Fear of elevators, or elevatophobia, as some call it, is a mixture of claustrophobia and agoraphobia combined with some negative experiences from the past. This phobia can range from mild to severe, and will usually get stronger if there are other existing fears or phobias combined.
Claustrophobia, or the fear of closed spaces, is very common with those who suffer from the fear of elevators. An elevator is a confined space where there is not much air coming in, as well as no options to escape. That’s why claustrophobic people are also afraid of elevators.
Similarly, agoraphobia is a fear of situations and places where you might start to panic. And an elevator is the exact opportunity of that. Once someone enters an elevator, there is practically no chance to escape; and this is exactly the type of situation agoraphobics fear. A person who becomes afraid of elevators at some point may refrain from using them for the rest of their lives. But can we solve this problem at all?
Causes of Elevator Fear
But what exactly triggers the fear of elevators? In essence, there are more possible causes of this fear. Here are the main causes of the fear of elevators.
- Claustrophobia. It’s the most common underlying fear that causes us to become afraid of elevators. A claustrophobic is afraid of enclosed spaces where there’s little to no air coming in. When they enter an elevator, they find themselves in exactly this type of situation. They will start to panic, lose breath, and even pass out.
- Agoraphobia. This is the fear of being trapped in a situation where there’s no escape, and which could potentially cause a panic attack. These are very common for people with agoraphobia – if they were to enter an elevator, they would panic as there would be no way of escaping. But not every agoraphobic is also afraid of elevators.
- Previous negative experiences. The elevator fear might also stem from negative experiences from the past that make the person afraid of using one. Perhaps they experienced an elevator shutdown or loss of power that caused an elevator to get stopped in its tracks. And that provided them with a negative experience which in turn, caused them to become afraid of elevators.
- Socially conditioned fear. The fear can come from secondary, external sources. For example, a family member that’s afraid of elevators might also cause their children to be afraid of elevators. This is rare, but it’s a cause that may be solved through exposure.
The symptoms of elevator fear are pretty clear, and they only usually happen when someone enters an elevator. In many cases, they’re similar to claustrophobia or agoraphobia. For someone suffering from claustrophobia, these symptoms will occur in other situations where they find themselves in enclosed situations.
The most common symptoms are:
- Excessive panic and panic attacks. This fear can escalate into a fully-fledged panic attack that can prevent a person from entering an elevator altogether. And panic attacks, if they are severe, can cause the person to pass out. These situations are rare, as the person avoids the elevator in the first place, but they do happen.
- Irrational fear of elevators. Sometimes, the fear is irrational and based on no particular previous negative experience. If it’s socially conditioned phobia, then we can try to resolve it through exposure.
- Excessive sweating, chills. Once the sufferer is even exposed to the possibility of using an elevator or just the mere sight of it might cause them to start sweating and feeling chills all over their bodies.
- Rapid heartbeat. This symptom is possibly the most common one, and if the heartbeat accelerates, there might be further associated symptoms, such as panic attacks, and even stroke.
- Nausea and vomiting. The person might start feeling various symptoms of malaise, including nausea and even vomiting in more severe cases.
- Dizziness. As a part of the panic attack, dizziness might start to take place, and the person can even fall out of consciousness.
- Disorientation, confusion. A sufferer of elevator fear will start to feel disorientated as a part of the panic attack and will feel confused about where they find themselves. Keeping a level head during a panic attack might be hard, but it’s possible with some practice.
Treatment Of The Fear Of Elevators
Whilst in no way life threatening a fear of elevators does interfere with quality of life to certain degrees. There are times when taking an elevator is pretty must a necessity. We’ve even known people turn down a great job opportunity because it meant taking an elevator frequently during evey working day. So don’t let it get in your way … hit it head on and beat your fear of elevators.
There are several proven methods of treatment with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy probably being the most well known.
Our recommendation is a self hypnosis program from Uncommon Knowledge called simply “Overcome Fear Of Elevators”
Overcome Fear Of Elevators
This treatment program for a fear of elevators is available as an audio download which you can listen to over and over again on any computer or audio device or via a free app. It’s an instant download so you can get ste=arted right away. Not only does this targetted program work (very effectively too) it is also highly cost effective at less than $15 (payable in your local currency) and it comes with a no quibbles money back guarantee.
Don’t take our word for it though – visit the official website and find out more >>>