Fear of Haunted Houses

Is a Fear of Haunted Houses Considered a Phobia?

Most of us get a little frightened by a horror movie or a haunted house exhibit for Halloween. So how can you know whether your fear of haunted houses is just a normal fear or a phobia?

Being afraid of a haunted house is part of the fun for many people; they feel the fear but they understand it. However, a specific phobia of haunted houses or any other object is an anxiety disorder that can disrupt one's life and get worse over time if not treated.

Fears and phobias can both cause dizziness, heart palpitations, nausea, and shortness of breath. Phobias, however, cause more severe issues, and unlike normal fears, feature a preoccupation with the objects or situations.

Consider the following when deciding whether you have a fear or a phobia about haunted houses.

• The level of your discomfort. How intense is your fear? Are you afraid to enter a haunted house exhibit or just to drive near one? Are you a little nervous in your home, a hotel, or another person's home late at night when you hear strange noises, or do you completely change your plans to avoid that place?
• How often you think about your fear. Do you think of your fear each Halloween, or does just the thought of your fear trigger your symptoms?

The 3 Types of Phobias

In deciding if a fear of haunted houses is part of a true phobia, knowing about the most common ones can be helpful. There are three primary types of phobias:

• Social phobias: Social phobias involve a fear of certain social situations.
• Agoraphobia: Agoraphobia is a type of phobia in which a person has a fear of becoming trapped or unable to leave a situation. It is also defined as fear of going outside, such as in panic disorder with agoraphobia.
• Specific phobias: Specific phobias are those in which there is an irrational fear of a specific object or situation. Specific phobias come in four basic types: fears of something in the natural environment (such as tornadoes), animal-related fears (such as the fear of snakes), medical fears (such as the fear of blood), or situational (such as the fear of driving).

Treatment

In general, the treatment of a specific haunted house phobia is easier than some other phobias. It is easier to stay out of potentially haunted houses (at least usually) than it is to avoid a thunderstorm.

For someone without a phobia of haunted houses, the potential treatment of this phobia may seem easy—but a phobia is an irrational fear that defies logic. It doesn't simply work to say, "Don't worry." A good therapist can help someone understand their fear and help them overcome it rather than minimize it.

There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for people with haunted house phobias, but approaches used for other phobias can help. Some treatments for specific phobias include:

• Medications: There are several medication options for people with specific phobias; however, medication is often a second-line treatment and is more common for social phobia than for a fear of a specific object or situation. For example, benzodiazepines are sometimes used to treat panic symptoms that can accompany severe phobias, but they should be used sparingly.
• Psychotherapy: Mental health therapy for phobias might include cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, flooding, and counterconditioning, an approach in which people are taught to react to the feared object or situation in a new way by practicing relaxation techniques. Even single-session therapy is helpful for youth with specific phobias. The type or types of psychotherapy used will depend on your therapist as well as the severity of your phobia.
• Alternative therapy: Therapies such as hypnosis or herbal supplements have not been studied to the degree that other approaches have, but alternative therapies for phobias may be helpful for some when combined with the other treatments.

A Word From Verywell

Some of the specific phobias, such as that of haunted houses, can sound ridiculous or funny to some people, but they're no laughing matter for those who have them. Specific phobias can be a source of embarrassment and leave a person feeling isolated and out of control. One of the most difficult ​emotional aspects of phobias is that they are life-limiting in this way. If you or someone you know is dealing with a fear or phobia that gets in the way of daily life for you, speak with a therapist who specializes in treating anxiety.