Hello, dear readers of the site! Agirophobia (dromophobia) is an irrational fear of crossing the road. Moreover, it manifests itself differently for everyone, someone is afraid to cross the street in the wrong places, and someone even along a zebra and at a green traffic light.
And today we will try to figure out why this phobia occurs, and also consider the symptoms by which it can be diagnosed.
What is it like?
Agirophobia (derived from the Greek word agora, which translates as square) is also called dromophobia (dromos is the Greek word for path).
Most often, naturally, occurs in residents of megacities, which is not surprising. After all, road junctions and traffic flows cause anxiety and anxiety even among those who do not suffer from phobic disorders.
But at the same time, in the countryside there are people who do not dare to cross the street.
With a mild form, a person goes out onto the road, but only strictly in those places where there is a pedestrian crossing, it does not matter if it is regulated or unregulated.
Most often, he does not walk, but runs across, trying to reach a safe place as soon as possible.
Or does not focus on the place, as the priority is the company. That is, he will not even take a step all alone, but if a random passer-by goes forward, he will almost calmly follow him.
An interesting fact is that along even a very busy route, he will walk without straining at all.
But in some abandoned, almost devoid of people and traffic village, he can stand for a long time, waiting for someone to help him cross to the other side.
In a severe form, a person sometimes simply refuses to leave the house and even look out the window. After all, when he sees the narrow streets, he risks experiencing a panic attack.
In this case, urgent intervention of specialists up to hospitalization is required. Since it will not work out on its own to cope with the disorder.
And insomnia, depression and nervous exhaustion against the background of constantly accompanied anxiety and horror may well lead to suicide. Yes, and overall health suffers significantly.
By the way, the well-known and loved by many poetess Akhmatova Anna Andreevna suffered from agyrophobia. She was afraid to go out on the road on her own and could spend a lot of time waiting for a fellow traveler. Who would definitely have to take her by the arm to help. But if he did not move confidently and did not radiate calmness, in Anna’s opinion, the attempt to provide support could well end in failure.
Features of behavior
Dromophobia brings a lot of difficulties and troubles to the life of its «master». Sometimes quite absurd, at first glance.
For example, if the fob’s office is literally opposite the house, instead of a couple of minutes, it may take him more than an hour to get to work. And in some cases more, depending on how big the city he lives in.
Do you know why? Because he will sit on his side in a minibus and give a circle on it, just to get off where the office is located.
Just imagine what feelings he has to face at the thought of having to cross the road, that he is ready to spend countless hours every day on detours, just to maintain peace of mind.
Or if he has a supermarket near his house, only to get into it, you need to cross the street. What do you think, what way out of the situation will the Agirophobe come up with?
Most likely, he will prefer a small grocery store 20 minutes away. And it doesn’t matter if he has free time to visit him or not, what is the weather and time of day.
Obsessive ideas only worsen the condition. A person may be disturbed by thoughts that as soon as he approaches the transition, something irreparable will happen, which he is not able to control and anticipate.
For example, a car suddenly jumps out from around the corner, or one of the passers-by pushes him accidentally, or maybe specifically onto the roadway.
Also, it seems that during the movement he will stumble and just fall under the wheels. Something in the middle of the path will fall out of his hands, his cap will be blown off by the wind, he will be knocked down by a dog running past, and so on.
And even if the fob tunes in and decisively takes the first step, all these thoughts can literally fly in the form of pictures in his head in just seconds. Which, of course, will cause horror and lead to panic.
Symptoms
At the moment when a person is frightened, or remembers the object of his fear, he has a panic attack.
It causes such strong feelings that in the future the fob can be in constant expectation of repetition. Which, of course, will have an extremely negative impact on his health.
A panic attack is terrible because it appears completely unexpectedly and suggests that death will now come, and no one can help. Since a person begins to suffocate due to hyperventilation of the lungs.
There is a release of adrenaline into the blood, which increases blood pressure, heart rate and breathing become more frequent.
And against the background of frequent shallow breathing, the level of oxygen in the blood exceeds the norm, which leads to paradoxical consequences — the feeling that the throat is “narrowed” and there is no access to air at all.
Often there is dizziness, nausea, vomiting. The body will need to get rid of excess fluid, so you may want to go to the toilet, up to diarrhea.
Sometimes there are pains in the heart, cramps in the stomach. Consciousness becomes tunnel. That is, a person is concerned only with the question of salvation.
Therefore, he is not able to make rational decisions at such a moment and control his activities.
He is not even able to control his body, as his gait becomes shaky and uncertain, his arms and legs treacherously shake and grow cold, numb, as if they were being pierced with needles.
Causes
Despite the fact that it seems that the Agirophobe is afraid to cross the road because of the likelihood of an accident, this is not the case. That is, it is not so important for him whether cars drive there or not, the track itself is the object of fear.
The most common cause is psychological trauma associated with a traffic accident.
For example, if a close or well-known person died in a terrible accident. Especially if he was not to blame and, for example, was moving at that moment along a zebra on a green traffic light.
Or if he witnessed such an event.
Particularly impressionable individuals may well acquire a phobic disorder after watching the news or a horror movie, where death and torment overtook people directly on some highway.
And it happens that a person did not get into an accident, his acquaintances, too, did not become a witness of such incidents and did not watch films, but he is afraid to go out on the road.
In such cases, we are talking about a hereditary predisposition to the development of phobias. For example, if one of the close relatives suffered from some kind of mental disorder, then you should be on your guard.
Indeed, at any moment, dromophobia can arise, like, in principle, any other kind of phobia.
Treatment
If you have a fear of the street, and you understand that you can’t do anything about your fear, since no rational arguments help, contact a specialist immediately. To explore the root cause of your terror and get support —
In the case when you are additionally worried about somatics, for example, in the form of insomnia or depression, it is recommended to consult a psychiatrist.
He will prescribe drugs that will reduce anxiety, improve sleep, relieve irritability and aggressiveness, as well as relax the nervous system, normalize mood.
The most effective is complex treatment, when a person receives both medicines and therapy at the same time.
You can often hear the phrase that in order to be free, you must face your fear “face to face”. So to speak, conduct shock therapy.
This method helps in rare cases and when it comes to just fears, not phobic disorders. To a greater extent, it is dangerous and threatens to only exacerbate the symptoms, making the form of manifestation heavier.
For example, a person was afraid to cross the road, but decided to take his will into a fist and prove to himself and those around him that he was not a coward at all.
Therefore, he exhaled and, not looking around, moved forward. But, having reached the middle, he suddenly felt a surge of horror.
And, as you remember, at the moment of panic, the fob loses the ability to adequately perceive the environment, think rationally and control its actions.
Why, let’s say, then he will rush headlong into flight and really get hit by a car, because he did not follow the precautions and simply did not notice it.
This negative experience will reinforce in his subconscious, and even consciousness, the idea that he was right and going out into the street is deadly.
Therefore, be careful with those who suffer from agoraphobia. Do not appeal to their courage and reason, they themselves understand that their experiences are irrational.
But nothing can be done with them simply by force of will. It is better to look for a specialist who will provide qualified assistance.
Completion
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The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina