Fear of Wasps (Vespophobia): Symptoms, Causes & How to Overcome It
Contents
What is Fear of Wasps or Bees Called?
Fear of bees, wasps or hornets can trigger intense anxiety, fear and panic. Some people avoid outdoor events, gardens and even opening windows in the summer months. This phobia can feel exhausting and overwhelming. Just hearing the sound of buzzing can be a trigger for some people.
Fear of bees is sometimes called apiphobia or melissophobia, while fear of wasps is known as vespophobia or spheksophobia. This phobia is very common.
A phobia of wasps, bees or hornets is not just about the fear of being stung, it is the fear of the phobic response which can bring about powerful anxiety symptoms and panic. You can find out more about phobias in our full A – Z list of phobias here.
What is the Difference Between a Fear and a Phobia?
Fear is a normal response to danger and it is natural to be a little cautious of stinging insects. Wasps, hornets and bees can sting, so a certain amount of caution or wariness is sensible and natural.
A phobia however, is a much stronger and more exaggerated fear response, that feels out of proportion to the actual danger or risk. People with a phobia may experience intense anxiety and panic attacks just from being near a bee or wasp, or just from hearing the buzzing of one nearby. These feelings can even happen just from seeing a picture of one. This is why there are no triggering images in this article.
If fear of bees or wasps is affecting your everyday life, causing avoidance and making you dread certain situations, events or occasions, it may be more than an ordinary fear. Read on to find out why these responses happen and how to manage them.
Why Are People Scared of Wasps?
There is a natural evolutionary fear in all of us because the bee, wasp or hornet can sting us. With an extreme fear or a phobia though, the reaction becomes more intense and exaggerated. A non-phobic person might avoid them or wave a wasp away, someone with a phobia may have a panic attack, may be terrified of being stung and may not be able to hide their terror.
The phobia reaction often develops over time, building with each interaction or experience involving a wasp, bee or hornet. A bad experience as a child, a parent who perhaps demonstrated fear of wasps or a cumulation of experiences can cause this to natural wariness to develop into a difficult phobia.
Should I Be Scared of Wasps?
Most of the time wasps are not aggressive. If they feel threatened or if their nest is disturbed then they can become agitated and more likely to sting. While wasp stings can be painful, the risk to most people is relatively low unless they have an allergy to stings. Most people with a phobia of wasps feel the danger is much greater than it really is and this anxiety and fear amplifies the perceived threat. When you realize the wasp is not coming for you and trying to attack you, it can help you feel less afraid and help you overcome the fear.
Symptoms of Bee or Wasp Phobia
It can be difficult to live with a bee or wasp phobia especially during warmer months when insects are more active. Depending on what part of the world you live in, it might be a year round problem. Or you may be lucky enough to have winters where you barely think about them at all because you just don’t see them around. Some people feel constantly on alert when wasps and bees are active, they may be hypervigilant and looking for them, especially when spending time outside,
People with this phobia often run away when there is a bee or wasp around. You might find that if one gets in your home it is almost impossible to let it out of the window because it is difficult to get close enough to them.
They seem unpredictable, the sound of the buzzing can trigger feelings of panic. Some people repeatedly check their home or garden for nests, and some keep windows closed even on hot summer days just to reduce the chance of insects getting inside.
Common Symptoms of Wasp Phobia:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Panic attacks
- Shaking
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Hypervigilance
- Running away
- Avoiding gardens
- Avoiding outdoor eating & picnics
- Avoiding parks
- Keeping windows closed in the summer
Why am I so Afraid of Wasps, Bees and Hornets?
Some people develop the fear of these insects after a frightening experience as a child or younger person that had an impact and caused significant distress. For other people the phobia can develop gradually with no obvious starting point or original cause.
Fear of bees and wasps may also occur along with other phobias or anxieties. Once the fear response gets established, each encounter tends to reinforce the anxiety reaction, making it feel stronger.
There are ways you can treat phobias and change your reactions. Many people are able to overcome their phobia significantly. Techniques such as relaxation methods, breathing techniques, CBT or hypnosis can help you to change the fearful response.
Fear of Hornets
Fear of hornets usually happens along with a fear of wasps because they are quite similar insects. If you have a phobia of hornets you may experience, panic, anxiety and avoidance very similar to people with wasp phobia. To help overcome or improve the anxious response, take the same approach to overcoming hornet phobia as you would for wasp phobia such as CBT and self hypnosis.
What is Vespophobia?
Vespophobia is the fear of wasps and hornets. This term comes from the Latin word vespa, meaning wasp. People with vespophobia may experience intense anxiety, panic and avoidance around wasps and hornets. They may be able to see and hear them from long distances as they have become hypervigilant to the sight and sound of them.
