Entomophobia (Fear of Insects): Symptoms, Treatments, & How to Cope

What Is Entomophobia?

Entomophobia, also called insectophobia or acarophobia, is a specific phobia of bugs.¹ People with entomophobia are plagued by a severe, excessive fear of insects that disrupts their life even though they may know rationally that insects pose very little to no actual danger.^2,3,4,5 Bug phobia involves being scared of bugs, and it’s more than that. Actual bugs or stories and images of them create intense anxiety, distress, and a strong urge to avoid them.³ Entomophobia can encompass any or all types of bugs.

People are likely to be afraid of:^6,7

• Spiders (arachnophobia)
• Bees (melissophobia) and other stinging insects
• Parasites like mites, ticks, and bed bugs
• Cockroaches
• Moths
• Butterflies
• Ants
• Flies
• Daddy long legs
• Crickets
• Mosquitos

The phobia of insects is a very common type of specific phobia classified as an animal phobia.² People living with this type of phobia experience fear related to one or more living creatures including animals and any type of bug.

How Common Is the Fear of Insects?

Based on the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, specific phobias affect about 8% to 12% percent of adults and 16% of adolescents in the US. It also indicates that specific phobias are more common in both adolescent and adult females.² However, subtypes of specific phobias are less researched, and for this reason it’s difficult to determine with certainty how common entomophobia is. Some studies suggest, though, that fears and phobias related to animals are the most common, particularly spiders, parasites, and snakes.^8,9

Symptoms of Entomophobia

All phobias involve intense emotional, physical, and behavioral symptoms. For people experiencing entomophobia, symptoms are triggered by any type of exposure to a bug. In order to be considered a true phobia, symptoms must be present for six months or longer and happen with every exposure to bugs (as opposed to occasional or situational feelings of anxiety).² A severe aversion to bugs in the house but the ability to dislike but tolerate them outdoors isn’t considered to be a phobia of bugs.

Symptoms of entomophobia include:^1,2,3,10

• Strong feelings of aversion or disgust upon seeing, hearing, feeling, talking about, listening to stories about, or thinking about bugs
• Instant and strong sense of fear and anxiety associated with insects
• Excessive scratching or picking at skin, sometimes leading to skin bleeding and infections
• Frequent and intense cleaning behavior (cleaning rooms, carpets, sweeping and vacuuming, washing bedding and other clothing or objects)
• Sealing doors and windows
• Frequent spraying of insecticide and bug repellent
• Panic attacks upon coming into contact with a bug
• Inability to control the reaction despite intellectual understanding that the insects aren’t significantly harmful
• Agitation
• Increased heart rate
• Elevated blood pressure
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Shortness of breath or other difficulty breathing
• Tightness in the chest
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Muscle tension or pain
• Going out of your way to avoid bugs, even if doing so is highly inconvenient or disruptive to your life

Similar Mental Health Conditions

Entomophobia is sometimes confused with similar insect-related disorders.¹¹ With entomophobia, the above symptoms characterize an intense fear of and aversion to bugs. In an illness called delusions of parasitosis, the person believes that they see and feel bugs crawling on and/or biting them even though no actual bugs are present. With illusions of parasitosis, the sensations are real rather than delusional, but what the person feels isn’t the bugs they believe they sense but rather other stimuli (such as the brush of clothing against skin).

What Causes Fear of Bugs?

Phobias frequently develop in childhood, although it is possible to form them at any age.² In many cases, the exact cause of entomophobia is difficult to pinpoint; however, there are general factors that do contribute to its development.^2,10

Bad Experience With Bugs

The fear of bugs is frequently a learned response that develops after negative encounters with any type of insect—any experience that someone finds particularly repulsive, disgusting, overwhelming, or unexpected.

Hearing About Dangerous Bugs

Hearing news reports or personal stories from loved ones can also contribute to bug phobia. For instance, repeated reports of people becoming very ill with tick-borne Lyme disease can ignite a deep fear of parasitic bugs.³ This acarophobia, a specific fear of parasitic bugs, can become generalized to all insects.

