Fears of fruits, holes, vomiting, masks, and more—these phobias often stem from early-life traumas. Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Alexandra Lecart shares their roots and effective therapies to rebuild confidence in triggering objects or situations.
Unusual phobias like school phobia (didaskaleinophobia) or administrative phobia grab media attention, alongside fears of fruits (carpophobia), masks (maskaphobia), holes (trypophobia), or vomiting (emetophobia). Countless others exist. As psychoanalyst Irène Diamantis notes in her book Les phobias ou l’impossible separation, "There are as many phobias as there are objects." While the triggers may amuse others, the distress is profoundly real. Amaxophobia, the fear of driving that escalates on highways, can severely limit daily life.
Rooted in Large and Small Traumas
These intense fears trace back to traumas from early childhood through young adulthood. "In a traumatic event, the person fixates their fear of danger—or even death—onto a nearby object via association, whether directly involved like in a car accident or dog bite," explains Alexandra Lecart. One patient recalls her childhood stroller accident: her grandmother fell, bleeding after hitting the wheels. "The child sensed grave danger to a loved one and linked her fear of physical harm to wheels," Lecart says. Phobias emerge as an avoidance strategy, a survival mechanism to evade perceived threats.
Treatments: From CBT to VR and Philosophical Insights
Modern therapies help reframe these fears toward harmless objects or scenarios. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) gradually exposes patients to triggers. Lecart also employs virtual reality via 3D helmets for safe, controlled "in virtuo" exposure, progressing to real-world "in vivo" encounters. She advocates existential psychotherapy—drawing on psycho-philosophy to explore existence, relationships, and mortality—and analytical therapy targeting the original trauma. An integrative approach often combines methods for optimal results.
