Fear of Windows

Just as there are four corners to most panes of glass there are also four primary fears wrapped up in Defenestraphobia.

A window can provide multiple snapshots of your day. It can capture a sunrise, sunset, the play of children in the yard and the homecoming of a partner or roommate. It can flood your home in sunshine and provide passive heat to an otherwise drafty home. It may seem there is little to fear about windows, but for some this is not true.

The Causes of Defenestraphobia

Defining the causes of this phobia demands that we look first at the different facets of the fear.

1. Fear of throwing things out windows. This fear may be based in either suspecting someone is outside and could be hurt by throwing something out the window or the fear that something bad might happen to you if you did so.

2. Fear of things thrown out of windows. This is a fear that you might be walking along and be hurt by something unexpected crashing through a window along the street on which you are walking.

3. Fear of being thrown from a window. This may be a fear based in feelings that you may not be in control. If thrown from a window you have no control over how you might land and if you might be hurt in the process.

4. A general fear of the window. This could be a fear that someone might be able to see you through the window. It could also be a fear of what you can’t see out the window once it gets dark. Many who suffer from Defenestraphobia will likely provide heavy, light restricting drapes or curtains over their windows preferring a dark interior to a window’s unknown complications.

Signs of Fear

Some of the signals of Defenestraphobia will be similar to many other phobias, but there may be a few that are unique.

• Constantly looking at windows with a sense of anxiety while outdoors
• A sense of no privacy if a window is not heavily draped
• Sweating
• Racing heartbeat
• Panic
• Screaming or crying
• Nausea
• A pronounced sense of dread
• Avoiding close contact with a window

While the window serves many noble purposes the fear that many experience should not be dismissed as something they can just ‘get over’. Like most other phobias help may be required.

Overcoming your fear of windows

Whether it is the aid of a trusted friend or help from a therapist a Defenestraphobic may need to go back and recall when he or she began to listen to the whispers of fear. Often by recalling what triggered the original fear an individual can more easily come to see the misunderstanding of what they fear most. By learning more about what they fear they can begin to crawl out from under the weight of their personal fear.

Some suggest the original fear can be discovered in hypnotherapy, but sometimes the one suffering from the phobia already knows where the original fear came from they just have never had someone they felt comfortable sharing it with.

Even when it doesn’t seem rational have you ever experienced one of the four fears regarding windows? How have you responded? Does this information give you hope that you can overcome this fear?

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