. Virtual reality offers a relevant alternative to overcome these difficulties. It works on the same principle as CBT by seeking to make the fear reactions to the storm disappear completely through repeated exposure. To do this, the individual will be immersed in a fully recreated virtual world where he or she can, with the help of the therapist, effectively implement emotion management techniques such as relaxation using breathing exercises that can be mobilised in a virtual environment as well as in reality. Virtual reality therapies therefore enable the patient to regain confidence in his or her ability to face this type of situation and to regain freedom from the phobia.

What to do in the event of a storm

There are a few rules to be aware of in the event of a storm to ensure that you are completely safe and to help control your anxiety. These recommendations are based on the following two central principles: 

• Lightning always seeks the shortest route to the ground. It therefore strikes anything that sticks out
• Conductive materials struck by lightning can electrocute you.

Therefore, in stormy weather, it is strongly advised:

If you are outside :

• Do not use an umbrella, especially one with a metal shaft
• Do not take shelter under a tree
• Keep as far away as possible from metal structures and bodies of water
• Avoid running
• In groups, spread out as much as possible.

By car: you are completely safe inside the vehicle.  If the storm is accompanied by heavy rain, you can pull over and wait for the storm to pass.

At home, baths and showers should be avoided during the storm. You can unplug household appliances to avoid the risk of a power surge.