Hello, dear readers of the site! Gnosiophobia is the panic fear of knowledge. A person is terribly afraid to develop, and the point is not at all in his laziness.
And today we will try to figure out why this happens, as well as by what symptoms this phobia can be identified.
What is it like?
Epistemophobia, another name for the fear of gaining knowledge and, in general, learning something new, is one of the rarest phobias.
Mostly gnosiophobes are residents of megacities. Too much information, which irritates our organs of perception around the clock, really depletes the body.
After all, it must not only be perceived, but also processed, assimilated. And, unfortunately, much of it is completely useless. For example, advertising.
Have you noticed yourself humming meaningless and stupid songs that you heard on the radio or TV?
At one point, the human psyche can simply fail, if only to protect itself from this inexhaustible, but practically unnecessary flow.
Why does a person stop reading books, newspapers, he does not look through the news on social networks, throws away the TV, if only nothing would dare to “invade” his personal space.
But the problem is that in urban environments, experiencing daily panic attacks is simply inevitable.
It is impossible to exclude absolutely all stimuli that cause horror from life. Therefore, the fob limits contacts with people around him, quits his job so that he does not have to leave the house.
Symptoms
Obsessive thoughts that knowledge is simply pursuing him at every step, of course, deprive him of peace. There is insomnia, nightmares. This affects the general state of health.
From constant stress, chronic diseases arise, mainly associated with the gastrointestinal tract, such as ulcers and gastritis.
The cardiovascular system also suffers.
In a panic attack, the fob has a tremor of the limbs. Sometimes when talking, his voice and chin may even tremble.
The gait becomes shaky and uncertain, and sometimes vice versa, the movements are abrupt, it looks as if a person has ceased to control his body.
Breathing difficulties are observed, which only increases the panic. Because it seems to him that there is not enough air and suffocation will come. Or he will have a heart attack, as it hurts in the chest area.
Throws in a fever, the skin turns red, the pressure rises and the pulse quickens. From such drastic changes in the body, a person may well lose consciousness. He is nauseous and vomits, and also has diarrhea.
Causes
Genetic predisposition
Geneticists say that the tendency to phobias may well be inherited. Moreover, a parent can have absolutely any mental disorder, this causes a high risk that will affect the health of the child.
Directly the fear of knowledge arises if, at some difficult stressful moment, a person fixed his gaze, say, on a book. It was then, when the horror lived, that her image was deposited in his subconscious.
After that, every time his gaze «falls» on any kind of source of knowledge, he seems to re-live those feelings that were in the past.
Psychological trauma
The most common cause of gnosiophobia is child abuse. This means when he is physically and emotionally punished for not wanting to do homework, learn something new and, in general, just pick up books.
And, even more so, if they pay a lot of attention directly to the assessments, and not to the knowledge of their child.
This initially causes resistance, gradually forming a stable fear of learning. After all, for example, reading does not lead to anything good. Parents are not satisfied with either the technique or the lack of understanding of the text.
It happens that adults tend to think that there is no point in praising children for their achievements, otherwise they will become conceited, spoiled and completely relaxed. And that the best motivation for achievement is criticism.
This usually happens in authoritarian families. Naturally, at first the child may still strive to earn the recognition of the parent, but over time he realizes that there is no point in wasting energy on this.
A criticizing adult causes mainly fear, anger, resentment and other negative feelings that are by no means connected with love and tenderness.
Then such a kid decides never to be like, say, his tough dad.
Why devalues and rejects those principles and values to which he gave priority. As if indicating that «I am not at all like you, and I do not want to be well-read, but in order to be hated at the same time, I will do the opposite.»
All these processes can occur unconsciously, but eventually lead to the emergence of gnosiophobia.
Treatment
As soon as you notice that you have become categorical about the topics of self-knowledge, self-development, to the point that you begin to choke with horror, be sure to go for a consultation with a psychotherapist.
He will not only be able to diagnose the presence of a phobic disorder, but also help to cope with it and its negative consequences.
Epistemophobia is often one of the symptoms of schizophrenia.
This is a severe mental disorder that requires mandatory monitoring and treatment, as it is characterized by a complete or partial breakdown of mental activity.
Usually people with schizophrenia suffer from hallucinations. So, the phobia of knowledge can just manifest itself in the form of a fear of reading other people’s thoughts, learning about some kind of world plan, and so on.
Severe forms of gnosiophobia, like schizoaffective disorder, must be treated under the supervision of a psychiatrist. Which has the right to prescribe drugs that are not sold without a prescription.
For example, sedatives to help the nervous system recover.
They will remove anxiety, aggressiveness, if it was present, and simply allow you to perceive the surrounding reality more calmly. Despite the fact that it contains a lot of various information.
Antidepressants are also often prescribed. They are relevant for those individuals who have developed depression against the background of experiences.
And along with it, the desire to commit suicide, or simply the lack of energy, resources, even to get out of bed. In general, a difficult disease that also requires the supervision of specialists.
For insomnia, the psychiatrist prescribes sleeping pills. The body needs rest, otherwise, waking up every night in a cold sweat from nightmares, epistemophobia cannot be defeated.
Completion
The life of a modern person is really not easy, daily stresses gradually destroy his health. What provokes the emergence of other various phobias.
If you are interested to know what species are found, or what is the name, for example, the fear of loneliness, the fear of baldness, or getting cancer, subscribe to site updates.
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The material was prepared by a psychologist, gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina