Saeed Ahmadi
Table of Contents
Are you a concerned parent with a child, who is suffering from teraphobia? Or are you an adult, who grew up with this fear and you still don’t know how to control this terror? Either way, we’re here to help you get rid of teraphobia once and for all!
To get to know this fear we’ll first start by telling you the meaning of this term, then we’ll offer you 7 ways to deal with your or your child’s ongoing fight against teraphobia.
For further information about this fear, continue to read on and learn about the ways you could use for becoming a better parent at controlling this problem.
Now if you are a fan of watching video rather than reading then we suggest you check this:
What Is Teraphobia?
Teraphobia refers to the fear of monsters, which is very common among kids.
There are several reasons for the emergence of this fear, especially, at a young age, and if it is not treated properly it could cause children cases of insomnia.
Watching horror movies and reading stories in the same genre can affect one’s mental state.
Therefore, you should be careful with what you feed to a child’s mind while growing up.
Of course, kids have a wild imagination and they can create their own imaginary world of scary monsters, which are hiding somewhere in their room.
The reason why most kids avoid sleeping in their beds is teraphobia, which gives them the fear that there might be a scary beast under their bed or in their closet.
Therefore, to help your children with overcoming this fear and convince them that there’s no such thing as monsters, we have a list of 7 ways prepared for you to help out your kids.
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7 Ways To Deal With Teraphobia Or The Fear Of Monsters
1. No Screen Time Before Bed
Spending time in front of the TV or on the phone can not only strain your eyes but also feed you with thoughts that may end up in your dreams.
So, if your kid fears monsters and usually ends up having nightmares due to that fear, make sure you limit their screen time.
For this method, you will need to pay attention to the applications your children install on their tablets or cell phones.
Try to discuss the matter with them and tell them that they are not allowed to play scary games or watch dreadful programs.
To make sure that this technique works, you can reward them for listening to you and try to spend some quality time with your children instead of distracting them with technology.
You can even check under the bed or inside their closets right before bedtime to assure them that there’s no reason for them to fear what doesn’t exist.
2. Enhance Happy Thoughts
Imagining the existence of odd monsters, especially, in the dark is quite common among youngsters, but it doesn’t mean they have to struggle with this fear for the rest of their lives.
The way people think could either enhance their fear of monsters or help them overcome teraphobia.
One suggestion to beat this fear would be to enhance happy thoughts. Avoid any negative feelings or getting caught up in negative situations with the wrong people.
Because getting involved with the wrong crowd will mess up your thoughts and make you anxious.
Pay attention to your children’s friends and how they can influence the mental state of your kid without acting like a helicopter parent.
Try asking them about their school pals and their characters while avoiding being overprotective of your kid.
Knowing their friends will help you decide whether your child is exposed to negative thoughts or he/she is growing up in an environment where he/she will flourish and develop happy thoughts.
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3. Reading Happy Bedtime Stories
Most children love to hear a bedtime story before falling asleep, but here, what matters the most is the kind of story they’re going to hear.
Are you the kind of parent who reads monster stories for your kid? If you are, you need to quit this habit right this second!
Reading horror stories for young kids will lead them to have nightmares and develop a fear of monsters.
This could also ruin their sleep by giving them insomnia and straining their energy by depriving them of a good night of rest.
When buying children’s books try to look for the kind of books, which have a happy ending and mention nothing about scary monsters.
Go for books with educational context instead and help improve the way your kids grasp the world.
You can also ask other parents for suggestions if you are having difficulty finding the right books.
4. Take Part In Parental Meetings
Meeting up with other adults could help improve your ways of dealing with your kids’ struggles.
If you’re a first-time dad or mom and don’t know what to do, ask experienced parents for some guidance. The best way to meet other parents would be through the school’s parental meetings.
By attending similar events you’ll get to introduce yourself to the parents of your children’s classmates and friends, discuss their problems and fears, and see if anyone could put you on the right track when it comes to teraphobia.
