Xylophobia: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Table of Contents

Last Updated on January 16, 2023 by Mike Robinson

Xylophobia (also called hylophobia) is the irrational fear of wood or materials that imitate wood. This fear can therefore occur in front of wooden objects, forests, or any other place that contains wood. Fear of things that simulate wood can also occur. The word “xylophobia” comes from the Greek “xlon,” which means wood, and “fobos,” which means fear.

Like any specific phobia, this irrational fear causes great harm to the person suffering by interfering with daily activities. For example, people with this phobia can’t go to places with wood (homes, offices, restaurants, museums, etc.) or even walk on wooden floors.

The phobia symptoms severely restrict the life of the affected individual, who must constantly decide where they may or may not go based on the likelihood of encountering anything made of wood. When it gets this severe, they should seek professional assistance.

Symptoms of xylophobia

Symptoms can appear in the presence of wooden objects or when the person imagines that they are in the presence of things made of wood.

The symptoms vary depending on the person and the situation; not all individuals have the same symptoms or suffer with the same severity. Among the most frequent manifestations of phobia, the following usually appear:

Fear or panic is the ache and misery before they see or think about wooden objects or objects. Everyone fears certain stimuli. Fears help us handle difficult, risky, or scary situations. Sometimes we lose control because of fear. Even when the dread is baseless, suffering persists. Fear becomes panic and impairs daily functioning.
Anxiety is a response activated to help us face dangerous or threatening situations. It becomes a problem when the anxiety response is not proportional to the threat. Being in a forest or around wooden objects should not trigger anxiety. It poses no danger to us.
Physiological reactions. They include all the sensations the person notices internally when in the presence of or imagining wooden objects. These reactions vary depending on the person and the moment, but the most common are:
- Palpitations or tachycardia
- Pain and / or pressure in the chest.
- Difficulty breathing; choking sensation
- Excessive sweating, cold sweats
- Dryness in the mouth and throat
- Headache.
- Intestinal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
- The sensation of dizziness or vertigo.
- A sensation of losing control over the body.

Causes of xylophobia

Often, there is no single reason a person develops the phobia, but a combination of several factors.

Here are the most commonly agreed-upon causes:

Traumatic experiences

Specific phobias can usually be traced back to a previous traumatic event in the person’s life.

These experiences usually happen during childhood and adolescence. Although at first the person may not remember or think much of it, usually that is when the fear develops.

It could be something like getting lost in a forest, having a bad experience in a place heavily populated with trees, or suffering aggression or injury with a wooden object.

After suffering this trauma, our brain associates the wooden objects involved with the traumatic experience. For example, a person lost in the forest for hours experiences trauma. When they return to wooded areas, they experience that trauma all over. It is as if they are reliving the original traumatic experience.

These experiences can also cause the development of the phobia indirectly. For example, if the person sees or hears of another person having an unpleasant event related to wood.

Early childhood learning

Often, phobias develop because a child learns to fear objects or situations that their parents or other adults fear.

If a child sees their mother avoid going to a forest or other places with lots of trees and hears her verbalize her fear of these places, they will develop the same fear response.

Treatment options for xylophobia

Xylophobia prevents the person from having an everyday life due to the anguish it produces. Because of always avoiding certain places and objects, it is advisable to seek professional help.

Different treatments have proven effective in treating phobias; The best treatment depends on the person’s needs and the type of phobia suffered. Some of the most common treatments are:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

This type of treatment is one of the most effective treatments for specific phobias, such as xylophobia.

This therapy uses different techniques to help the patient understand why the phobia is occurring and how to cope with it.

Here are the most effective techniques:

Psychoeducation is the therapist’s process of informing the patient of the causes and origins of their phobia. This allows the patient to understand their problem and why it is so persistent.
Exposition. This technique consists of exposing the patient to the stimuli they fear. The patient could go to a place populated by trees. Or visit somewhere with many wooden objects. This method is done carefully by the therapist using proven procedures. These exposures get longer and longer until the fear of these situations disappears or diminishes considerably.
Relaxation techniques. Continued muscle tension is a common symptom of phobias. This tension can help us flee from danger. But in cases of phobias, this tension is unnecessary because the object we want to escape is not threatening. The relaxation response is contrary to the tension response. When the patient learns to relax, he can put it into practice at any time that tension generates discomfort.
Systematic desensitization This technique involves gradually exposing the patient to feared stimuli in combination with relaxation techniques. The patient and the therapist elaborate on a list of the most feared objects of minor importance. For example, the handle of a wooden fork, a wooden shovel, a chair, a large piece of furniture, a room with a floor, etc., until reaching the stimulus that produces the most fear. Once the list is completed, the patient begins to face the first stimulus, real or imagined. Once that stimulus stops causing anxiety symptoms, it comes off the list.
Cognitive intervention The cognitive-behavioral theory holds that people’s interpretations of circumstances cause dread and anxiety. This view typically exaggerates the threat. Cognitive intervention aims to challenge the patient’s misperceptions.
Breathing techniques regulate respiration in panic and anxiety conditions. Hyperventilation, which boosts blood oxygen levels, is common. Hyperventilation precedes breathing intensity. The purpose of breathing techniques is to decrease the symptoms of hyperventilation and to develop self-control over the situation.

Neurolinguistic Programming Techniques (NLP)

Neurolinguistic programming is a method that looks at how you talk to yourself and other people and how that affects your actions and the results of those actions. NLP is a model that helps you change the way you and other people think, feel, and act.

Hypnosis

This type of treatment aims to reach the subconscious of the person through regression and find the first moment in which fear is generated.

Once the person is at that moment, something is introduced into the scene to help them cope more adequately. It is about associating negative manifestations with other, more positive ones, aiming to reduce this irrational fear or even make it disappear.

After breaking his unfavorable link with the thing or scenario, the person has control over the fear. Sometimes this regression requires going back to childhood moments many years ago.

Use of prescription drugs

Different studies involving drugs to treat phobias do not yield decisive results on their effectiveness.

What seems to be clear is that the exclusive use of medication is ineffective in eliminating the phobia.

However, drugs such as benzodiazepines or beta-blockers are sometimes good complements to the abovementioned techniques. But the studies in this regard seem to indicate that the use of drugs could hinder the therapeutic work of exposure, so their use in treatment is not regular.

Healthy lifestyle

Regardless of the treatment you choose to fight the phobia, a series of daily routines contribute to the person’s general well-being.

Also Read: Anatidaephobia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

Correctly performing these steps will not eliminate xylophobia, but it will help not to aggravate the symptoms of anguish and discomfort. Some of the most appropriate behaviors are: