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A couple in India has gone through 18 homes within three years, allegedly due to the wife's intense phobia of cockroaches.

First moved in 2018

According to media reports, the woman would scream for help repeatedly upon seeing a cockroach. Reports added that she once refused to enter the kitchen after seeing a cockroach there.

Due to her phobia, she has insisted on shifting to another house every time she encounters a cockroach in a room, China Press reported.

They moved for the first time in 2018, after getting married in 2017.

The husband has taken his wife to various doctors for psychiatric help, including the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which is known to be one of the best medical institutions in India.

The wife claimed that she has tried her best to face her phobia of cockroaches, but her husband does not understand how she feels. She also reportedly refuses to take medication.

The couple has also visited an organisation for counselling, to no avail.

Upset by the entire turn of events, the husband has asked his wife for a divorce.

Why are we so afraid of cockroaches?

Cockroaches scare us because many of its traits trigger our "hardwired disgust reflexes", such as fear and disgust, professor of ecology Jeffrey Lockwood was quoted saying in a Time article.

Cockroaches look "oily" and disgusting, and "literally stink", which also taps on certain fears that we have, such as a fear of disease and contamination.

The fear of cockroaches is also known as katsaridaphobia. It may involve debilitating physical responses upon seeing a cockroach, including crying and screaming or even having a full-blown panic attack.

Like many other fears, it could stem from childhood experiences, where one learns from negative or traumatic experiences. This is often how phobias develop, a psychologist explained in a CNA article.

Gradual desensitization or exposure therapy is one of the most common methods to treat such phobias. This involves first talking about it, progressing to looking at photos and then eventually, the real thing.

Melanie Wasser/Unsplash, Pest removal warrior