A fear of cameras can stem from concerns about self-image or privacy, but can also be linked to larger phobias or mental health conditions—like the fear of being watched or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Confidence-building exercises, mindfulness, medication, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy can all help you overcome these fears, depending on their cause.
Lately, it feels like cameras are everywhere. CCTV cameras line most stores, workplaces, and schools, and more and more homeowners and renters are installing ring cameras to record who’s at their doorstep. Plus, most people have some form of smartphone equipped with as many as six camera lenses.
It’s not uncommon to feel some anxiety about this technological trend. You may worry about the implications of increased surveillance, or simply hate having your photo taken. However, some people deal with a more debilitating fear of cameras. If camera-related concerns are making it hard to function, you might be navigating paranoia, or scopophobia—an intense fear of being watched or stared at. Or, your anxieties could be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a mental health condition where obsessive thoughts can be triggered by objects like cameras.
Read on to understand what could be causing your concerns, how to tell if you’re dealing with a diagnosable condition, and recommended methods to cope with camera-related distress.
Why am I afraid of cameras?
Worries about cameras typically center on two main themes: self-perception and surveillance.
Self-image issues
Do you find yourself cringing when your friends whip out a phone for a group selfie? Did you despise yearbook picture day at school? Your camera shyness may stem from concerns about negative self-image, body dysmorphia, or past traumatic experiences surrounding other people’s perceptions of you. If you have a habit of scrutinizing your looks, you may be more likely to feel uneasy around cameras. If you’ve dealt with bullying in the past, you may avoid being photographed out of concern that others will judge your outward appearance.
Privacy concerns
From grocery store security cameras to the friend that’s constantly posting to Instagram, sometimes it feels like everyone around us is documenting our lives. Social media and artificial intelligence (AI) have further raised the stakes, making it apparent how easy it is for strangers to film each other and manipulate images. Anxieties about surveillance are common—and can be justified—but if spotting a camera regularly throws you into a heightened state of anxiety, it’s worth considering whether a mental health condition may be playing a role.
Paranoia-related conditions
Paranoia—a common symptom of mental health conditions, like schizophrenia, delusional disorder, bipolar disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder—can sometimes trigger a fear of being watched or filmed. Paranoia can lead to delusions, which are untrue beliefs that are not supported by legitimate evidence. In paranoid schizophrenia, for example, “you may find an irrational fear of being under surveillance by the government or other people,” according to Tracie Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, and chief compliance officer at NOCD.
Scopophobia
Camera anxiety can be a sign of scopophobia, the fear of being watched or looked at. Many people find it uncomfortable to be the center of attention, but scopophobia makes that experience feel intolerable. For example, if you have scopophobia, you might feel intense fear during a graduation ceremony, when everyone takes out their phones to record you accepting your diploma. You also might go out of your way to avoid situations where you think cameras will be present.
The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders requires the following criteria to diagnose a phobia:
- Your fear is excessive, or out of proportion to the actual “threat.”
- Your fear leads to intense distress, anxiety, or panic.
- Your fear (or avoidance of the thing you fear) significantly interferes with your life.
- You’ve had the fear for at least six months.
- Your fear is not a result of another mental disorder.
Some mental health experts consider scopophobia to be both a phobia and a form of social anxiety disorder—a mental health condition characterized by persistent fears regarding social situations and others’ negative perceptions.
OCD
Camera-related fears may present in OCD, a treatable but complex mental health condition characterized by two key symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are thoughts, sensations, images, feelings, or urges that are intrusive, unwanted, and lead to distress. Compulsions are repetitive, physical and/or mental behaviors that a person feels the urge to perform in response to an obsession.
OCD camera-related obsessions may sound like:
- “I can’t stay at a hotel or motel. There could be hidden cameras there.”
- “If I use a public restroom or changing room, what if someone’s secretly recording me?”
- “What if my friends share embarrassing videos of me on social media? It could go viral and ruin my life.”
- “I don’t want to go out in public. If I accidentally do something wrong, there could be recorded proof.”
