yes, therapy helps!
Ligirophobia (fear of loud sounds): symptoms, causes and treatment

Ligirophobia (fear of loud sounds): symptoms, causes and treatment

March 29, 2024

Ligirophobia, also called phonophobia, is persistent and intense fear of loud or very loud sounds . It usually occurs in young children, although it is also common in adults who are constantly exposed to such stimuli.

We will see below what is ligirophobia and what are its main symptoms and treatment.

  • Related article: "Types of phobias: exploring the disorders of fear"

Ligirophobia: fear of loud sounds

The word "ligirofobia" is composed of the Greek "ligir" which means "acute" and can be applied to sounds of this type; and the word "fobos", which means "fear". In this sense, ligirophobia is literally the fear of high-pitched sounds. Another name with which this fear is known is "phonophobia", which is derived from "phono" (sound).


Ligirophobia is a phobia of a specific type, since it is characterized by a fear of a specific stimulus (loud sounds or very sharp sounds). This fear can occur in the presence of noise, but not necessarily. As well can be triggered in a situation where it is anticipated that a loud sound will be presented .

This is common for example in popular parties where firecrackers, coehetes or balloons are used, or also in people who have prolonged contact with electronic devices that can emit sharp sounds. Likewise, it can be applied to sounds as well as to different voices or even to one's own voice.

If it is persistent, ligirophobia it could not be a fear of psychological origin, but a symptom of hyperacusis , which is the decrease of the tolerance of natural sounds caused by affectations in the ear physiology.


  • Maybe you're interested: "Hyperacusis: definition, causes, symptoms and treatments"

Main symptoms

Most specific phobias generate the activation of the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for regulating the involuntary movements of our body, for example, visceral movements, breathing, heart palpitations, among others.

In this sense, in the presence of the stimulus that causes the phobia, the symptoms that are triggered are mainly hyperventilation, sweating, increased heart rate, decreased gastrointestinal activity , and in specific cases a panic attack can be generated.

In general, these answers, which are characteristics of anxiety pictures , they are functional for our organism, insofar as they allow us to defend ourselves against harmful stimuli. But, in other circumstances, these responses can be triggered in a non-adaptive way, in the face of stimuli that do not represent real but perceived damage.


To be able to consider it as a phobia, this fear must be considered as an irrational fear, that is, it must be generated by stimuli that usually do not cause fear, or it must generate a disproportionate response to the stimulus. The person may or may not be aware that their fear is unjustified, however, this does not help to reduce it.

Specifically, ligirophobia occurs most frequently in young children. This does not mean that adults are not afraid or alert to hear a loud sound that comes on suddenly, but that the anxiety response may be more intense in young children. Finally, as can happen with other specific phobias, ligirophobia can generate avoidant behaviors to spaces or social gatherings, which generates added discomfort.

Some causes

Phobias may be caused by direct negative experiences with the stimulus, but not necessarily. Depending on the severity and frequency of such experiences, the likelihood of a phobia consolidating may change. Other elements that are involved in the consolidation of a phobia are the number of previous safe experiences with the stimulus, and also the low frequency of positive exposure with the stimulus, after the negative event.

Likewise, specific phobias are more easily acquired in response to stimuli that represent a direct threat to the organism's survival, for example, this is the case of diseases. It can also increase the likelihood of developing an intense fear of stimuli when these generate a direct physiological discomfort , which would be the case of the intense sounds in ligirophobia.

In the development of specific phobias is also involved the expectation of danger that each person has. If expectation is in line with the person's experience with the stimulus, the phobia is more likely to develop.

In the same sense, elements such as the conditioned learning of fear responses , the coping skills, the degree of social support, and the threat information that the person has received in relation to the stimulus.

Treatment

It is important to consider that many of the specific phobias that developed in childhood tend to decrease in adolescence and adulthood without the need for treatment. On the other hand, it can happen that a fear very present during childhood does not trigger a phobia until adulthood.

If the fear of stimulation not only causes a nuisance, but also is causing clinically significant discomfort (prevents the person from doing their daily activities and generates disproportionate anxiety responses), there are different strategies that can help to modify the approach with the stimulus and reduce the unpleasant response.

Some of the most used are systematic desensitization, relaxation techniques, successive approaches to the stimuli that cause phobia, the technique of vicarious exposure or symbolic modeling, the participant model, live exposure, imagination techniques and the reprocessing by means of eye movements.

Bibliographic references:

  • Bados, A. (2005). Specific phobias Faculty of Psychology. Department of Personalitat, Avaluació i Tractament Psicològics. University of Barcelona. Retrieved September 20. Available at //diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/360/1/113.pdf
  • Ligyrophobia. (2007). Common-phobias.com. Retrieved September 20, 2018. Available at //common-phobias.com/ligyro/phobia.htm
Similar Articles