It is natural to seek to protect yourself from the threat of robbery. In ancient literature it was said that no one who knew they would be robbed would simply allow it to happen. This plays itself out each day when individuals install home theft protection alarms and safety windows and locks. Many have included in-home safes and even safe rooms where they can hide in the event of a robbery. Those who suffer from the fear of being robbed are known to have Harpaxophobia and the consequences can be long-term.
This fear can influence a home purchase, home protection and can also affect social interaction simply because in many cases the individual will feel that a group setting may provide the danger of being robbed.
What Causes Harpaxophobia?
One of the most common causes of this fear is personal experience. Imagine the image left when a person lives through the violation of a home per personal robbery. This situation can leave that individual feeling extremely vulnerable and exposed. They do not feel safe and tend to withdraw from society at large. They may, in fact, turn their home into a fortress of safety strategies and still worry about the potential of a repeat robbery.
This fear can also be introduced by another individual who experienced a robbery. The lack of trust and personal guardedness can affect another simply because the profound sense of anxiety seems so – worrisome.
An obsessive observance of news stories can allow an individual to believe that robberies are extremely common and it is simply a matter of time before they are subjected to the vulnerability associated with a robbery.
Symptoms of Harpaxophobia
This phobia has a marked visual symptom of panic attacks. This type of individual may move toward panic when someone knocks at the door or if there are creaking sounds in their home in the middle of the night. They may believe that almost anyone they meet in public is capable of robbing them.
Other symptoms may also include…
- Sweating
- Air hunger
- Nausea
- Trembling
- Social anxiety
- Screaming
- Crying
- A sense of paranoia
- Fainting
- A feeling of control loss
This phobia is frustrating because it leaves the individual feeling as if they are not and can never be safe. This individual believes that every day it is possible they are in danger of being robbed – and perhaps hurt in the process.
How to Overcome the Fear of Being Robbed
This particular fear may not respond well to simply saying, “There is nothing to fear.”While the rational part of the mind may want to believe this is true sometimes the personal experience suggests otherwise.
A therapist may be needed to help heal the emotional trauma created from a personal experience with being robbed.There will be both emotional as well as psychological wounds that need to be dealt with before the fear can be brought under control. Leaving this fear alone is anti-productive to feelings of safety and protection.
The fear of being robbed is also referred to as:
- Robbery fear
- Harpaxophobia
