Animals are the subject of phobias and we are especially familiar with that fear of spiders that is so talked about. But there are more animals, such as butterflies or moths that can develop what is called mote phobia, a disorder that can make life quite complicated and that we talk about in ours.
What is mote phobia?
Mote phobia is the fear of butterflies or moths. In general, to the species called Lepidoptera. There is a person as well-known as Nicole Kidman who has claimed to suffer from this disorder. The person with mote phobia has a real fear of these bugs that for some are still adorable.
The fear of butterflies is not so strange, since as much as the arts want to have turned these animals into an object of adoration, they are still a species of insects, which with their erratic flight can suggest a certain danger. Not to mention the repulsion that touching them can cause.
Symptoms of mote phobia
If you suffer from mote phobia you will have problems as soon as you see a butterfly or a moth. Seeing it, for example, in the window of the house, will prevent you from going outside. Or if you see her in the living room, you won’t dare to leave the room. It is the avoidant behavior that occurs in all and that, depending on the stimulus, can cause you more or less problems in your daily life.
In addition to having to avoid butterflies or moths, with all that this implies, people with mote phobia suffer the usual anxiety, such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, a feeling of unreality and even panic attacks if the situation gets complicated. More than expected.
Causes of mote phobia
But why does mote phobia develop? If we can understand how rejection of spiders becomes a phobia by adding an anxiety disorder, it is not difficult to imagine that the cause is the same in the case of butterflies. Anxiety generates fear, irrational and excessive fear and in this case the stimulus is these animals.
Nor is it ruled out, as, having lived a traumatic experience as a trigger for the phobia. Surely you were not attacked by a butterfly in childhood, but perhaps you experienced an unpleasant moment in the countryside, with a strong negative emotional charge and the role of this animal has been etched in your memory.
Treatment for fear of butterflies
It is convenient to treat phobias even if they do not condition you too much in your daily life, since the appearance of a phobia indicates an emotional disorder that can lead to anxiety problems, obsessive compulsive disorders, more phobias or even depression.
The most effective treatment to overcome a phobia is cognitive, which works both on the thought that causes the fear and on the behavior. In the case of fear of butterflies, gradual exposure therapy to the stimulus that causes fear is advisable and, of course, all treatment must be accompanied by relaxation techniques.