- “My work computer has a camera. What if it recorded me bad-mouthing my boss, and I get fired?”
Community discussions:
These thoughts can sound similar to fears triggered by scopophobia, but they have different causes. People with scopophobia typically feel fear after just seeing (or hearing about) cameras, and struggle specifically with the idea of being the center of attention. With OCD, the camera acts as a trigger for a flood of intrusive thoughts about a variety of possibilities that could arise. While people with scopophobia typically only react to the emotion of fear, people with OCD may perform compulsions as a result of feelings of shame, guilt, distress, and anxiety.
I’ve seen it come up as fear of red light cameras capturing illegal driving activities,”
Tracie Ibrahim
This can be tied to hit-and-run OCD, a subtype where your obsessions center on hitting another vehicle, pedestrian, or animal while driving. Hit-and-run OCD falls under the umbrella of harm OCD, a subtype marked by persistent fears of harming others or yourself.
Camera-related obsessions may lead to compulsions, such as:
- Rumination: You can’t stop thinking about and worrying about cameras, surveillance, or being watched.
- Checking: You frequently check to make sure you’re not being filmed, while going about daily activities.
- Avoidance: You avoid situations where there will be cameras present, or people who frequently take pictures or film things.
- Research: You excessively research surveillance concerns, or the legality of filming strangers.
- Mental review: You frequently scan your memory to see if you encountered any recording devices during your day.
Overcoming a fear of cameras
Tips for camera shyness
Sometimes camera-related fears are a manifestation of our own insecurities, rather than a result of a mental health condition. In these cases, mindfulness and confidence-building exercises can help ease discomfort.
- Stand in front of a mirror, practice poses, and recite affirmations to help build confidence.
- Resist perfectionism, and practice self-acceptance. Try to avoid setting unrealistic standards—especially around physical appearance.
- When faced with cameras, try focusing on the present moment to stay relaxed, and distract yourself from worries about how you’re being perceived. Try doing some mindfulness exercises before a camera-heavy event, or talk with your photographer about something unrelated to the shoot.
It can also be helpful to chat with a therapist about your insecurities if you need some additional support.
Find the right OCD therapist for you
All our therapists are licensed and trained in exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), the gold standard treatment for OCD.
Treating paranoia and delusions
Mental health professionals usually approach paranoia with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a form of therapy focused on helping you identify your thought patterns so you can understand how thoughts influence actions, and eventually move away from negative coping mechanisms. In the case of paranoia, that might look like helping you evaluate evidence for and against your paranoid thoughts. If delusions are present, your therapist will teach you skills to lessen the impact of those beliefs on your daily ability to function.
ERP therapy for OCD and phobias
If your camera fears are related to OCD or scopophobia, the recommended course of treatment is exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. You’ll begin ERP therapy by establishing what exactly about cameras causes you to feel distressed. Identifying this will help your ERP-trained therapist design specific exposure exercises that can target your fears.
Let’s say you feel anxious about security cameras because you’re worried you might be filmed doing something humiliating. “We might write a worst case scenario script about it actually happening and ruining your life,” Ibrahim says. You and your therapist would then discuss any emotions that arise. Exploring this feared outcome in the relative safety of a therapy session can help you learn to address feelings of discomfort, without resorting to compulsions.
With time, you’d gradually take on more difficult exposure exercises, to further build your resilience—such as visiting places with heavy surveillance, like a mall. Instead of performing compulsions like checking for cameras or ruminating over how you appeared, Ibrahim says you “would learn to sit with the uncertainty that people may be watching [you do] embarrassing things.” In time, it will get easier to move throughout the world without obsessing and compulsing over potentially being recorded.
Key takeaways
- Privacy concerns and self-image issues are common causes of camera-related fears.
- Camera-related fears can also be triggered by paranoia-related conditions, scopophobia, or OCD.
- OCD and specific phobias are best treated with ERP therapy, while paranoia benefits from medication and CBT interventions.
