People can be afraid of many things, from darkness to spiders, to you name it. Some of these fears are totally irrational, others come from our childhoods and creep in well into our adult lives. One of such bizarre fears is megalophobia.

Think of large objects like huge cruise ships, animals, skyscrapers, underwater structures, and even statues. Now imagine how’d they look if they were bigger. If the thought of it makes your hair stand on your arm, you may also have some traits of megalophobia.

And this subreddit named r/Megalophobia puts a test on your fear of large objects because it offers one hell of a collection. “A place to post images of all things large, particularly ones that are “triggers” for those with megalophobia,” says their description and 340k devoted members are nodding their heads. Scroll down and upvote the most triggering images below!

#1 The Kelpies, Scotland, During Thunderstorm

Image credits: Live-Love-Lie

#2 Redwood Trees

Image credits: gxyspam

#3 This Underwater “Waterfall” Is Giving Me Anxiety

Image credits: OBUDingusKhan

To find out more about megalophobia, which is a fear of large objects, Bored Panda reached out to Francis Merson, a clinical psychologist and founder of the Paris Psychology Centre who happily shared his expertise on the phobia.

“Megalophobia is a fear of anything really, really big – from skyscrapers to jumbo jets,” Francis explained and added that “phobias generally have their roots in our evolutionary history, reflecting phenomena that posed a real danger to our ancestors.”

“The classic examples are phobias of heights, snakes, spiders, etc. And Megalophobia is no exception to this trend,” Francis explained. 

#4 This Is Just One Picture

Image credits: jughead1939

#5 Astronaut Bruce Mccandless II Floats Untethered Away From The Safety Of The Space Shuttle, With Nothing But His Manned Maneuvering Unit Keeping Him Alive. The First Person In History To Do So

Image credits: lilacrain331

#6 Mt Fuji As Seen From A Nearby Town

Image credits: david_bueno2

Francis argues that in a state of nature, “things that are larger are often more dangerous: insects are afraid of lizards, who are afraid of birds, who are afraid of humans, who are afraid of tigers. Large inanimate objects are also heavy and can crush you. In megalophobia, this primal fear of bigness is projected on the large objects of everyday life.”

The clinical psychologist said that if you find yourself “trembling and wanting to run away in the presence of an elephant at the zoo, or at the foot of a mountain, this could potentially be a sign you have megalophobia.”

#7 It Was Foggy In My Town The Other Day And I Captured This Terrifying Scene

Image credits: Janowsk

#8 Visually, Japanese Spider Crabs Really Are The Stuff Of Nightmares

Image credits: Mightysmurf1

#9 A Full-Sized School Bus Next To Haul Trucks

Image credits: waltreeky

When asked how do we know if a person who feels uneasy next to large objects really has megalophobia, Francis said that it manifests as an “intense anxiety that is out of proportion to the actual danger over a period of at least six months.” This is because “megalophobia falls under the category of a Specific Phobia – an intense fear of a specific type of stimulus.” Only if it corresponds to the kind of disproportionate extreme anxiety which lasts for long periods, it can be qualified “as a full-blown mental disorder.”

#10 Dam

Image credits: reddit.com

#11 A Bridge In Vietnam

Image credits: bananaslama277

#12 Whale Spine

Image credits: Calu_T

Moreover, Francis added that in the case of megalophobia, “you would also have to either be avoiding large objects altogether or tolerating them with extreme distress. And this pattern would need to be causing interference in your everyday life.” Therefore, “feeling a bit queasy when gazing up at the Empire State Building is pretty normal. It’s when large objects freak you out so much that you can’t work, go on vacation, or otherwise function normally that we might begin talking about a Specific Phobia,” the clinical psychologist explained.

#13 This One Is Very Unsettling

Image credits: pat_0_0

#14 Iceberg Passing A House In Greenland

Image credits: BigOldQueer

#15 This Is How Big Anchor Chains Are. It Makes Sense But Dang

Image credits: astrotheastro

When asked whether there are treatments for megalophobia, Francis said that “specific phobias generally respond well to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and particularly to a component called Graduated Exposure.” He added that “in the case of Megalophobia, this would involve gradually confronting larger and larger objects, and learning that you can cope at each step along the way.”

