[2] The term myrmecophobia comes from the Greek μύρμηξ, myrmex, meaning "ant" and φόβος, phóbos, "fear".
In psychological symptoms people can experience anxiety, intrusive thoughts, sleeping problems, and avoidance.
[3] In physical symptoms people can experience sweating, increased heart rate, shortness of breaths, tumbling, panic, nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, headaches, and numbness.
[3] Myrmecophobia may be the result of earlier traumatic experiences that can be directly (or indirectly) linked to the object or situational fear, but this is not always the case; phobic responses can also be inherited as learned behaviours from the social context in which one was brought up.
[7] In this case it can help with myrmecophobia by making the patient calm down and process what they are thinking and feeling, enabling them to figure out what are the reasons behind their reactions.