The variety of fears that invade us is endless and that is something that we have seen many times in our dictionary of phobias. Frequent fears such as the fear of flying, almost generalized fears such as arachnophobia and also the most curious fears such as the phobia of cheese, for example. On this occasion, we address the problem of pediophobia or fear of dolls, a more complicated disorder than it may seem at first.
What is pediophobia?
Pedi phobia is the fear of dolls that can also be extended to robots or mannequins, for example. It is a less common disorder than coulrophobia or fear of clowns, but it shares some similarities, since in both cases the feared stimulus is something that, in principle, has the function of entertaining and not terrifying.
It is true that some dolls can cause some rejection. While some people love to collect antique porcelain dolls, for example, other people gaze with disgust and a certain awe at those faces frozen in time with a most macabre expression.
And what to say about the influence of cinema and television to convert that rejection or fear of certain devilish dolls. Generally, the basis of pediophobia is that that doll comes to life and can hurt you, something impossible, but no less frightening in the mind of a person who suffers from a phobia. The dolls do not come to life, but fear does not stand out precisely because it is a mechanism that uses reason.
It is convenient not to lose sight of the risk posed by pediophobia, although it may seem at times a matter to joke about. No phobic disorder, strange as it may seem, can be underestimated in terms of the risk it poses to the mental health of the person who suffers from it. The fear of dolls is no joke, it is a disorder as dangerous and as disabling as other phobias that we take more seriously, such as agoraphobia or claustrophobia.
Symptoms of pediophobia or fear of dolls
People with pediophobia can experience all the symptoms of anxiety in the face of the feared stimulus. You do not have to find yourself with a doll in your hands, a situation that you will try to avoid by all means and that you can easily achieve. But it may not be so easy to avoid finding a doll thrown around the living room when you visit a house where there are children, much less to avoid seeing dolls on television or when you are spending some leisure time on social networks.
It is not so easy to avoid dolls on a day-to-day basis, but that anguish goes unnoticed by people who do not suffer from pediophobia. It is the presence, the sight or the mere idea of a doll that triggers a series of symptoms that are well known to people who suffer from anxiety. Sweating, dry mouth, dizziness, palpitations, tingling in the extremities, shortness of breath, nausea and the situation can be complicated until reaching a panic attack.
From these physical symptoms of pediophobia it is usual to move on to others of a psychological nature, such as anguish, terror, disorientation, irrational and catastrophic thoughts and loss of concentration . If the disorder lasts over time, the consequences can seriously damage mental health, with great self-esteem problems and a high risk of depression.
Because when you have already suffered some episodes of anxiety due to pediophobia, what you try is to avoid a new crisis. Avoidance behavior is that usual protagonist in phobic disorders that takes care of turning each movement you make into terrifying just in case the next time the possibility of encountering the feared stimulus appears. And so, little by little, it paralyzes you until, in the most serious cases, total social isolation occurs.
Causes of fear of dolls
At this point, it is worth asking what the origin of this fear of dolls is. And if in some cases of phobias we can find a genetic factor or even a trace of adaptive fear, here we can discard it and stay with the three most common factors.
Conditioning by traumatic experience is the most frequent origin of pediophobia. If in your childhood you suffered a great emotional impact that you associate with a doll, it may be sufficient reason to develop the phobia. And we’re not talking about you being attacked by a doll, of course, but what if you got some bad news when you were playing with your dolls? The association will remain there in the form of a phobia until you receive proper treatment.
The environmental factor is also important in the case of pediophobia. Many times what at first is a simple rejection that cannot be considered a disorder becomes a phobia fueled by external influences. In this case, the horror movie with its diabolical dolls turns your greatest terror into reality, that the doll comes to life and also does it to hurt you.
We cannot ignore the previous anxiety disorder when it comes to phobias. Perhaps you had never realized your fear of dolls, but if you have been suffering from an anxiety disorder for a while, it can appear. And the most worrying thing is that phobias can appear without having any relationship with each other if you do not seek help in time. We are talking about help to overcome anxiety and protect you against future phobic disorders.
What is the best treatment for pediophobia?
As you can see, pediophobia is more disabling than it might seem at first. The fear of dolls is not usually put on the priority list of problems to be solved, but remember that a phobia is a disorder, but it can also be a symptom of a greater anxiety problem.
You can try to overcome your fears yourself, but it is not advisable in the case of phobias, since we are facing a real problem that can limit your life to the extreme. That is why we always recommend going to a psychologist even in the case of those phobias that in principle do not alter your day to day or do not impact your life too much.
The most widely used therapy in the treatment of phobias is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the same one that is generally used for cases of anxiety. In this therapy you learn to modify the irrational thought that leads you to fear and later to transform the avoidance behavior that all phobias cause. Will you get to not having to avoid the dolls? Of course.
In treatments to overcome phobias, Exposure Therapy is also often used. It is a gradual and progressive exposure to the feared stimulus and, of course, under the supervision of the professional. You are not going to go to a doll museum the first day, but it can become a long-term goal.
More tools in the treatment of phobias are relaxation resources. Breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and practices such as Mindfulness are always recommended because they represent a long-term investment that can protect you against relapses or against the appearance of new phobias, as well as reducing the anxiety present in all phobic disorders.