We also wondered whether exposure therapy is successful in treating megalophobia. Francis explained that it’s definitely considered as a first-line of treatment for phobias. “This means it’s the treatment with the strongest evidence to suggest it works, with some exposure studies reporting an 80-90% response rate (which is really high).”

#16 That Small Dot Is Mercury In Front Of Sun. Definitely Unsettling

Image credits: Riki1996

#17 It Is The Tallest Statue Of Nyoirin Kannon In The World, And The Tallest Statue Of A Goddess In Japan

Image credits: Aliciab12

#18 Anyone Going On Vacation To Japan Soon? Want To Visit The Godzilla Museum?

Image credits: davidscottjaffe

“However, because exposure involves getting people to do precisely the things that scare the crap out of them, there can be a fairly high drop-out rate,” he said. Therefore having a therapist you can trust to guide you through the process is key and can really help, according to Francis. “And if you stick with exposure, it’s the most powerful way there is to conquer your fears,” he added.

“So you might start with looking at pictures of tall buildings, then standing outside a large shopping mall, and gradually moving up the scale to mountains or skyscrapers. It’s like learning to swim by starting at the shallow end and very gradually going deeper.”

Francis concluded that if it feels like megalophobia is a problem for you, there’s no need to let it mess with your life. “Effective treatments are out there,” he assured.

#19 Mola Mola: The World’s Largest Bony Fish

Image credits: cryptomelane

#20 Always Forget How Massive These Supercarriers That America Builds Actually Are

Image credits: SquealTeam10

#21 The Size Of This Tornado Compared To The Wind Turbines

Image credits: MinaaBlack

#22 Trees Occasionally Beach Themselves In The Search For Food

Image credits: MrDootii

#23 Lochaber, Scotland 2021 By Mhg Photography

Image credits: gonnaRedditAgain

#24 The Dragon’s Eye Stone Mine In The UK

Image credits: sticcboi

#25 This Saltwater Crocodile

Image credits: BuRgErKIngFooTMaN

#26 Sequoia In A Coniferous Forest

Image credits: Capable-Government-1

#27 King Albert’s Tower. Person At The Base For Scale

Image credits: SYLOH

#28 Tokyo Flood Tunnels

Image credits: SailoreC

#29 Had To Search Up If It Was Real

Image credits: glass_mr

#30 Italian Sculptor Lorenzo Quinn’s Massive New Sculpture

Image credits: kaille0n

#31 Saturn Rising Behind The Moon

Image credits: highitsben

#32 The View From This Apartment In Dubai

Image credits: g0mbadan1

#33 Creeping Up

Image credits: LazthopeMC

#34 Abandoned Movie Prop In A Mausoleum. Poland

Image credits: jdeadmeatsloanz

#35 A Waterspout In Florida

Image credits: earthmoonsun

#36 Well Yes, But Actually No *shiver*

Image credits: SubtleOrange

#37 Victor’s Way Sculpture Park In Ireland

Image credits: comfortable_wanderer

#38 Girl Poses Next To A F1 Tornado A Mile Away

Image credits: reallyreallyspicy

#39 This Huge Road

Image credits: content4meplz

#40 A Mountain Of Timber. All Stacked & Unstacked By Hand

Image credits: Browndog888

#41 Massive Building

Image credits: Phante_

#42 The Sheer Scale Of An Open Pit Diamond Mine Compared To The Surrounding Town

Image credits: Bunnystrawbery

#43 Mt. St Helens Eruption, 1980

Image credits: maxkmiller

#44 Terrifying

Image credits: tooslow

#45 So I Herd U Like Salt Mines…

Image credits: Pipinpadiloxacopolis

#46 It Really Gives It A Sense Of Its Scale. Look At Those Itty Bitty People. (Statue Of Unity, If You Haven’t Seen It. Nearly 600′ Tall)

Image credits: WarriorX-1

#47 Big Sand Dune

Image credits: cdubose

#48 2000+ Metre Tsunami Looking Mountain In Kazbeghi

Image credits: sabastianN-2

#49 This Picture Of The Empire State Building From Nj Gives Me A Weird Feeling

Image credits: 3157899706

#50 Bagger 288, The World’s Largest Land Vehicle

Image credits: YoBoiWitTheShits

Source: boredpanda.com