Acerophobia is the irrational fear of sourness. Someone experiencing this phobia may find the mere thought of sourness to be incredibly anxiety provoking, let alone if they were to actually consume something that was sour. Their fear of sourness may be so intrusive and out of touch with reality that they may even experience full blown panic attacks because of it. Though this may not be the norm, it is still possible to occur.
Acerophobia is a very rare phobia and is likely to be much rarer than other phobias such as cynophobia (fear of dogs), thalassophobia (fear of the sea), or pupaphobia (fear of puppets), among many other phobias. Someone suffering from full blown acerophobia may find sour foods such as lemons, limes, and sour candies to be absolutely dreadful and they may do what they can to avoid them at nearly all costs.
Someone suffering from acerophobia will be unable to think about their fear of sourness coherently and logically. This is a large reason as to why they will not be able to control the intense emotions that are associated with this condition. Though some people suffering with acerophobia will be able to realize that there is nothing innately scary about sourness, when in the midst of a panic attack due to sourness, they will likely be unable to reason their way out of their anxiety.
They may be overly concerned with certain foods, especially when eating out at restaurants as they may be overly cautious if foods have sour flavors in them or if the food is rancid. However, due to the fact that sourness is almost as rare as the flavor bitterness in most foods, someone with acerophobia shouldn’t have to put forth too much effort trying to avoid sour foods.
Symptoms of Acerophobia
Someone suffering from acerophobia can expect to experience a great deal of anxiety due to their intense fear of sourness. As previously mentioned, they may experience anxiety that is so intrusive and intense that they may experience a full blown panic attack. Upon such an event, they can then expect to experience an increased heart rate, muscle tension, sweating, sharper senses, and shakiness, among other things. Depending on the severity of their panic attack, they may need to be hospitalized.
Someone with acerophobia may take things to an extreme by only eating foods that they prepare themselves or they may only eat the same foods everyday to ensure that they do not eat anything sour. Other people with this condition may only be concerned with ensuring that the foods they eat are fresh and not rancid or sour due to the food being old (e.g. sour milk).
If this were to be the case, then they may be overly concerned with the expiration dates of foods in their homes or in the homes of their friends or family insofar as they eat there. Though they may think they are protecting themselves by thinking this way, they will likely be worsening their condition in the long run.
Below, you will see some more common symptoms of this phobia:
- Intense anxiety when thinking of sour foods
- Intense anxiety when eating sour foods
- Unable to cope with their anxiety
- Muscle tension, shakiness, and sweating
- May experience panic attacks
Causes of Acerophobia
There is no known cause of acerophobia. However, genetics and one’s environment may play a significant role in the development of virtually any given mental illness, including an irrational fear of sourness. For instance, if someone has a family history of mental illness, especially of anxiety disorders, then they may be at risk for developing acerophobia from a genetic standpoint. This may be due to them also being genetically predisposed to developing mental illness in general.
If they were to have such a genetic predisposition, then it may only require that they experience some sort of traumatic event for them to develop full blown acerophobia. For example, someone may develop this condition due to them becoming violently ill from eating or drinking food that was slightly sour.
It is also plausible to think that someone could develop acerophobia due to them experiencing some sort of traumatic event that had nothing to do with sourness, but the individual was eating something sour during the moment that the traumatic event occurred. Though these two things have nothing to do with the other, some people may remember certain sounds, colors, smells, or even tastes during very traumatizing events which can stay with them long after the traumatic event took place.
Though we do not definitively know what causes someone to develop acerophobia, the consensus among most mental health professionals is that both genetics and one’s environment play significant roles in the development of virtually any given mental disorder.
Acerophobia Treatments
There are no treatments specifically designed for people suffering with acerophobia. However, exposure therapy may be very advantageous for someone suffering from this condition. Exposure therapy works by having the therapist gradually expose the patient to their fear over a given period of time. Though doing so will inevitably give the patient an influx of unwanted anxiety, it will also help them to become desensitized from their fear in the long run.
A therapist using exposure therapy for someone suffering from acerophobia may have them hold a lemon or smell a lemon in their session. Though this may not sound like a big deal, for someone with an intense fear of sourness, doing so may be very challenging for them. Eventually, the therapist may try to see if the patient is ready to eat the sour fruit. This is just one of many ways exposure therapy can be implemented for someone with acerophobia.
Anti-anxiety medication or antidepressants may also be beneficial for someone suffering with this disorder. However, this is something that you will want to discuss with your doctor first.
Psychiatric Medications for Acerophobia
Anti-anxiety meds
These types of medications are very useful to help prevent panic attacks. Such drugs can be extremely useful for people suffering from severe acerophobia due to the fact that people with phobias often experience panic attacks as well. Some common anti-anxiety medications include Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin, among many others.
