Everyone knows the expression ‘for tastes, colours’, which can be extrapolated to a world as complex and, at the same time, as limiting as phobias.

There are many phobias, but what is surprising is that there are even specific groups of phobias, such as phobias to animals, phobias to environmental phenomena, phobias related to the body…

A rather unknown group of phobias are those that have to do with space phenomena, being the comet phobia, the fear of comets , the specific phobia we are going to talk about here. Let’s look at this rare and, at the same time, curious phobic disorder.

What is ketophobia?

Comtophobia (from the Latin ‘comet’, in turn from the Greek ‘kometes’, ‘hair, star with a tail’ and from the Greek ‘phobos’ ‘fear’) is the fear of comets. This is a specific phobia that shares a category with other phobias related to astronomical phenomena or objects , such as heliophobia (fear of the Sun), cosmicophobia (fear of cosmic phenomena), metrophobia (fear of meteors), siderophobia (fear of stars) or spacephobia (fear of outer space).

Those who suffer from this phobia have an irrational fear of comets or phenomena related to them, and their appearance is usually related to superstitions or erroneous beliefs about outer space. Although, objectively, comets are only a mixture of rocks, ice, and stardust, there are those who still believe that they are messages from the beyond or signs that the end is near. There are also those who believe they are interplanetary ships sent by aliens to invade Earth.

Whatever the cause behind this phobia, the truth is that cometophobes have serious problems witnessing the passage of a comet, talking about the last time one of them happened, or seeing them in science fiction movies and documentaries about outer space.

Possible causes of this psychological disorder

As with other phobias, it is accepted that the factors that cause comtophobia are a combination of external events, such as having lived through a traumatic event, and internal predispositions to the individual , such as genetics and personality.

In the past, this fear was quite common, since there were no scientific explanations or objective methods to study comets, what they were composed of and when they appeared. Because of this, in times like the Middle Ages, it was believed that the passing of a comet was a sign that the day of reckoning was approaching, or that the destruction of mankind was just around the corner. These kinds of beliefs were very much associated with religion and related superstitions.

However, today there are still people who are afraid of comets. One of the reasons is that, either because they have seen comets in science fiction series or because they have documented their potential destructive capacity, comets are seen as something that could bring about the end of humanity, in case they impact the Earth . Another belief shared by cometophobes is that comets could be interplanetary ships of highly advanced alien civilizations that are planning to invade our planet.

Symptoms

As with other phobias and, in turn, other anxiety disorders, comtophobia involves high levels of stress for the sufferer. The symptoms may vary depending on the level of fear of the phobic stimulus and the degree of frequency of contact. The symptoms, and especially the anxiety, will appear when the person visualizes images of comets, although the phobic response can also occur simply by talking about or thinking about these cosmic phenomena .

Phobias are disorders that should be treated very seriously, since symptoms that may occur include panic attacks. When the person, either a cometrophobe or a person with another phobia, has one of these attacks, they can present physical problems such as palpitations and accelerated heartbeat.

Other physical symptoms that can manifest the patients of comtophobia, besides the panic attacks, are excessive sweating, tremors, chills, irregular breathing, choking sensation , tachycardia, chest pain, feeling of butterflies in the stomach, nausea, headache, dizziness, feeling faint, numbness, feeling of needles in the skin, dry mouth, tinnitus, disorientation, increased blood pressure, confusion, and hyperventilation.

In terms of psychological symptoms we have fear of losing control, fear of fainting, fear of dying, fear of having an illness, guilt, shame, isolation from others, depression, despair, problems concentrating, feeling disconnected, anger, irritability, mood swings, anxiety and generalized fear.

Treatment

Comet phobia is a very rare phobia and, because its phobic stimulus is comets, which is rare in itself, those with this phobia rarely decide to seek therapy. Actually, unless they work on something related to comets, such as astronomy, cometrophobic people do not see the need to undergo treatment, since they already have the subjective feeling of being in control of their disorder. They believe that as long as they do not see a comet, they can live a normal life.

This fact is striking when compared to other more common phobic disorders, associated with more everyday stimuli , such as blatophobia (fear of cockroaches), acrophobia (fear of heights) or aerophobia (fear of flying). All of these phobias are often seen in consultation because sufferers are limited in their avoidance of cockroaches, heights and airplanes, respectively. In contrast, because kites are rare, there is not a high degree of intrusion in kite phobia.

However, it never hurts to ask for help. Kites are rare and, because of this, are really beautiful natural phenomena that, when they occur, their observation is considered a true recreational activity and unique experience. The individual with comtophobia not only risks missing out on a historical event, but also deprives himself of a good time with his friends and family, who may have decided to spend the night watching the comet pass by.

Within psychotherapy, the patient is encouraged to recognise the patterns of behaviour and thinking that have led him to the situation he is in, what his beliefs are about what a comet is and whether he really believes they are as dangerous as he thinks they are. The consultation can teach you strategies for dealing with the anxiety associated with your specific form.

Within the pharmacological route, the most prescribed psychotropic drugs for phobias are antidepressants, anxiolytics and beta-blockers . These medications do not cure phobias, but they do diminish their symptoms and give the patient a greater degree of well-being. However, in order to ensure that the person does not have an irrational fear of comets or that he or she can acquire effective strategies for coping with them, psychotherapy will be the best option for achieving this objective.

Apart from the classic psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments, there are other less empirically demonstrated options that could have good results on the cometrophobic person, such as neurolinguistic programming or hypnotherapy, although, to date, few investigations have found this type of alternative treatments to be effective in treating anxiety disorders.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Association.
  • Bados, A.(2009). Specific phobias: Nature, evaluation and treatment. Electronic publication.