Science Behind a Fear of Cockroaches & The Way to Overcome It

Last Updated on 2022-10-03 , 11:30 am

Do you have a fear of cockroaches?

You’re at home alone, and watching a crazy-ass thriller movie. It’s late at night, and you’ve got the lights turned off and your blanket is covering you up.

Just as you see the cop pull the trigger in the climax scene, you feel something moving beneath your blanket. Bloody fella’s damn small, and he’s just touched your toe.

That’s it lah. You freak out and you jump off the couch and throw the blanket away. You see a cockroach scuttling away, and you wanna go and kill the bugger, but you’re also scared that it might FLY BACK your way.

Think about it for the moment – your fear of cockroaches. Is it something you were born with or was the fear created as you grew up?

Here’s what you wanna know about it la hor.

Why Do You Fear Cockroaches?

Well, the thing with cockroaches is that they almost always tend to creep up on you. And it’s definitely happened at some point in our lives.

When this happens, the phobic part of your brain’s storing the bad info on roaches. It automatically links cockroaches with being something that’s super, duper dangerous.

Consider it as a form of augmented reality a.k.a. your imagination.

From then onwards, every single time you see a cockroach, it causes you to go into alarm mode. The official term for it is Katsaridaphobia, but you can also call it “小强phobia” (sounds so much better, isn’t it?).

You can watch this video to know more about it:

It doesn’t help that the pesky insects can potentially transfer harmful bacteria onto you. We’re talking about major strains like Salmonella and E.Coli.

I mean, who wants to fall dead and die because of shock (heart attack) or have a bad infection?

Thankfully, though, there is hope for all of us cockroach haters.

How to Get Over Your Fears

For one, you could try hypnotherapy. This method will take one full session or two, and work on cancelling your phobia towards those winged creatures.

There’s another method that’s being made famous. Known as decoded neurofeedback, the technique is used to overwrite a person’s fear memories without having you experience the fear itself.

Sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie, I know!

If you’re interested in getting a DIY method to try at home, do this. Read about cockroaches – informative stuff only ya, not the disgusting gory details.

When you’re done, look up for some pictures of cockroaches online. Seek out ones that look educational and not the ones that make you wanna throw up. If you want to keep your coast 100% clear, ask your friend to help you with this.

Finally, head over to YouTube and watch a video about cockroaches that’s made specifically to help you overcome your fear of the bug, and not gross you out.

By the end of this three-step process, you’ll find that while you might not have taken a liking to cockroaches, you won’t feel as disgusted and scared of the bug.

And if you ever encounter one in real life, act normal and don’t go yelling your head off. Don’t trigger the fella, and he won’t fly right at you!

Featured Image: PunkbarbyO / Shutterstock.com