Fear of Hanging

Reader’s Question

I am a 16 year old female and I’m not really sure what my fear means. Whenever I see someone being hanged at the gallows in movies or even read about it, it makes it hard for me to concentrate. I start to get a creepy feeling in my neck that gives me the chills for a long time. One time recently that brought up my fear was when I was on a bus: the handgrips that hang from the ceiling reminded me of a noose and I couldn’t look at them. I know it sounds kind of weird, but I just don’t know why I’m afraid of it. I’ve never had anything happen to me in the past that would cause this fear. Also when people touch me around my neck and shoulders I will get chills. This isn’t something that affects me daily, just whenever I’m reminded of it I am deeply disturbed. Have you ever heard of this fear and do you know what might have caused it?

Our Consulting Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

There are thousands of fears and phobias, because just about anything that frightens us or gives us “the creeps” can become the target of a phobia. These fears and phobias are often related to “Emotional Memory” — the way in which the brain memorizes both our experiences and the mood that goes with them.

What caused this? It’s probably unlikely that you were ever choked. Rather, it’s is very likely that at some point in your life you were upset by a story or movie scene related to hanging. Movies often contain scenes of violence that are shocking — making strong emotional memories in our head. What is shocking to one person may not be shocking to another, so some people have fears of hanging, some fears of sharks (watching the movie Jaws), or some with fears of spiders (movie: Arachnophobia).

This is a very common situation. The easiest way to deal with it is to first understand how it works. Read my Emotional Memory article on this website. Then practice “watering down” your fearful memories. Also practice letting people touch you on the shoulders and neck. Ask for a shoulder/back rub, that kind of thing (not from strangers by the way!). Almost everyone develops some specific fears/phobias as part of their childhood. Some continue into adulthood. I have worked with adults who have fears of flying and one psychologist who has a fear of clowns (yes…that’s very common). Practice the techniques I recommend in my emotional memory article and the fear should decrease.

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