Experience With Panic Attacks

Sometimes, experiencing a sudden unexpected panic attack (like those in panic disorder) that coincidentally occurs with insects present can create a mental association between bugs and panic. This can cause entomophobia to develop.²

Genetic Factors & Personality

Cause and risk factors can also relate to genetics or individual personality traits.^2,10 Phobias are believed to be heritable, so if you have a first degree relative (parent, child, or sibling) with a specific phobia, your chances of developing the same phobia are greater. Also, people high in the trait of neuroticism or who are prone to experience anxiety may be at increased risk of developing at least one phobia, including entomophobia.¹

What Are the Complications of Entomophobia?

Having a level of fear toward insects is normal and a protective mechanism to keep us out of harm’s way, especially when venomous or disease-spreading insects are involved. But when the fear of insects gets out of control and is irrational, it no longer serves a purpose. At this point, entomophobia interferes with your quality of life and causes you to make choices you otherwise wouldn’t have made.

Some people stop going outside or engaging in outdoor activities like sports, gardening, barbecues, or taking their kids to the playground. Others just cringe in agony even at the thought of an insect. Eventually, this fear can take a toll on someone’s mental health, preventing them from participating in ordinary social interactions and leading them to become isolated.^12,13,14

How to Cope With a Fear of Bugs

Having entomophobia can be frustrating and challenging. There is hope, though. You can actively do things to cope with the fear of bugs so your life is no longer limited by it. The following tips can help. Begin with one that feels doable to you, and gradually add more to create an effective tool box so you are no longer bugged by fear.

Here are seven tips for coping with the fear of bugs:

1. Ask for Support

Joining support groups for entomophobia can allow you to share your concerns and experiences with others who understand. When you know you won’t be dismissed or laughed at, you can share your concerns openly in a way that leads to solutions and  new skills. Additionally, identify supportive people in your daily life that can help you deal positively with your bug-related fears.

2. Use Mindfulness, Meditation, Yoga, & Relaxation Strategies

In phobias, including entomophobia, the brain’s emotional center—the amygdala—is constantly on alert and over-reactive.² Using approaches like mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation directly impact the brain, including reducing activity in the amygdala, and they also turn down the sympathetic nervous system which is at work in the fight-flight-or-freeze reaction of entomophobia.^10,15

3. Engage in Reality Testing

This strategy is used in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Identify your thoughts and beliefs about insects, and question them honestly in order to broaden your perspective.¹⁸ This can be useful in altering your instant fear reactions to insects.

4. Practice Consistent Self-Care

Poor health and fatigue contribute to emotional reactivity. Equipping your brain and body to function optimally can be very helpful.¹⁶ Consistently consuming healthy foods and beverages, exercising, and getting proper sleep powers your brain and body to deal with problems like fear and can help minimize your symptoms when exposed to bugs.¹⁰

5. Be Prepared, But Not Overprepared

Taking steps to minimize bugs in your living space can reduce anxiety and prevent you from being hypervigilant for the presence of the little critters. After you’ve cleaned and checked screens for holes, for example, trust in your actions and let them go. Busy yourself with other tasks rather than continuing to clean and inspect.

6. Celebrate Your Successes

Acknowledge your hard work and efforts to overcome your fear of insects, and do something small to celebrate any successes, no matter how small they may seem. If you are prone to experiencing intense panic when you encounter a bug in your room but then notice that one day your heart begins to pound and your anxiety rises but you don’t experience a full-blown panic attack, own that accomplishment and celebrate it by treating yourself to a fun activity or healthy treat.

The act of celebrating is powerful because it causes the brain to release dopamine, reinforcing the idea that it did something good.¹⁷ Your brain will want more of this and will learn to associate the celebratory dopamine release with remaining calm.

7. Educate Yourself

Rather than feeling like you’re at the mercy of news reports and other people’s stories, take charge of your information and knowledge. Learn about the true risks and consequences of bug-related issues like cleanliness, bites, stings, and illnesses.

How Is Entomophobia Officially Diagnosed?

