What are you afraid of? But we are talking about excessive and irrational fear, as much as to avoid that stimulus that can be an object, an animal, a sensation and also a place. This is the case of phobia of elevators, a problem linked to other phobic disorders and that must be resolved as soon as possible because it limits the life of the person who suffers from it. In our dictionary we tell you everything about the fear of elevators and their solutions.
Why do you have a phobia of elevators?
We are used to those strange and complicated names that define our terrors and phobias, but in this case there is no specific name. Elevator phobia is left without its corresponding word because it is thought that it is not a phobic disorder as such, but rather a derivative of two other phobias.
On the one hand, the phobia of elevators can be an obvious sign of claustrophobia or fear of enclosed spaces. And, on the other hand, it can come from a problem with acrophobia or fear of heights. Nor do we rule out that, on occasions, the phobia of elevators comes from both fears at the same time.
But, in any case, we find ourselves with the impossibility of entering an elevator, either because it is a closed space, or because it is a mechanism that goes up very high. And what if you can’t take the elevator to that important job interview on the 51st floor? The truth is that avoiding elevators can deprive you of many opportunities and it is not always possible to.
Symptoms of elevator phobia
Irrational and excessive fear, whatever the stimulus, produces a heightened anxiety response. This generates that go beyond the obvious physical symptoms such as difficulty breathing, palpitations, excessive sweating, dizziness or numbness in the legs and arms. Let’s go over there.
Because the phobia of elevators also causes a series of cognitive that ultimately reduces the quality of life of the person suffering from the phobic disorder. These symptoms translate into obsessive, irrational, and intrusive thoughts about elevators. Not only do you have a distorted idea about the danger implicit in an elevator, but also those ideas do not go out of your head for a second.
Catastrophic ideas about everything that can happen in an elevator are taken almost as premonitions. The possibility of a failure in the elevator becomes a kind of premonition and the absolute certainty that it will happen. And in this situation, no matter how much we talk about phobias being irrational fears, the most logical thing to do is to feel fear, panic, and terror.
Causes of elevator phobia
And what can motivate the appearance of this irrational fear of elevators? As we say, this phobia is closely linked to claustrophobia and acrophobia, so the causes may be the same. On many occasions, the phobia arises from a previous traumatic experience.
And when we talk about a traumatic experience, it is not necessary for any misfortune to have occurred in an elevator, but simply to relate this place to a moment of high tension, anxiety or anguish. Your first job interview, for example, the same one in which you did not get the position, may be a reason for the phobia of elevators to arise. Or that season that you were working in the offices on a high floor in which you lived with significant stress.
Phobias are generated like this, without the need for something serious to have happened, by conditioning. And once the conditioning mechanism is unleashed is when you begin to avoid the stimulus that causes you so much fear and anxiety. Avoidance strategies to lighten the load of anxiety and reduce fear in this case involve avoiding elevators at all costs and, as time goes by, you become more reaffirmed in your fear.
Other times it is impossible to find a specific relationship between fear and stimulus. Nothing has happened to you in an elevator, you have not suffered in an elevator, and you do not relate it to any specific moment in your life, so where does that fear come from? When you suffer from an anxiety disorder, the resulting consequences are unpredictable and phobias, fears, and obsessions can arise for no apparent reason.
But perhaps more than the causes, we should look at the consequences of this phobia of elevators. The stimulus avoidance that occurs in all phobic disorders is limiting and ends up extending to all areas of life. It is not difficult to imagine that the impossibility of getting into an elevator will cause problems in the workplace, in the social sphere, in the family and, especially, in the personal sphere. The quality of life is drastically reduced when a phobia is installed in your life, so it will be better to seek treatment as soon as possible.
Treatment and solutions for elevator phobia
The treatment for phobias involves psychological therapy because we are talking about a disorder that is closely linked to anxiety and that can ultimately lead to depression. The objective is to overcome the phobia of elevators, but also to reduce anxiety and ensure that the quality of life is not limited by this fear. And how is it achieved?
The most widely used therapy to overcome phobias is Cognitive. This method works first of all with that distorted thought that leads you to think that elevators are very dangerous places and that something terrible will happen if you enter one of them. This is the cognitive part of the therapy, which takes a while.
And later it goes on to the behavioral part, that is, to transform the avoidance behavior that will lead you to be able to enter an elevator. But let’s go step by step, because psychological therapies are not miraculous, so be suspicious of anyone who promises to overcome your phobia with a magical solution. As we say, the behavioral part takes time and is accompanied by progressive.
As its name suggests, progressive exposure consists of facing the stimulus that causes you fear little by little. Don’t think that the psychologist is going to put you in an elevator in. First you will be able to get closer to the place you fear through images and you may even have to meet with a professional to show you how the elevators work to gain security.
From then on, each patient takes time and the therapy is combined with breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to cope with the burden of anxiety that will gradually decrease over time. We talk a lot about the time that therapies take to overcome phobias because, indeed, they do not work from one day to the next. You will need patience, but rest assured that you will manage to lose your fear of elevators.