By sharing this problem with several people, you will get the chance to know about a variety of methods and choose the best one, which fits your kid.
This will also help you observe the issue from different angles and perspectives.
If your child’s school doesn’t hold many parental meetings, you can ask the parents if they are willing to attend in-house get-togethers, where they can discuss their kids.
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5. Enroll Your Kids In Different Activities
If your kids are into sports and want to fill their spare time with activities, which would take their minds away from monsters, encourage them to go for it.
These activities could involve enrolling in music classes, where they get to learn about different types of instruments and their favorite ones to play.
This suggestion will help the children know themselves and their favorite activities.
For sports, the kids could try swimming, football, baseball, or any other activity based on its intensity.
As a parent, you should let your child choose their preferred game instead of forcing them into something they don’t like.
Because if you push your kid into doing an unwanted activity, there is a high probability that they will end up being frustrated or even quitting at the end of things.
If your child is not into sports or music, let him/her choose art or anything that could make them relax and release the tension they are feeling at the moment.
6. Spend Some Quality Time With Your Children
Showing your kids that you care about them is the best reward a parent could give to his/her child.
Make sure you’re always present in their lives, specifically, when they celebrate a special occasion including their birthday.
Be supportive of their dreams and listen to what they have to say when they start feeling overwhelmed by school or other things going on in their lives.
Becoming your kid’s best friend will help you understand them better.
But the most important part is that they will start to trust you more and more once you decide to show your love to them.
Eventually, they will learn to rely on you and your advice when they need help.
This can reduce a kid’s fears and assure them that as long as they have a loving parent by their side they have nothing to fear.
Some suggestions for having quality time with your child would be having a spa day, going to the park, taking them to the restaurant, playing with them, buying them ice cream, and most importantly attending their games if they are part of a sports team.
7. Therapy
If none of the suggestions above match your child’s needs, you can try therapy.
This technique could be a great way for children to open up, especially, if they are uncomfortable sharing their fears with their parents.
A therapist could use different methods to approach your kid and see why they fear monsters.
An experienced individual in this field would try to give different activities to the youngster and help him/her overcome their struggles by choosing the best one.
As a parent, allow your child to acknowledge his/her fear instead of telling them to push it in and act tough.
Because burying fears and emotions would be like caging those feelings and allowing them to resurface at a time when we expect them the least.
After each therapy session, you can ask the therapist for ways with which you could speed up your child’s road to life, free of scary monsters.
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Ways To Deal With Teraphobia In Adults
If you are an adult and you think none of the mentioned suggestions is appropriate for your age, we think you would love the methods we have listed for you below.
1. Meditation
Meditation is probably the best method for reducing stress and anxiety caused by your fears or concerns in life.
To practice this technique, you can start by looking for guided meditations on YouTube or Castbox.
The latter is an application, which gives you a chance to look for podcasts with a similar theme. Another app would be Headspace, which is specifically made for meditation and clearing your head.
2. Journaling
Journaling will help you acknowledge your fears by writing them down. Once, you get to know your struggles better, there is a high chance that you will develop a tendency to solve that problem through writing.
For better results, make sure you always carry a notebook, where you write down your fears.
See if you can discover the reason why you have this fear and what could be the underlying factor leading to your current situation. Because many of our phobias are rooted in our childhood traumas.
3. Read Self-Improvement Books
There are many books, which could help you overcome your fears. If you have a specific author on your mind look in his/her list of written books and see if he/she has published any works in relation to different phobias.
Some of the books which you could read are,
- “Courage: Overcoming Fear and Igniting Self-Confidence” by Debbie Ford
- “A Practical Guide to Overcoming Phobias: Stand Up to Your Fears” by Patricia Furness-Smith
- “Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL’s Guide” by Brandon Tyler Webb and John David Mann
- “The Fear Cure: Cultivating Courage as Medicine for the Body, Mind, and Soul” by Lissa Rankin
- And “Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers
This list of books will help you see your fears from a different perspective and find the best ways to come face-to-face with them.
