Balloons often attend parties, especially children's parties. This is very fun and the children can play with them in a terrible way, but sometimes something goes wrong and then you get that PATS, KNAL, BOOM of a snapping balloon. This sound can cause you to not only have a fear of popping, but a real fear of balloons.
If you suffer from fear of balloons you should especially read on, because you can definitely get rid of it.
You are at your niece's (or another child's) party and balloons are present. As you strike up a conversation with an adult, you keep watching in the corner of your eye a child playing with a balloon. Soon he will sit on it. From this thought alone, your sweat breaks out and you don't really follow the conversation anymore.
You answer, but don't actually know what to answer to. That yes might just be confirmation of an appointment.
Then suddenly, in the corner of your eye, you see that the child is actually sitting on it. The balloon holds, but for how long?
Then someone also comes in and smokes, and that fag can just pop the balloon. So what was the conversation even about?
That man with the cigarette really should just quit smoking, but he's too close to the balloon to say anything about it. After all, you'd rather not get within 2 meters of the balloon.
Actually, you should have canceled this appointment. Maybe this story doesn't even seem familiar to you because, as a precaution, you don't even attend parties where there might be balloons.
If this story or avoiding these types of parties sounds familiar to you, it's helpful to do something about it. After all, balloons are part of life, and to walk around balloons in a big bow every time and not be able to focus on deepening social contacts is obviously not the point either.
If you think you are the only one who has a fear of balloons I can reassure you, even Oprah Winfrey is afraid of balloons.
The origins of balloon anxiety
Something may have happened to balloons in the past that triggered your anxiety. During a party, a friend or family member may have popped the balloon close to your ear that startled you.
This bullying behavior can then cause balloon anxiety.
Children may suffer from fear of balloons more often than adults, but usually this fear disappears again automatically. If other children realize that a child is afraid of balloons, they may tease/bully the fearful child, which only increases the fear(1).
Fear of popping
The balloon itself need not always be the cause of fear of balloons. A study that took place in 1990 on a woman who still suffered from fear of balloons at age 60 found that the pop of a balloon reminded her of the bombs heard during World War II(2).
This evoked feelings of anxiety in that she not only had to fear for her life at the time, but also did not receive the safety and security of her parents because she was not around them.
This traumatic experience is actually very subconsciously relived when she hears a balloon popping, which is why she developed the fear of balloons.
If you've ever been to war zones and then developed a fear of balloons, this may have something to do with it.
In that case, you may also have a fear of fireworks.
Phobia of balloons: the consequences
If you have a fear of balloons, it has all kinds of consequences. When you are around balloons, your attention is often more focused on the balloon than on what you are doing. As a result, it is very bad for your ability to concentrate.
In addition, people with balloon anxiety often avoid situations where a balloon may occur, such as a party. As a result, your relationships, such as with friends or family, may also suffer from balloon phobia.
Also, anxiety causes a lot of stress when you are around a balloon.
You keep your distance when you see a balloon, reducing your range of motion.
If the fear of balloons is a signal of unprocessed trauma, it may even cause you to suffer from more anxiety and depression.
A balloon can also provide the following symptoms:
- Vibrate
- Faster breathing
- Chest Pain
- Sweat
- Nausea
- Bowel Problems
Treating fear of balloons
You almost won't believe it, but scientific research is being conducted to perfect the treatment for balloon anxiety. That cases are reported at all shows that this is a big problem that more people are dealing with.
In the case of fear of balloons, "patients" often face their fears. In this case, often literally. The fear which sometimes is also simply the fear of popping is then reduced by, for example, literally popping 100 balloons themselves. For example, by pricking them with a needle(3).
As a result, patients become accustomed to the pops and, as a result, they often experience less balloon anxiety because they are no longer afraid of the underlying pop either.
Do you find it difficult to start deliberately popping balloons right away?
Hypnotherapy for fear of balloons
In this case, hypnotherapy can also help reduce the fear of balloons. Under hypnosis, you can also visualize the popping of a balloon and how you react to it. In severe cases, you can even start by visualizing a picture of a balloon(4).
You can practice staying calm in moments of anxiety during hypnotherapy as a result. This can be done through techniques involving breathing and mindfulness.
This makes you think less about what could happen and more about what is actually happening.
If practicing reactions to balloons goes well, you can then use what you have learned to face the actual fear and make the balloons pop. Even then, in severe cases, this can be built up slowly, such as first tackling an uninflated balloon and then blowing it bigger and bigger.
Visualization alone reduces the physical reactions to anxiety, but not yet the subjective feeling of anxiety. Still, this helps to reinforce treatment against anxiety.
Another way to stop the fear of balloons is to identify the cause of the fear. As in the example of the cause, it does not always have to be related to balloons, but can also be related to other memories similar to the sound of the bang of a popping balloon.
By applying regression therapy, you can figure out that cause and thus disconnect the sound from the fear that was created in that situation.
Hypnosis is widely used to reduce anxiety. Want to learn more about how hypnosis works? Come to a free online master class. Or come to a seminar or workshop and check out the training courses offered by the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands.
Also pin this handy infographic as a reminder:
Sources:
1. https://www.fearof.net/fear-of-balloons-phobia-globophobia/
http://www.hypnosisaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/10330_AJCEH_2016_FINAL.pdf#page=5 (page 9)
3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/000579169390026S
4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0005796772900435
