Mephobia is one of the rarest phobias in the world. Human beings are the product of their experiences. Every time you interact with another person or an organization, you gain experience. Your experiences, whether life-changing or unremarkable, shape your attitude and inform your future actions.
Fear is often a consequence of traumatic life experiences. It drives many of your habits, beliefs, and how you respond to situations and people in your life. Fear can manifest as a set standard for being and behaving.
Now that you are aware of the minutiae of fear, let’s discuss a fear called mephobia.
What Is Mephobia?
The definition of mephobia, according to Urban Dictionary, is being awesome to the extent of causing untimely destruction of the world as a consequence of humanity being unable to handle it.
At first, the definition of this phobia is too much to handle for humanity. How can anyone fear being so awesome? And How does one think that their awesomeness will lead to an apocalypse? How can one individual harm the entire world……with their awesomeness?
People with me-phobia may have a self-sabotaging effect in which a person is unable to progress because they are afraid of becoming too successful. Others may believe that mephobia is a scenario in which everyone else in the human race feels inferior and is incapable of dealing with pure jealousy of a person’s accomplishment.
Mephobia may also be a repercussion of staying in constant contact with other people. It is common on social media or when you constantly brag about your accomplishments. This can result in a situation in which your lifestyle, based on the money you earn or the company you keep, is always in comparison to other people’s.
But it is difficult to estimate what quantities of success people with mephobia consider to be too much. The quantities that you find amazing or that you might idolize are likely to be very different from those that would inspire jealousy and respect in another person. On a large scale event, reaching a state of jealousy where you might take your own life or a state of accomplishment where others might take their own life would be completely unprecedented.
Is Mephobia Real?
The American Psychology Association does not recognize mephobia as a valid anxiety disorder. It is not possible for the world to perish simply because you are too awesome. People can become envious of your success in life, but they cannot die as a result.
Psychology Of Mephobia
While no real research has been conducted to gain an insight into the psychological basis of mephobia, it does seem to branch off of narcissism. It’s ridiculously narcissistic to think that your awesome can bring an end to the world.
You may be capable of achieving great feats, and having trust in your ability to do so is normal, but to think that your success can cost the entirety of the world is blatant narcissism.
But when someone is afraid of harming the world with their awesomeness, it rather exudes modesty than narcissism. But this modesty stems from narcissism, so what good is this faux modesty? Only a self-absorbed soul can have thought that your greatness could harm humanity.
Components Of Mephobia
The two core concepts that underlie mephobia are imposter syndrome and narcissism.
The first concept implies that you don’t deserve success or to accomplish extraordinary things. It might make you start to fear success itself so you don’t have to feel like a fraud. This concept is rooted in impostor syndrome.
The second concept is responsible for the thought pattern that your success might be so great that it would endanger humanity. To view a situation in such a selfish way requires a level of self-absorption that can only be attributed to narcissism.
The explanations of these two fundamental ideas are provided below:
Imposter Syndrome
Latest research has shown that nearly 70% of people have dealt with impostor syndrome at some point in their lives. Its significance cannot be overstated.
Impostor syndrome is the idea that you are unworthy of your current status or accomplishments and are incompetent. Impostor syndrome essentially gives you the impression that you are not as capable and reliable as other people believe you to be. In extreme circumstances, this might cause a real fear of success.
When people are afraid of their success and ability, they might come up with absurd excuses for why they shouldn’t be successful. The absurd justifications lead to mephobia.
Narcissism
Narcissism is a person’s extreme self-absorption or self-involvement to the point where they completely disregard the needs of those around them. One might call it the pinnacle of selfishness.
Everybody occasionally exhibits narcissism in one way or another. Narcissism can take on many different forms, such as getting lost in a new job or a school project. True narcissism, on the other hand, occurs when one completely disregards the feelings of others.
It takes a really self-absorbed person to think that their impending success might wipe out all of humanity. Mephobia is the result when you combine this narcissism with impostor syndrome.
Mephobia Symptoms
When you have mephobia, you exhibit these symptoms:
- You daydream about your awesomeness all day long.
- You believe that other people are envious of your status in life.
- You’re sick of people who put you down.
- Throughout the day, you find yourself posting countless selfies to your social media accounts.
- You see yourself as a trailblazer and an authority.
Is Mephobia Dangerous?
Mephobia has been researched medically. It is not something that should cause widespread concern because no one visits psychologists with the intention of having this fear interfere with their daily lives.
The condition is not particularly dangerous because it is unlikely that an individual’s contributions to society would be so detrimental. Only when a person is experiencing a loss of control could this condition become dangerous to citizens. This condition might show up as an altered state of reality if drug use and violent incidents take place.
Final Thoughts
Mephobia is unquestionably a ridiculous but fascinating idea. The idea itself seems absurd. However, when you dissect it into its core concepts, you begin to find some meaning behind the chaos.