Fear of insects: what is it called and how to treat?

Fear is a natural and functionally important human emotion that arises in response to external or internal factors associated with danger. However, an acute, uncontrollable fear of insects or insectophobia (Latin insectum – insect + Greek phobos – fear) is an excessive emotion, and such an involuntary feeling of fear of bees, cockroaches, ants, etc. is considered disproportionate to the danger that actually emanates from them. [ 1 ]

What is the correct name for the fear of insects and beetles (coleoptera)? Persistent irrational (unfounded) fear of insects is defined by most experts as entomophobia: from the Greek words entomon (insect) and phobos (fear). Since insecto- or entomophobia is associated with strictly defined objects, it is classified as a so-called specific phobia.

There are such types as apiphobia (fear of bees); sphexophobia (fear of wasps); dipterophobia or muscaphobia (fear of flies); katsaridaphobia (fear caused by cockroaches); myrmecophobia (fear of ants); lepidopterophobia (fear of butterflies and moths). Arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and acarophobia (fear of ticks) are also included here, since they, like insects, belong to the class of arthropods.

By the way, Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, actress Halle Berry and singer Justin Timberlake suffer from arachnophobia; Scarlett Johansson has catsaridaphobia, and Nicole Kidman has lepidopterophobia.

Also read – Phobias: List

Epidemiology

According to WHO, the prevalence of phobias among the population of different countries varies in the range of 2.6-12.5%. [ 2 ], [ 3 ] Fear of insects or insectophobia is a fairly common phenomenon, and in the United States, according to official statistics, almost 6% of people suffer from this phobia. The actual figures may be higher, since many do not seek help.

Arachnophobia is particularly common among women: about 55% of women and at least 18% of men.

More than 75% of people experience their first symptoms of a phobia in childhood or adolescence. [ 4 ]

Causes fear of insects

Human perceptions of insects can range from the well-founded fear of being bitten when encountering them – through subclinical and clinical forms of entomophobia – to psychotic disorders with thoughts of infection from insects and panic attacks.

In most cases, specific phobias, including insectophobia, develop in childhood, but can also occur in adults. Experts believe that the main causes of increased fear of insects are traumatic childhood events (perhaps someone was stung by a wasp, bitten by bedbugs, or frightened by the sight of a spider); later acquired negative experiences associated with insects; family environment factors (a child can learn the behavioral characteristics of parents and close relatives who experience disgust or fear of insects), as well as prolonged stress. [ 5 ]

Often, a specific phobia precedes the development of depression, anxiety disorder, neurasthenia, or an eating disorder.

At one time, the frequency of entomophobia in his patients surprised Sigmund Freud, and he tried to explain it either by a coincidence between an encounter with insects and a traumatic event in people's lives, or by the ability of the brain to induce a deeper type of memory that is independent of a person's individual experience.

Regardless of whether the insect is a threat or completely harmless, the fear reaction of a phobic nature is irrational, that is, it does not lend itself to a full logical explanation. [ 6 ]

See also the publication – Phobias and fears

Risk factors

Risk factors for the development of a specific phobia include genetics and temperament, including the level of emotional lability, negative affectivity (the tendency to experience negative emotions) or problems with behavioral inhibition – executive neuropsychological functions that depend on the degree of self-regulation of affect-motivation-arousal and determine the potential for the development of anxiety.

Read also – A woman’s fears can be passed on to her children

Pathogenesis

The exact pathogenesis of specific phobias is still being studied, and two theories or models of their development are put forward: classical (respondent) conditioning and operant conditioning. In the first model, conditioned reflex reactions are formed with a combination of stimuli - unconditional and neutral.

According to the second model, a phobia is formed under the influence of not the event (fact, case) itself, but its consequences. The mechanism may also consist of associative modeling of other people's reactions.

Researchers have found that phobias are often associated with the amygdala, a compact, almond-shaped mass of gray matter deep within the white matter of the temporal lobe of each hemisphere of the brain. Part of the brain's limbic system, the amygdala plays a central role in memory processing, decision making, and emotional responses; it is associated with the experience of emotion and mediates innate emotional behavior. The central nuclei of the amygdala are involved in the development of defensive behavior, autonomic nervous system responses (changes in blood pressure and heart rate), and neuroendocrine responses: the release of adrenaline into the blood and the stress hormone cortisol (which increases the degree of general arousal and the negative impact of negative emotions).

Symptoms fear of insects

The fear reaction is almost automatic and impossible to control. With entomophobia, the first signs are an increase in anxiety, a sharp deterioration in well-being and an irresistible desire to leave the scene as quickly as possible. [ 7 ]

Symptoms include weakness and rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, dizziness, pain or tightness in the chest, nausea, increased sweating, dry mouth and throat, a feeling of “cotton wool legs”, and trembling in the body.

Diagnostics fear of insects

Diagnosis of phobias is carried out by a psychiatrist and includes collecting anamnesis (medical and psychiatric), recording the patient's complaints during a clinical interview and examining the neuropsychiatric sphere.

Differential diagnosis

It is important to establish the origins of the phobia and differentiate it from obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder or delusional disorder.

Treatment fear of insects

Treatment for entomophobia aims to break the stimulus-response relationship and overcome the fear by teaching the patient to control their reactions to insects. [ 8 ]

The main methods are exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. During exposure therapy, the patient is accustomed to the object of the phobia through deliberate interaction with it - imaginary or real, gradually reducing the level of sensitization. [ 9 ]

In cognitive behavioral therapy, the focus is on replacing false beliefs and negative thoughts associated with the feared insect with more rational thoughts. Through cognitive reframing (changing one's perspective), the patient can change their attitude toward insects, activate their ability to think logically, and control emotions and behavior, i.e., change their physical response. [ 10 ]

Prevention

Prevention of this phobia can be considered as limiting any contact with the world of insects.

Forecast

For increased fear of insects, the prognosis is good if patients can be convinced of the falsity of their beliefs. Otherwise, obsessive-compulsive disorder or a mental disorder such as delusional parasitosis may develop.

In conclusion, it is necessary to give some arguments regarding the groundlessness of the increased fear of insects. As is known, a bee sting, as well as a wasp sting, can lead to an allergic reaction with the development of anaphylactic shock.

Spider bites can be accompanied by their poison getting into the blood and causing general intoxication of the body with pulmonary edema and coma. Even an ant bite (especially in children) can have quite serious consequences. And, of course, it is worth keeping in mind the risk of transmission of tick-borne viral encephalitis or Lyme disease (tick-borne borreliosis) - through tick bites in humans. So there is every reason to be wary of insects, but there is no need to be panicky afraid of them.