Your health practitioner or a psychological professional will conduct a thorough evaluation that generally includes a clinical interview where current symptoms, medical and mental history are examined. They’ll establish a formal diagnosis based on the information gathered during the interview and certain criteria laid out by the DSM-5-TR.²

To be diagnosed with a specific phobia like entomophobia, the person has:

• Experienced excessive and uncontrollable fear and anxiety related to insects.
• An immediate strong reaction is triggered by thoughts, images, exposure to or even speaking about insects.
• Active avoidance of places or activities where insects might be involved like going to parks, hiking, camping etc. When avoidance is impossible, the person will endure it with much discomfort and anxiety.
• An exaggerated fear or anxiety that’s disproportionate to the actual threat posed by insects.
• Serious disruption in daily activities and social interactions.
• Suffered acute symptoms persisting for six months or more.

Treatment Options for Entomophobia

Entomophobia doesn’t always need formal treatment. Frequently, consistently using coping skills is enough to manage your fear so it doesn’t negatively impact your life. However, when entomophobia becomes life-restricting, causing severe avoidance and extremely unpleasant symptoms, professional treatment can be beneficial. Treatment options for phobias include therapy and, sometimes, medication.

Therapy

Professional therapists help people examine, understand, and reduce their fears in order to prevent anxiety and panic reactions. Mental health therapy can also help people set goals, action steps, and choices to take back their lives. Finding the right therapist can help you overcome entomophobia. Search an online directory to get started today.

Specific types of therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and general talk therapy are known to be helpful for phobias like insectophobia.^10,15

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Therapists using CBT for entomophobia teach you how to examine your negative thoughts and beliefs about insects in order to create insights into your thought and behavior patterns. They also help you learn coping skills to reduce your anxiety about bugs. Learning how to think differently about insects will allow you to change your automatic fear reaction so you can respond more calmly when exposed to insects.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is one of the most common and effective approaches to treating phobias like entomophobia. Gradual exposure to your fear desensitizes you and quiets your body’s automatic fear reaction. With this approach to insect phobia, you are gradually exposed to bugs.

You might begin by talking about bugs with your therapist, progress to looking at pictures of them, and systematically and slowly intensifying your degree of exposure until you encounter live bugs with your therapist and eventually on your own. Throughout the process, you and your therapist discuss your thoughts and feelings so you can form a healthier perspective and response.

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Virtual reality exposure therapy follows the same principles as traditional exposure therapy. The technology of virtual reality exposes people to their fears in a simulated way rather than live. Instead of observing live bugs in action, you would view them virtually.

Psychotherapy

In traditional talk therapy, you engage in discussions with your therapist to discover the root of your fear and develop useful insights into it. You also focus on setting goals and learning effective coping skills. Psychotherapy is not as effective for insectophobia or other phobias as exposure therapy and CBT, but it can be helpful for people experiencing fear that is bothersome but not extremely disruptive to their lives.

Medication

Medication for anxiety is sometimes prescribed to people with entomophobia, but it isn’t considered a stand-alone treatment for this or any phobia. Instead, it is used in conjunction with therapy. Medication can help reduce symptoms of anxiety that otherwise interfere in the process of therapy.^10,15

Typical medications used in entomophobia treatment include:

• Anti-anxiety medications like benzodiazepines or other tranquilizers
• Antidepressants such as SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants
• Beta blockers, medication for high blood pressure that block adrenaline to reduce physiological anxiety symptoms

What’s the Outlook for People With Entomophobia?

When left untreated, phobias including entomophobia can worsen, diminishing quality of life and increasing the risk for other mental health conditions. As such, the earlier a person enters treatment the better outcome. The prognosis can be favorable with a comprehensive treatment plan that includes effective evidence-based interventions, medication (when necessary), and moral support. People who are committed to this process can overcome their specific phobia and start living a fulfilling life.¹⁹

Final Thoughts on Entomophobia

Fear of bugs can range from annoying and unpleasant to severely life-disruptive. This phobia isn’t easy to overcome, but it is possible to help your brain and body remain calm rather than panicking in the face of insects. With professional treatment and coping skills, you can live peacefully alongside bugs.