Myrmecophobia (phobia Of Ants): Symptoms And Treatment
Ants are very common insects and easy to find in our daily lives, even within a city. It is enough to go to a park to find an anthill or a line of these beings collecting food. Unlike what happens with other insects such as cockroaches, Ants are generally not viewed with excessive displeasure by the majority of the population. In fact, many even appear in fables and stories as an example of tenacity, effort and organization.
However, for many people the mere idea of seeing one of these beings causes extreme panic and anxiety, along with the need to flee from said being and avoid the places where they may be. Is what happens to those people with myrmecophobia
Myrmecophobia is understood as the phobia of ants, that is, a variant of anxiety disorder This is one of the specific phobias linked to the presence of some type of animal, this type of phobia being relatively common in the population.
As a phobia, it supposes the existence of an irrational or disproportionate fear linked to the appearance of a stimulus or situation, in this case the ants. Said fear or dread appears consistently every time the organism is exposed to the presence of ants, creating an urgent need to flee or avoid being in their presence or maintaining contact with them. This need usually leads to the actual avoidance of both ants and places where their appearance is frequent. If the person who suffers from it cannot escape, he or she may remain in the presence of stimulation, but experiencing a very high level of anxiety and discomfort.
For those who have this phobia, Seeing a row of ants or even just one of them is an ordeal The same thing happens when you see an anthill, even if there is no visible presence of its inhabitants in the vicinity. The panic they feel generates a high sensation of physiological activation, with the presence of sweating, tremors, tachycardia, hyperventilation, muscle tension and even gastrointestinal alterations such as nausea and vomiting being common. An anxiety crisis or panic attack may occur. Additionally, it is not uncommon that when viewing an ant they may experience tickling or the sensation that they are climbing their body.
Myrmecophobia can cause the person to avoid places such as the countryside, parks or green areas. This can cause an interruption or limitation in the patient’s life, for example avoiding taking their children to play in the park, doing outdoor sports or visiting rural areas. However, at a general level it does not usually affect most areas of life, since although it is relatively easy to find ants, they are not present and visible in the majority of places we frequent.
Although it is not a condition that is dangerous per se for health, the truth is that in some cases can lead to potentially dangerous behavior There are documented cases of people who have set themselves on fire due to panic when they noticed that they had ants on their bodies.
Causes: a phobia of adaptive origin?
The causes of myrmecophobia and other specific phobias are not completely clear and depend largely on each case. There are different hypotheses in this regard, mostly linking biological aspects and the events and learning experienced by the subject.
In the case of phobias related to animals and especially insects, like the case at hand, one of the most viable and considered hypotheses is Seligman’s priming theory This theory stipulates that fear or panic of certain animals is a product of evolution: throughout our development as a species, human beings learned that the bite of many insects was dangerous, with those subjects with a natural tendency to avoid them surviving to a greater extent. . In this way, the panic response that leads to the avoidance of the animal in question (in this case ants) would be a product of the inheritance transmitted by our ancestors.
Learning from the experience of aversive situations linked to ants is also another of the hypotheses proposed, associating the figure of the ant with negative elements through conditioning.
Treatment
Myrmecophobia is a phobic disorder that can be treated through therapy The method that has been proven most effective to combat and solve it is, although it may seem cruel, exposure therapy.
This therapy is based on the patient exposing himself to the feared stimulus, in this case ants, without performing avoidance behaviors. Generally, to carry out exposure therapy a gradual approach is required: before the exposure itself, the patient and therapist jointly build a hierarchy of anxiety-generating situations or stimuli, ordering them according to the degree of anxiety and panic generated. For example, Seeing an anthill is not going to generate the same level of anxiety as moving ants or seeing an ant is not the same as letting it walk on our hand.
It is recommended to start with medium intensity stimuli, although this will depend on what the patient is able to withstand. The subject will have to remain in the situation until the generated anxiety has largely disappeared and the need to avoid the situation no longer appears. The same stimulus will continue until at least two exposures occur with a minimum level of anxiety, before moving on to the next stimulus in the hierarchy. Can afford a temporary escape If anxiety overcomes you, as long as you commit to returning.
Generally, the most used and best valued version of the exposure is the live exposure (that is, with real stimuli), but virtual reality can also be used (especially in the case at hand) so that the therapist can control more. measure the stimulation that the patient receives. Imagination exposure can also be used in cases where there is very high initial anxiety, sometimes as a preamble to live exposure.
It may also be helpful to use relaxation techniques to reduce the anxiety felt by the patient, both when facing the stimulus or as a way of preparing for the exposure. Of course, this technique should be used to relax, and it is important that it is not used as an avoidance or mental escape from the feared stimulus. Sometimes it may be necessary to apply cognitive restructuring, in order to combat dysfunctional beliefs that may be the origin or maintenance factor of panic (for example, belief in incompetence or the impossibility of facing your fear).
