Melophobia (from Greek melodia, "music") is the irrational fear of music.
Causes[]
The primary cause of melophobia is a personal link to music that triggers emotions, causing fear. The symptoms of melophobia include:
- Elevated heart rate
- Panic attack
- Breathlessness
- Nausea
- Trembling
- Weeping
- Screaming
- Dizziness
- An urge to flee
- Anger or loss of control
- Inability to speak or think clearly
A melophobe may listen to very little or no music. Sufferers who don't want to hear music at all may have a difficult time interacting socially or working in stores and offices where music is commonly played.
A melophobe can even suffer from death anxiety after learning that some songs have lyrics about death.
Treatment[]
Melophobia can be treated by learning that music has no effect on reality or upcoming events that affect a person, either good or bad, and then separating types of music that would trigger positive emotions or negative emotions. Listening to soft, gentle music is a viable method of treatment. Other pseudoscientific treatment options include hypnotherapy, Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), and energy psychology.