These types of drugs are not typically taken on a daily basis, but they may be insofar as their acerophobia is severe enough. However, this is something that you should first discuss with your doctor before you decide to do so to ensure that it is safe and effective.
Antidepressants
These types of medications aren’t only for people who suffer from depression as they can also help people suffering from anxiety disorders as well, such as acerophobia. Some common antidepressants are Paxil, Zoloft, and Lexapro, among several others. These drugs may be able to help reduce some of the symptoms of acerophobia.
These types of drugs are typically taken on a daily basis. They can indeed help prevent panic attacks from occurring, but they are more so used to help reduce people’s daily anxiety. Talk to your doctor to see if taking antidepressants can help to reduce your symptoms of acerophobia, as well as whether or not it is safe to do so.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for Acerophobia
MBSR is an 8-week evidence-based program that offers secular, intensive mindfulness training to help people who are suffering from anxiety, stress, depression, and other sorts of mental anguish. MBSR may be able to significantly help someone who is suffering from acerophobia as mindfulness meditation has been shown to be very beneficial for anxious people. In such a structured program, someone with acerophobia can expect to learn a plethora of different skills that can help them to relieve the intense anxiety that’s associated with their specific phobia.
Talk to your doctor or therapist to see if MBSR can help you to reduce the intensity of your symptoms of acerophobia, as well as where to find MBSR programs in your area.
Meditation for Acerophobia
There are many different forms of meditation that exists which can be very advantageous for someone suffering from acerophobia. Specifically, mindfulness meditation has been shown to be quite beneficial for helping people to enter into a more equanimous state. There are many different ways with which you can implement mindfulness meditation and there are also many different meditation apps which are designed to make things as easy as possible for you.
Mindfulness has the potential to significantly help those suffering from acerophobia due to how it will help one to distract themselves from their fear by refocusing their attention onto something else that does not have any sort of emotional baggage attached to it, such as by focusing on the breath for example. This is one of the most basic ways that one can meditate and be present.
For someone with acerophobia in the midst of a panic attack, redirecting one’s attention to the various sensations felt when breathing can actually help to reduce the amount of mental anguish experienced during such an influx of anxiety.
To implement mindfulness meditation to help relieve one’s symptoms of acerophobia, you can do so by paying close attention to the way the muscles in your abdomen and chest contract and relax with every inhale and exhale. You can spend time dwelling on how it feels as your chest expands during each inhale and how it sinks in with every exhale.
Besides focusing on your breathing, you can also focus on the sounds around you, the way your skin feels as you touch certain objects, the way foods taste, as well as the way certain aromas smell. Essentially, honing into your 5 senses can significantly help you to reduce some of the anxiety that is associated with acerophobia. Also, remember that it will take a lot of practice to become an adept meditator. So, practice is key.
Exposure Therapy for Acerophobia
As previously mentioned, exposure therapy is one of the most common ways to treat anxiety disorders such as acerophobia. It can be an efficient way to help desensitize the patient to their specific fears. Be that as it may, it is imperative that the therapist implementing it on their patient is very adept at doing so. For example, if the therapist were to slightly expose someone with acerophobia to their fear, then it may not be very effective as they may need a higher amount of exposure to truly trigger any sort of worthwhile change in the patient.
The same can be said for the antithesis of this scenario. If the therapist were to excessively expose someone with acerophobia to their fear, then doing so could be highly counterproductive to the point to where their acerophobia may become immensely worse due to the therapy alone. So, it is paramount that the therapist implementing exposure therapy for someone with acerophobia has a very strong sense of just how severe their symptoms are so that they can know the level of exposure that the patient will likely be able to handle.
Yoga for Acerophobia
There are numerous different yoga poses that can substantially benefit someone who is suffering from acerophobia. In part, this is due to the meditative state of mind that yoga tends to emit in those who practice it on a consistent basis. Yoga can be thought of as meditation in motion. It can help to relieve some of the anxiety associated with acerophobia due to the mere fact that by engaging in yoga, your attention will be redirected to something more productive.
There are many different types of yoga that someone with acerophobia can benefit from, such as hatha yoga or hot yoga, among many others. Nevertheless, regardless of the many different forms of yoga that exist, virtually all of them can help to relieve some of the stress and anxiety that is associated with acerophobia.
If you have never practiced yoga before, then it may be in your best interest to take a class or watch some guided videos that can help you through each pose. Just like with meditation, the more you practice yoga, the more adept you will become at it. Besides helping you to reduce your symptoms of acerophobia, you can also expect to acquire increased strength and flexibility, among other benefits.
