Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDiagnosisSigns and SymptomsCausesTreatmentCoping Techniques
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Diagnosis
Signs and Symptoms
Causes
Treatment
Coping Techniques
Megalophobiais a specific type of phobia in which a person has an intense and persistent fear of large objects, like very large buildings, animals, or statues. They may have this fear and anxiety response when encountering a large object (or even merely thinking about it).
Aphobiais a fear of an activity, situation, or object that cannot be controlled and is irrational and persistent.The fear can be very intense and causepanic attacks. Research estimates that about 19 million Americans have one or more phobias.
Some with severe phobias will rearrange their lives and activities to avoid the feared object or situation. This can significantly interfere with work, social life, relationships, and everyday living.
However, phobias are treatable and manageable. There are ways to cope with a phobia. This article will discuss megalophobia, its treatment, and living with the phobia.
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Is Megalophobia a Real Diagnosis?
Phobias, including megalophobia, are real diagnoses. Though some phobias may seem “silly” or irrational at first glance, they are very real fears that cause significant distress and impairment to a person’s life and can interfere with everyday activities.
Common phobias you may have heard of may include arachnophobia (the fear of spiders) or agoraphobia (the fear of leaving environments a person deems “safe”). Less common phobias include podophobia (the fear of feet) or dextrophobia (the fear of having objects to your right).
Common and rare phobias are very real to the people who experience them, even as they realize the fear is irrational.
There are no specific tests for diagnosing phobias, but theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition)can serve as a reference for them. This manual explicitly outlines diagnostic criteria that must be met in order to diagnose a phobia—in this case, a specific phobia. These criteria include:
Signs and Symptoms of Megalophobia
When megalophobia starts to impact your life, certain signs and symptoms may appear. These can include:
Examples and/or Triggers of MegalophobiaSome triggers or examples of megalophobia can include tall skyscrapers, large objects like big ships and airplanes, monuments or statues, large ocean waves, vast open spaces like the inside of a sports complex/stadium, and big animals like elephants, sharks, and whales. Often, someone with megalophobia will have this fear of several big objects, not just one.
Examples and/or Triggers of Megalophobia
Some triggers or examples of megalophobia can include tall skyscrapers, large objects like big ships and airplanes, monuments or statues, large ocean waves, vast open spaces like the inside of a sports complex/stadium, and big animals like elephants, sharks, and whales. Often, someone with megalophobia will have this fear of several big objects, not just one.
Causes: Where Does the Fear of Big Things Come From?
Sometimes, a phobia is associated with a traumatic event that occurred with the object feared. However, it’s not known if a person has to have experienced a traumatic event or whether some people are predisposed to phobias.
Some people develop phobias from learned behavior or responses from early life experiences or watching caregiver responses. Specific phobias often run in families.
How to Address Megalophobia in Treatment
Phobias often respond to treatment. Two of the most common and effective treatments includecognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)andexposure therapy, also called exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy.
CBT is the most effective behavioral treatment for phobias.Through this therapy, people learn to identify and manage thoughts that are exaggerated or irrational but are part of their anxiety and fear. They work with their therapist to look at other explanations for their fear, dismantle their negative thoughts, and come up with healthy coping mechanisms with which to replace them.
ERP is a form of CBT that is also effective for phobias. This therapy helps the person face a fear instead of avoiding it,
Under a trained therapist’s guidance, the person is put into contact with the object or situation they fear in a safe environment. If someone is afraid of large buildings, they might first look at a picture of a large building, work through their fear response with the therapist, then progress to driving past a large building, then eventually stand next to or in a large building.
It is a systematic approach that slowly builds a tolerance for the feared object or situation while challenging the negative thoughts they have and evaluating their physical responses. Eventually, the negative thoughts and fear responses will diminish, new beliefs will replace them, and the person will develop a toolbox of coping skills to use in stressful situations.
Self-Soothing Techniques to Cope
Though professional treatment is necessary for phobias, there are also self-soothing techniques you can practice to cope with phobias in stressful situations. These can include:
Using adaptive strategies to help regulate emotion and bodily responses like breathing and reexamining and reframing thoughts and practicing mindfulness can help you cope with anxiety from your phobia.
Maintaining a healthy diet, including eating fruits and vegetables, drinking plenty of water, and getting regular exercise (even if it’s walking around the block) can also help.
Summary
Phobias can negatively interfere with everyday life and impact your work, family, relationships, and social activities. Megalophobia, or the fear of large things, is one specific type of phobia.
Although phobias may feel insurmountable, there is treatment available that is very effective for managing them. Working with a therapist can help you learn ways to reduce and manage your anxiety and fear so that they don’t impact your life as significantly. You don’t have to face this alone; therapists can help.
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.Mass General Brigham McLean.Understanding fear, anxiety, and phobias,University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.Specific phobias.Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462-471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116Zsido AN, Lang A, Labadi B, Deak A.Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies.Scientific Reports. 2023;13. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33395-6
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.Mass General Brigham McLean.Understanding fear, anxiety, and phobias,University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.Specific phobias.Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462-471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116Zsido AN, Lang A, Labadi B, Deak A.Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies.Scientific Reports. 2023;13. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33395-6
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.Mass General Brigham McLean.Understanding fear, anxiety, and phobias,University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.Specific phobias.Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462-471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116Zsido AN, Lang A, Labadi B, Deak A.Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies.Scientific Reports. 2023;13. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33395-6
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.
Mass General Brigham McLean.Understanding fear, anxiety, and phobias,
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.Specific phobias.
Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462-471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116
Zsido AN, Lang A, Labadi B, Deak A.Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies.Scientific Reports. 2023;13. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33395-6
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