Bibliophobia is a fear or hatred of books, which can cause panic attacks and extreme emotions. It may be caused by early childhood incidents, such as learning disabilities or hidden illiteracy. Desensitization therapy can help overcome this fear.
Bibliophobia is an unusual fear that could be defined as a fear of books or a hatred of books. Usually the first definition is more accurate. This phobia may be limited to certain books; for example those with a fear of witchcraft might view the Harry Potter series in a bibliophobic sense, or it may be more specific to things like reading aloud, which for a person with bibliophobia can be an extraordinarily painful exercise.
The symptoms of bibliophobia can progress to full panic. They could include sweating, rapid breathing or racing heart, and panic attacks. More often, the bibliophobic person, especially when asked to read aloud, would be unable to do so, or would express extreme emotions such as crying.
There are a number of conditions in early childhood that could create bibliophobia. These include learning disabilities, especially undiagnosed ones, which could make reading silently or aloud very difficult. Conditions like dyslexia come to mind. Other things like hidden illiteracy might cause people to express a deep disgust for reading and they might fear discovering their inability to read. Fear of discovery doesn’t always mean a person is bibliophobic, but shame about illiteracy could cause these people to hate books.
Most phobias are irrational fears, meaning they are not based on rational thought. In this, bibliophobia is no exception. It is a pronounced fear that may have no logical justification, although it may arise from early childhood incidents. However, some cases may not be directly related to a fear of reading aloud at school or work.
As with most fears, this condition can create serious problems. Most people are required to read at some point, whether in books, on the internet or even in newspapers, and bibliophobia, when defined as a fear of reading, could mean leaving a world of information unavailable to the phobic person. On the other hand, different sources of reading material, such as the Internet or magazines, could be a bibliophobic’s way of getting information without ever having to resort to books.
There are ways to treat this condition and they usually involve a process called desensitization therapy. In this therapy, people suffering from this fear are gradually asked to overcome it with a short exposure to books. As therapy progressed, patients could touch the books, view photos of them, and eventually handle them, all at a pace that was comfortable for the person with the fear. Ultimately, patients may be reading from books, and once they have established a regular pattern for doing so, they may have overcome their fear. Along the way, however, they learn coping strategies to help them when faced with the need to read or with large quantities of books such as might be in a bookstore or library.
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