We have a fear of blood, hemophobia. A fear of snakes, Ophidiophobia, and the most famous one, Arachnophobia, or fear of spiders, but did you know that there is also a fear of failure? And this is called, Atychiphobia.
What is Atychiphobia or Fear of Failure?
Failure is a step away from achievement. It helps you learn from mistakes. Think of it as a working professional who has sacrificed years of your life to be in the position you are in right now, then a new situation appears. Something is different and you have to take action for it, but you’re afraid to. This is where fear of failure comes in.
While Atychiphobia or fear of failure, is the irrational and persistent fear of failing or facing uncertainty. For example, you’re afraid to start your big project at school because you know you’ll only fail. Basically, you are so afraid of failing that you self-sabotage your efforts.
Fear of failure only becomes a phobia when it is too much already. Actually, fear of failure is experienced by most people from time to time. That fear of failing your quiz or of failing your clients is the normal kind of fear of failure.
Why are we Afraid of Failure?
These irrational fears of failure are mostly caused by a traumatic event that you may have experienced before. It made you doubt our abilities and efforts. Fear of failure may have also developed from a certain point in your life where embarrassment resulted in trauma experienced due to failing at something.
What are the Signs of Fear of Failure
Here are some signs of fear of failure in your everyday life that you might have missed noticing:
- Procrastinating to the point where it affects your performance and results.
- Believing that you do not have the skills to do it.
- Excessive worries and insecurities about your ability to achieve your goal.
- In times of unanticipated situations, you easily panic with the physical symptoms of panic attacks (sweats, difficulty breathing, chest pains, etc.).
- Insomnia due to overthinking of failing already.
What can we do about it?
Acknowledging your fear of failure is the first step to taking action. Once you have accepted that you have either the phobia, Atychiphobia, or fear of failure, this is the start of overcoming or being able to manage it to lessen its negative effects.
You need to start processing and understanding your fear, but if you find yourself having a hard time doing these things all by yourself, do not hesitate to seek help from a mental health professional like us. Feel free to message us here so we can help you.
What is the Importance of Acknowledging Fear?
Fear of failure is also related to perfectionism. With this, it shows that acknowledging your fear can help us transform a negative thing into something good to bring positive results in your lives. Developing this fear can also bring you closer to perfection and can motivate you to strive for nothing but excellence. Due to the fear of failing, you become a perfectionist. As long as you do no harm to others and to yourself, that is still okay. Because of this, acknowledging and understanding that you have a fear of failure can help you identify the proper way of managing it.
How Should I Respond to this Fear of Failure?
There is no exact, correct way of responding to fear. What you need to do is to be able to manage only how you’ll respond to it. Are you familiar with your fear response? If not, take this Fear Response Quiz we made just for you. At the end of the quiz, you’ll receive personalized advice on how to handle your fear response. But if you have already taken our Fear Response Quiz, try reading our articles about fight, flight, freeze, and fawn fear responses to learn more about how to respond to fear in a non-negative way.
Atychiphobia, a new word has been learned and another fear has been explored. The next time you feel that fear of trying a new hobby because you’re afraid of failing with it, remember that there is nothing wrong with failing at it. At the end of the day, rising from these failures is what is important. As you step on a failure, you are learning and getting closer to your goals.
Shirley Therapeutic and Consulting Services, LLC is a diverse therapy clinic that can meet the needs of anyone. If you’d like to talk about your mental health, feel free to message us here.
References
Center, K. C. (2022, February 6). Atychiphobia, fear of failure: How to overcome it? Kentucky Counseling Center. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://kentuckycounselingcenter.com/fear-of-failure-atychiphobia/
Cherry, K. (2021, May 18). How to deal with the fear of failure. Verywell Mind. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-fear-of-failure-5176202