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It’s not pointless to listen to this podcast for solving the problem:
What Are the Symptoms of Teraphobia?
In general, some of the Symptoms of Teraphobia may vary from person to person, but common symptoms may include:
1- Panic attacks
Panic attacks or severe anxiety when faced with images or stories of monsters, even when they are fictional.
2- Avoiding dark places
Avoiding situations that may involve encountering monsters, such as dark places or horror movies.
3- Sweating and trembling
Physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, nausea, and dizziness.
4- Having fears and thoughts about monsters
Having intrusive thoughts or persistent fears about the possibility of encountering monsters may lead to difficulty sleeping or concentrating during the night.
5- Difficulty functioning in daily life
Difficulty functioning in daily life due to the fear and anxiety associated with Teraphobia
How to Treat Teraphobia in Children?
There has been a higher rate of Teraphobia in children between the ages of 5 to 10 years old.
Thus, it is important to be diagnosed as soon as possible in order to ensure that it doesn’t become a major thing in a child’s life and ruin their adulthood.
Now let’s take a look at some treatment you can do at home before heading to the doctor.
1- Encourage your child to talk it
Encourage your child to talk about their fears and listen attentively without judgment. This can help them feel understood and validated, and it can also help you understand the root of their fears.
2- Let them know it’s not real
Reassure your child that monsters are not real and cannot harm them. Provide comfort and support, and remind them of their own strength and bravery.
3- Show some images to them
Gradually expose your child to images or stories about monsters in a controlled and safe way. This can help them confront their fears and realize that they can handle the situation.
4- Role-playing
Role-playing can be a helpful way for children to learn coping skills and gain a sense of control. Encourage your child to act out scenarios where they confront and overcome their fears.
If your child’s Teraphobia persists and interferes with their daily life, consider seeking the help of a qualified mental health professional.
They can provide specialized treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or play therapy to help your child manage their fears.
In order to help your child overcome their Teraphobia, you need to be patient and supportive throughout the treatment process, as it can take a long time for your child to overcome their fear.
What Are the Causes of Teraphobia?
Some of the factors that may contribute to the development of Teraphobia, or the fear of monsters, are unknown, but some of them may be the following:
In some research studies, it has been suggested that humans have an innate fear of certain stimuli, such as snakes and spiders, due to the fact that these things were a threat to the survival of our ancestors.
It is possible that the fear of monsters may also be a response to unfamiliar or potentially dangerous creatures acting in an evolutionary manner.
An individual with Teraphobia can develop the condition as a result of traumatic experiences, such as being scared either by a movie or a story about a monster.
A general sense of fear or anxiety can be associated with monsters even if the experience had nothing to do with them directly, but it can cause a general sense of anxiety or fear that can be tied in with them.
The teraphobia that children exhibit may be learned from their parents, siblings, or peers who exhibit the same fear as they do.
In a similar way, exposure to media or popular culture that depicts monsters as scary or dangerous can also contribute to the development of learned fear as well.
As a result of their general anxiety tendencies, children who are already prone to anxiety and stress are more likely to develop teraphobia as a result of their general anxiety tendencies.
It is common for children to have vivid imaginations and to use their imaginations to create monsters in their minds in order to cope with their fears and anxieties as a means of coping with their fears.
Conclusion
Not everyone is brought up in this world to know the tricks of dealing with their fears.
And many find it hard to push back against their phobias.
However, this doesn’t have to mean that you can’t beat those dreads and move one step forward away from fears such as teraphobia.
In this article, you have learned how to act, when your child starts to experience some difficulties due to their fear of monsters.
By reading the 7 ways mentioned above, you will know how to find the best solutions in the simplest methods and if one doesn’t work out for you, you can always rely on another.
We also listed a few ways for you to overcome your fear of monsters as an adult.
Though at first glance you might think that these ways are too simple for you to try, you’d still be surprised by how they could be effective in overcoming your fears.
If you think there are other ways to deal with teraphobia, we’d be happy to hear out your suggestions in the comments section below.
