I have mild achondroplasiaphobia (phobia of midgets)

[Charisse]

I've been scared of midgets since I was young. I've never had any personal traumatic experience before with a midget that may have triggered my phobia.

As far as I could remember, the first time i got frightened with midgets was when I was watching an old james bond film with my family. I was 7/8 y.o. at that time. During that time, I wasn't really scared of midgets whenever I see one personally but when charlie and the chocolate factory was released, I found the oompa loompas to be really creepy that I was too scared to sleep 'coz I might dream of them.

My phobia of midgets got worse as I got older. My friends would just usually tease me about it and it makes the situation worse for me. There was a time when I took a public transportation and a midget sat beside me. I panicked and I suddenly got off the jeepney (I'm from the Philippines). Another experience was when I was buying something, a midget accidentally bumped her hand on my elbow and I felt like fainting as I was trying to keep my composure while waiting for my change.

I really feel bad for them but I really can't get rid of my anxiety towards them. I'm well knowledgeable of achondroplasia since I was in high school and I really feel worse every time a person would tell me that it's rude because it's just a physical thing and that they're humans too. I would really get frustrated every time someone tells me this because I KNOW!!! I AM WELL AWARE OF THAT!!! I ALSO FEEL TERRIBLE!!! But I'm still scared. MY CONSCIENCE IS EATING ME UP whenever I get anxious upon encountering a midget.

I'm currently an incoming 3rd year medical student and I badly need some help because I don't want to abandon a patient or act weird in front of him/her if he/she is achondroplastic. I already tried gradual desensitization therapy by myself using images but it interfered with my sleep and I don't think I could do it again if I'll be sleeping alone.

Please tell me if you have or had the same situation... and what actions you did or are planning to do.

 

[JCP]

Hi welcome.. Since your in the medical field I would definitely say you should consult a psychologist, since it could possibly interfere with your profession and you may come across midgets more often than regular folk

Like you said if one day you have a midget as a patient, you wouldn’t want that fear or awkwardness around them.

It’s not a well known phobia is it? Just googled it I didn’t seem to find much.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help.

Good luck.

 

[janemariesayed]

@JCP is right and you should see a psychologist because of your profession. I understand how you feel. It isn't your fault that you developed a fear of them. Of course, you understand they are human but that is not the problem. You got scared when you were younger and you need to face that. Therapy will help.

I hope this little story makes you smile! I used to live in Egypt where there were a number of Dwarfs. I was walking my dog Sasha who has since passed. We saw a young mum walking with her toddler in a pushchair and Sasha barked at her. She didn't like that this human was constricted in the pushchair so I told the mum that was why she barked. The young mum then took the toddler out of the pushchair and let him stand up with her help.

My dog Sasha was really surprised to see that this was a little human so she barked at it again. So we left to walk home and she calmed down. Until that is we reached the steps of our apartment. Who should emerge but a dwarf! That freaked her out again so she barked her head off! It was funny. She was a dog yet the small people had scared her because she hadn't seen it before.

No one could say to her 'hey come on, they are human!' Sure, she knew they were human, just like you do, but they scared her all the same. Being afraid of them does not make you a bad person. Actually, you are better than most of us with the profession you are training for.

p.s. I'm scared of Daddy long legs. (Crane flies) because I was told that they eat little girls between the ages of four and six. And I happened to be five at the time. And when I say scared, I mean, reallllly scared!

 

[Miguelmoto]

I've been scared of midgets since I was young. I've never had any personal traumatic experience before with a midget that may have triggered my phobia.

As far as I could remember, the first time i got frightened with midgets was when I was watching an old james bond film with my family. I was 7/8 y.o. at that time. During that time, I wasn't really scared of midgets whenever I see one personally but when charlie and the chocolate factory was released, I found the oompa loompas to be really creepy that I was too scared to sleep 'coz I might dream of them.

My phobia of midgets got worse as I got older. My friends would just usually tease me about it and it makes the situation worse for me. There was a time when I took a public transportation and a midget sat beside me. I panicked and I suddenly got off the jeepney (I'm from the Philippines). Another experience was when I was buying something, a midget accidentally bumped her hand on my elbow and I felt like fainting as I was trying to keep my composure while waiting for my change.

I really feel bad for them but I really can't get rid of my anxiety towards them. I'm well knowledgeable of achondroplasia since I was in high school and I really feel worse every time a person would tell me that it's rude because it's just a physical thing and that they're humans too. I would really get frustrated every time someone tells me this because I KNOW!!! I AM WELL AWARE OF THAT!!! I ALSO FEEL TERRIBLE!!! But I'm still scared. MY CONSCIENCE IS EATING ME UP whenever I get anxious upon encountering a midget.

I'm currently an incoming 3rd year medical student and I badly need some help because I don't want to abandon a patient or act weird in front of him/her if he/she is achondroplastic. I already tried gradual desensitization therapy by myself using images but it interfered with my sleep and I don't think I could do it again if I'll be sleeping alone.

Please tell me if you have or had the same situation... and what actions you did or are planning to do.

When you say fear, is it fear or anxiety that you are feeling? I've never disclosed this until about a week ago, but I saw a little person on tv and i felt queasy. I asked my wife if she ever had that reaction. She replied that she hadn't (nor had my son, who is alot like her). But then i asked my daughter who is alot like me, and she replied that she had to explain to her fiance that she gets really uncomfortable around male little people. And I realized that it was only females who I had a reaction from. Please don't judge. Brad Williams referenced it in one of stand up bits, and I laughed at the time, not realizing that I seem to have a mild form of it.

 

[crown.dwarf]

Hello, as a person with dwarfism, people are often scared of me. But what I can say first is don't call us 'Midgets' that's really gross. You have to remember when you see a person with dwarfism that we are in fact just small people. To the first person, I hope that you never come in contact with any little people, because in a hospital setting you would be fired for SURE! Dwarves don't carry diseases and are just small people. If you saw me you probably wouldn't even know I had dwarfism. I think you need to look into what you're 'scared' because there are two hundred types of dwarfism, and none of us look alike. Its achondroplasia that is a type of dwarfism, mine is SED. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about dwarfism, because I think it's really sad when people say they're scared of an entire group of people

 

[Cuchculan]

Then we will say she has a small problem.

 

[crown.dwarf]

Then we will say she has a small problem.

More like an ableist fear