Exercise for Acerophobia
Exercise has been shown to be extremely beneficial for people suffering from anxiety disorders, including acerophobia. Specifically, cardiovascular exercise can significantly help to relieve one’s stress. This is not to say that weight-resistance training would not benefit someone with anxiety, but rather that aerobic exercise is has been shown to be more effective at releasing those feel good chemicals in the brain, such as endorphins.
According to the American Psychology Association, exercise can help to condition the mind to better cope with stressful situations. This makes sense when we take into consideration the high amount of stress that the body is put under during strenuous exercise. So, if you yourself are sedentary, then engaging in some form of aerobic exercise may be able to significantly help reduce your symptoms of acerophobia by making it much easier for you to cope with the anxiety and stress that’s associated with this condition.
There are many different aerobic modalities that you can partake in to help reduce your symptoms of acerophobia, such as swimming, biking, skiing, walking, and jogging. You can also acquire the many benefits of exercise by playing sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, and racquetball, among many other sports. Engaging in some form of exercise consistently may be able to help relieve some of the pain associated with acerophobia over time.
Caffeine Reduction for Acerophobia
It is no secret that consuming large amounts of caffeine throughout the day can aid in making you more anxious. This makes sense when we look closely at how caffeine affects our body’s physiology. When we consume a high dose of caffeine, our heart will start to beat faster and we become more tense. Essentially, our body will begin to go into a “fight or flight” state of mind. Such a frame of mind is often a precursor for someone with acerophobia to experience panic attacks.
So, consuming little to no caffeine throughout the day may be able to significantly help reduce your day to day anxiety. Although doing so will likely not make all of your anxiety go away, it will indeed help you to reduce any unnecessary suffering that you would have otherwise experienced if you were to consume a large amount of caffeine.
Beverages like coffee and tea are often high in caffeine, as well as some energy drinks. In fact, even some foods have caffeine in them as well, such as dark chocolate. Being more conscious of your daily caffeine consumption may help you to reduce some of the symptoms associated with acerophobia.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Acerophobia
DBT is a very effective form of treatment for people struggling with emotion regulation. It is often used to treat people suffering from borderline personality disorder. Nevertheless, it can also be very advantageous for someone suffering from anxiety disorders like acerophobia too. This is due to the numerous amount of coping skills you can expect to learn in a DBT group. These groups typically last about 6 months long and can have anywhere from two people to several people depending on how many join the group.
One very effective DBT skill for helping someone with acerophobia is half-smiling. This technique works by having you think about that which you fear or upsets you all while slightly raising the corners of your mouth by lightly smiling, thus the term “half-smiling.” Although, it isn’t enough to just think about your fear while half-smiling, you also have to try and refrain from entertaining those painful emotions that your specific fear may evoke.
Mindfulness meditation is also heavily used in DBT and can greatly benefit someone with acerophobia as it is done in a group setting, which helps to put the patient out of their comfort zone. These group mindfulness practices may include drinking warm tea to hone in on the sense of taste and tactile senses or simply focusing on the breath.
Coping ahead is another very useful DBT skill that can help someone with acerophobia. With coping ahead, you will want to find a place where you can sit down quietly without distraction. Close your eyes and then think about the many different possible scenarios where you would face your specific fear and overcome it or cope with it. Doing so will help you to be much better adept at coping with your acerophobia when you are actually exposed to the specific fear associated with it in real life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Acerophobia
CBT is a psycho-social intervention that aims to improve one’s mental health. It is a modality that is often used to treat people suffering from anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder and OCD. Someone with acerophobia may also be able to benefit from CBT as well seeing as how it would allow them to have a much better understanding as to why they think and behave the way they do in relation to their irrational fears.
CBT can be immensely helpful for someone with acerophobia given the sheer automaticity of their symptoms. For example, when someone with acerophobia is exposed to their fear, they will almost always have an instantaneous subconscious reaction to their fear. Such a lack of introspection is likely a large part of why someone with this condition will suffer to the extent that they will. CBT can help you to take a step back and analyze your fears more deeply than you typically would.
Besides learning to be more fastidious with regards to understanding one’s specific fears, someone with acerophobia engaging in CBT can also expect to learn various other skills aimed at helping to relieve the anxiety caused by their condition.
If you think you may be suffering from some of the symptoms of this condition, then you may benefit from therapy. Feel free to reach out to your doctor or local mental health clinic to see what your available options are and to see if there is any sort of discount or promo code available to help you with the costs of treatment, as well as if your health insurance will cover treatment costs.