Hylophobia, also known as Xylophobia or Ylophobia, is a psychological disorder defined by an irrational fear of wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, forest or trees.

Etymology

Hylophobia is derived from the Greek hylo-, meaning wood or forest, and phobo- meaning fear.

Causes and contributing factors

Most phobias start through an incident or memory in childhood, and hylophobia is no different . Normally, it will involve getting attacked in a forest or being badly injured by a wooden object.

Treatments

Phobias such as hylophobia are usually treated by putting the patient

Patient

A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....

 in therapy

Therapy

This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...

 and making them recall the incident in question, and making them see it from an adult perspective. This is often a hard task, as the original incident will have been forgotten, and hypnosis

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...

 or anti-anxiety medicine will have to be used.

Media References

In the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

Drama New Tricks Series 2 Episode 8. Gerry Standing admits to suffering from hylophobia