Entomophobia and Related Insect Phobias
Some people have this phobia along with Entomophobia, where they fear insects of all or most kinds. Entomophobia is beyond the scope of this article but if you click here you can go to the “Cleaveland Clinic” website to read more about it You can also find out more about this and many other phobias in our full A – Z of phobias.
How to Stay Calm Around Wasps
To overcome your phobia you would need to gradually change the automatic reactions you experience when you see one. With practice many people learn to feel calmer and more in control around wasps.
A helpful starting point is to simply try to not run away or panic if a wasp appears nearby. Try to take a few deep slow breaths. The more you practice responding like this, the easier it will be to change that automatic panic response. With practice and with time, staying calm and in control can become the new normal for you. It is simply a case of practicing a new reaction, as you do so it gets easier.
Whenever possible aim to not run away, try to stay where you are and slow your breathing and focus on that. Resist the temptation to waft them away or swat them. Remind yourself that the bee or wasp is not looking for you and is not trying to harm you in any way. By practicing this you are effectively practicing gradual exposure and desensitization. This can go a long way to helping you react better simply through practice.
How to Get Over Fear of Wasps
How do you get over a bee, hornet or wasp phobia? Start by applying some of the techniques in this article. If you find you are unable to overcome the fear, therapies such as CBT, exposure therapy and self hypnosis may help.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT can help people gradually learn to change the way they think and respond to bees, hornets and wasps. It can help you learn calming strategies and challenge fearful thoughts and reactions to the phobia.
Exposure therapy is often used with CBT and involves facing your fear in small manageable steps. You might begin with looking at pictures of them and progressing from there. Eventually you learn to react calmly and with less fear.
Hypnotherapy, Can Hypnosis Help Wasp or Bee Phobia?
Hypnotherapy or self hypnosis can help reduce the automatic fear response you have linked to bees, hornets or wasps. The aim with hypnosis is to help your mind respond more calmly and rationally in situations that would normally trigger panic and anxiety.
Hypnotherapy works by influencing the subconscious mind, where automatic habits, emotional responses and behavioral patterns are formed. With practice, these anxious reactions become more manageable and much less intense.
In hypnosis, desensitization and CBT methods are often incorporated into the process. Alongside the relaxing, calming experience of hypnosis, these techniques help to teach the subconscious mind a new way of reacting when you see a wasp, bee or hornet.
With practice, this can help reduce panic and allow you to feel much calmer and more in control.
Overcome Fear of Bees, Hornets & Wasps Hypnosis
We offer a self hypnosis audio designed to help you overcome fear and anxiety of bees, hornets and wasps. You can learn more about this hypnosis download here. This audio is created by Rachael Eccles, an experienced clinical hypnotherapist. You can find out more about Rachael here.
FAQ
What is a fear of wasps called?
Fear of wasps is commonly called spheksophobia.
What is fear of bees called?
Fear of bees may be referred to as melissophobia or apiphobia.
Why am I scared of wasps?
This can happen as a result of a bad experience as a child or younger person, it may also result from learned reactions from seeing a parent or sibling running away from wasps. For many people though, there is no specific cause and the phobia develops through a collection of experiences and feelings of panic when seeing a wasp.
How do I stop being scared of wasps?
To overcome fear of wasps it is best to approach the problem gradually and try to change your reaction. You may find hypnosis helps, especially one focused on overcoming fear of wasps. Using a hypnosis audio can help you to learn to relax more easily and stay calm near wasps. The more occasions you experience where a wasp is nearby and you did not overreact, the more your confidence will grow. As you build a collection of positive experiences where you coped better than before you are effectively learning a new response.
Can bee or wasp phobia be treated?
Many people improve their phobias using self hypnosis, CBT and desensitization methods. We incorporate all of these in our Overcome Wasps & Bee Phobia hypnosis audio which you can find here.
Is fear of wasps common?
A fear or phobia of wasps and bees is very common, and for some people it develops into a severe phobia that affects daily life. The good news is that it can be improved with practice and the phobia responses changed to controlled calm responses.
What is Spheksophobia?
Spheksophobia is the fear of wasps
Can Hypnosis help fear of wasps
Many people find hypnosis helpful for overcoming phobias. Hypnosis aims to change or reduce the fear responses that have become deep rooted. The hypnosis is designed to help you stay calm and in control and be less fearful arounds wasps, bees and hornets.
A – Z List of Phobias
Find out more on our full A-Z list of phobias with their Greek names, we currently have over 640 listed.