The fear of missiles or bullets is known as Ballistophobia. Since these inventions are designed for only one reason (to wound or kill), it is easy to understand why some people develop intense and persistent aversions to them…
Reasons For This Phobia
Obviously, bullets and missiles are deadly. To fear them is totally logical. However, phobias tend to take on a life of their own, making the sufferer paranoid, ill-at-ease, and fearful.
Sometimes, a past experience with war or a shooting can cause this phobia. It’s quite easy to understand why someone would be influenced by a close encounter or bad experience with bullets or missiles.
In major American cities, bullets are everywhere, in legally and illegally owned handguns, rifles, and even machine guns. These bullets are used to fight gang wars, to facilitate crime, and in sad, lonely acts of desperation, such as suicide.
Bullets are only good for one thing, and, in the modern world, we have ample evidence of the pain and suffering they cause.
Some bullets are even deadlier than others, since they are designed not just to immobilize, but to maim – and cause grievous damage to the human body.
These sorts of bullets will explode inside the body, spreading out into shrapnel-like fragments that injure tissue and organs. These bullets are said to cut through steel like a knife through hot butter, and they are expensive. For people with Ballistophobia, these bullets will likely be the scariest of all.
Triggers For The Fear Of Bullets
People with this phobia will avoid obvious triggers like visiting shops that sell guns and ammo, firing ranges, and neighborhoods where gang activity is prevalent.
Some people with this phobia will also be terrified of people who carry guns for self-protection, or to protect the public. It will not matter to them whether or not the person with the gun is friend or foe.
They will be afraid of armed trucks that carry cash and valuables, because the drivers are armed. They will avoid police because they carry handguns. Of course, “bad” people with guns will be the most feared, but the phobia deals with bullets themselves, and anyone who carries bullets will triggers symptoms and anxiety.
War Triggers The Fear Of Missiles
The fear of missiles can be related to fear of war and destruction on a wider scale. Missiles are designed to cause localized damage to pre-set targets, and they are often fired from jets.
In war torn regions, missiles kill men, women, and children, sometimes in the daytime, and often at night. If a person with Ballistophobia hasn’t lived with the horrors of war, they may become frightened due to media reports of missile activity in other countries, such as the Middle East.
Political unrest and the specter of future violent conflicts in their own locality may also act as a trigger.
Of course, this fear, like many phobias, is closely linked with the fear of death. In order to manage the symptoms of Ballistophobia, which often mimic those of a panic attack, it’s important to get at the root of fears.
Those who are traumatized by past experiences with bullets or missiles should consider psychotherapy that will help them deal with any post-traumatic stress disorder.
They can expect to make progress as they confide their fears to a trained therapist. Sometimes, releasing repressed thoughts and memories can work wonders, since they will ease the “pressure” on the psyche.
In some cases, medication can provide some relief to those who fear bullets and missiles.
Other Names For Fear Of Missiles Or Bullets
Fear of Bullets
Fear of Missiles
Missile Fear
