Many TikTokers Blame This Cartoon For Their Fear Of Butterflies!

Lepidopterophobia is the technical term for being afraid of butterflies, and many people suffer from this phobia. Some TikTokers are even blaming one specific fictitious character for this problem.

If you guessed SpongeBob Squarepants was the guy who created a butterfly phobia for some, you were right! As TikToker @toddlerchasinmama points out, an episode of "SpongeBob Squarepants" could have helped some people develop a fear of butterflies.

Many viewers of her TikTok video agreed with her thoughts. One follower wrote, "YES ME, AFTER THAT EPISODE I JUST CAN'T BE NEAR ONE," and another added, "I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS TRAUMATIZED BY THAT EPISODE."

Some other people with a fear of butterflies dropped into the comment section to add what made them not like what many find to be beautiful creatures. "When I was a kid a butterfly flew right into my eye :( I am very scared of them," one viewer commented. Another wrote, "Anything that flies near me gives me the heebie jeebies."

Another TikToker, @itsjohnwalsh, also agreed with that thought process and blamed SpongeBob for being scared of butterflies. His video captioned, "It’s just me? Oh ok ?? thanks #spongebob ... now I’m afraid of #butterflies ??," had lots of viewers agreeing. "OMG when I was little the butterfly scene used to scare me that I couldn’t watch it but later on I got over it ????," one follower said. Another added, "Dude!!! This traumatized me as a child!!" 

Not everyone who's fearful of the flying beauties blame good old SpongeBob though. Some people are just scared of them. TikToker @theartofhealingbytrevor doesn't blame the cartoon sponge and shows a clip of what it's like to face that fear head on, calling it "exposure therapy" in the caption.

The creator wrote over the video "Taking my wife to face her biggest fear" and we see the two walking into Butterfly Biosphere. His wife looks terrified as they walk in and start being greeted by butterflies flying around. "They're gonna bite me," she said fearfully, to which he replied, "No they're not." Was that enough to convince her to love them? Not even close. But she did eventually face her fear head on and allowed a butterfly to come near her and even land on her.

While there was no mention of the infamous "SpongeBob Squarepants" episode in the video or the caption, plenty of the account's followers brought that point up in the comment section. "This makes me think of that SpongeBob episode when they were trapped in Sandy’s crib with the butterfly ?," one follower mentioned. Another said, "oh god no, after the SpongeBob episode I can't."

Many viewers understood the fear and gave her props for facing it. "I am absolutely terrified of butterflies. They're beautiful, but absolutely tf not," one viewer mentioned. Another follower could relate and said, "I though I was the only one terrified of butterflies."

TikTok account Pop Slice recently posted a video explaining why actress Nicole Kidman is scared of butterflies. "She can't shake the phobia that stems from her childhood in Australia," the narrator said. He continued to explain that Australia is home to many deadly insects and animals so it's not uncommon for a phobia to be born there.

IMDb reports that Kidman's butterfly phobia came from childhood despite many attempts to conquer her fear once and for all. "Sometimes when I would come home from school the biggest butterfly or moth you'd ever seen would be just sitting on our front gate," she said. "I would climb over the fence, crawl around to the side of the house, anything to avoid having to go through the front gate." She explained that she tried to get over her fear and walked into the big butterfly cage at the American Museum of Natural History and had butterflies land on her, but it didn't work.