Katsaridaphobia or fear of cockroaches

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Katsaridaphobia represents a widespread fear that sometimes becomes a phobia. Yes, today we will talk about the fear of those little animals that don’t like light at all: cockroaches.

Katsaridaphobia is an irrational and persistent fear of cockroaches. It is an Anglo-Saxon term that has not yet been accepted in our language. Entomophobia might be the most specific name for Spanish, but it should be kept in mind that this term encompasses the fear of all types of insects.

In the United States, 40% of phobias come from fear of “bugs.” Cockroaches occupy the first positions with other insects, such as spiders. This repulsion towards cockroaches may be due to many factors, such as their anatomical structure, their ability to transmit diseases that feed on putrefaction or the ability of some to fly.

For many people, this phobia can lead to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which causes a constant case of fear of insecurity that a cockroach will appear at any moment.

Symptoms of katsaridaphobia

It is very common that the fear of cockroaches leads the person to compulsive behavior that is often difficult to manage.

People with this phobia try to clean their house thoroughly, do constant fumigation with insecticides, continually sweep and brush the kitchen and bathroom carpets, etc.

Besides, The person with katsaridaphobia may experience these physical symptoms after seeing a cockroach:

Shaking chills.Difficulty breathing.High heart rate.Feeling of suffocation or strangulation.Pain or pinching in the chest.Numbness.Excessive perspiration.Difficulty thinking, reasoning, or speaking clearly.Inability to distinguish between what is real and what is unreal.Panic attacks.Paralysis, inability to move instantly and temporarily.

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Katsaridaphobia can become uncontrolled or very dangerous when the person runs or dashes on the road into traffic or tries to get rid of cockroaches while driving, etc., which can lead to serious accidents.

The causes of katsaridaphobia

Our prehistoric ancestors had to be alert for possible predators or looting enemies while they slept in caves, a great place for cockroaches, which love heat and darkness to live.

In relation to this fact, we find one of the most accurate theories to explain some phobias: Martin Seligman’s preparation theory.

Martin Seligman establishes that phobias have 4 properties:

Selectivity: Phobias are limited to a certain range of stimuli that are related to special dangers that were important during the evolution of the species.Easy acquisition: Phobias can be acquired with a single trial and without the need for traumatic stimuli. Resistance to extinction.Irrationality: disproportion between the real danger of the stimulus and its anxiety responses.

Phobias are instances of prepared learning and therefore have a biological-evolutionary meaning. They are constituted by primitive and non-cognitive associations that are not easily modified by logical arguments. These four properties are properties of prepared learning.

Family conditioning is a topic that today does not generate much agreement regarding the acquisition of phobias.. While some people think it is related to genetics, others believe it is simply a vicarious conditioned response.

Starting age

The reasons for fearing cockroaches depend on the individual, as do the symptoms.. The onset of the disease can occur at any time in life, so no one is free from suffering from this phobia.

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However, the vast majority of these events generally occur during childhood. Very few cases develop in adulthood. Like most phobias, they can develop after experiencing a traumatic event.

Katsaridaphobia Treatment

For some reason, fear of cockroaches is not one of the most difficult to intervene. The first step will definitely be in the hands of an expert, who will first verify if the fear of cockroaches is a phobia or they are simply unpleasant. If the disorder really exists, the most common therapeutic range would be the following.

Exposure therapy

The exhibition takes place live/direct or in imagination. Doing it in one way or another depends on the level of phobic anxiety. That is, if the level of anxiety is very high, it is preferable to first perform a coping technique in imagination, combined with relaxation training (preferably Jacobson’s progressive relaxation), to then be able to perform coping live.

Habitually This technique in imagination usually consists of planning situations that awaken from least to greatest anxiety, visualizing each of the situations, and with the aim of getting the person used to the specific anxiety level. When you no longer perceive any level of anxiety, you move on to the next situation.

Augmented Virtual Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is a variant of VR that combines the real world with virtual elements at the same time and in the same space, complementing reality without replacing it (Azuma, 1997).

The Psychology and Technology Laboratory (Labpsitec) of the Jaume I University developed a system in 2009 for the treatment of fear of spiders and cockroaches in virtual reality.

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This would be similar to exposure therapy, where the patient gradually faces the fear with a therapist, but with the difference is that you feel safer because everything is virtual.