“At any moment, i can fall off the earth”: A thematic analysis of the experiences of people living with Casadastraphobia
Casadastraphobia is the name that has been adopted by people who have a fear of falling up into the sky. The word comes from the Latin ‘cas’ meaning to fall, and ‘ad astra’ meaning to the stars. There is no mention of Casadastraphobia in the medical or academic literature, so this project aims to describe the experiences of people with Casadastraphobia, establish a working definition of the phobia including whether it fits as a Specific Phobia under recognised psychiatric criteria, explore the likely prevalence and potential causes of the phobia, and to develop a treatment. The research team, led by Dr Alan Price, have published a short letter in a psychiatry journal and have recently completed data collection in a small interview-based study conducted by PhD student Erica Boardman, which described the experiences of people living with Casadastraphobia. Participants tended to report that the phobia had a significant impact on their quality of life although there was wide variation here, with some able to work and socialise relatively normally while others found it difficult to leave their homes. Some reported being guarded about the phobia and had not always admitted it to other people. All were hopeful that an effective treatment could be developed.
Funder
The interview study was funded by an Innovation Pump Priming grant from the University of Salford.
Team
Publications