New Yorkers are not easily bugged!
The Big Apple is less fearful of pests like roaches, rats and spiders than any other city in the US, a new study has found.
New York City residents searched critter-related phobias on Google seven times less frequently over the last two years than the national average, a study by the Phoenix-based Lunar Pest Control found.
Residents in the land of the Pizza Rat searched terms related to a fear of roaches, also known as katsaridaphobia, and a fear of rats and mice, or musophobia, less than any of the 167 cities part of the analysis.
“New Yorkers definitely live up to their tough reputation,” said Zach Jolley, co-founder of Lunar Pest.
“Major metropolitan areas generally show lower fear levels,” Jolley added. “But NYC stands in a class of its own, outscoring even other major cities by significant margins.”
Behind NYC as the next bravest was Los Angeles, followed by Chicago, Phoenix and San Antonio.
The most scaredy-cats were in Atlanta, followed by Salt Lake City; Columbia, SC; Fayetteville, AR; and Erie, PA.
“We find that the more people understand about the pests they fear, the less power those fears hold over them — perhaps that’s part of New York’s secret,” Jolley noted.
Gotham saw 25,190 total rat complaints last year — and in one eastern Queens neighborhood where residents said “every house has rats,” 311 calls for them skyrocketed 119% from the year before, The Post reported last month.
Other phobias looked at were ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes; arachnophobia, a fear of spiders; spheksophobia and apiphobia, a fear of wasps and bees, respectively; and entomophobia, a fear of insects.
Specific phobias affect at least 9% of adults in the US — about 19 million people — with symptoms typically starting in childhood, the National Institute of Mental Health found. Women are twice as likely to have a specific phobia than men, though men are more likely to seek treatment for them, according to experts.
Aside from cognitive behavioral therapy, experts say education, gradual exposure and preventative measures in the home can help manage pest fears.