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Hello dear readers! Nosophobia is a rather dangerous irrational fear of getting sick with any disease. It leaves a significant mark on a person’s life, limiting it and complicating it.
And today we will try to understand in more detail what it is, as well as what steps should be taken to get rid of it.
Some general information
The complexity of this phobia is that it most often does not have a specific object for fear.
For example, with cancerophobia, a person is afraid of oncological diseases, with AIDS phobia — HIV infection. But pathophobia (also called nosophobia) implies absolutely any disease.
Have you met many people in your life with perfect health?
There are practically no such ones, because if nothing bothers you, this does not mean that there is no infection in the body and that all organs are functioning as expected, without deviations.
Accordingly, fob, albeit rarely, but still sick. Just not like most people. The slightest indisposition can bring him to hysterics.
And given the fact that during a panic attack, somatic symptoms only intensify, he completely loses control over his behavior and consciousness.
In general, a pathological fear of illness may well provoke the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder (you will learn what OCD is here), psychosis, depression with attempts to commit suicide, asthenia, and other types of mental disorders.
An interesting fact is that a person can “choose” a certain disease for himself, for example, the fear of going crazy, and be both a dementophobe and a nosophobe.
Moreover, if he decided that he was very seriously ill, nothing and no one could convince him otherwise.
Many famous personalities have suffered or are suffering from nosophobia. For example, Mayakovsky was so traumatized in childhood due to the death of his father that he was terribly afraid of getting sick for the rest of his life. His dad got infected by pricking his finger on a rusty needle while filing documents. The infection turned out to be so serious that he soon died.
Sergei Yesenin fell into hysterics, discovering some kind of pimple on his body, as he thought that this was a manifestation of syphilis. There was nothing worse for him. And Gogol plagued those around him with complaints about his health, even kept a diary in which he indicated when and how he went to the toilet.
Symptoms
Behavioral
- A person is constantly in tension, listens to his feelings, well-being. If there is an indisposition, pain — falls into a panic.
- He is a frequent visitor to clinics, diagnostic centers. If doctors do not detect any dangerous viruses and abnormalities, they are looking for other specialists who can still correctly recognize his illness and, accordingly, cure him.
- They talk only about their health, about the fear of contracting some kind of infection, and so on. This significantly tires close people, especially those who live with him.
- Can perform ritual actions that help at least slightly reduce the level of anxiety. For example, he washes his hands every time he touches something. This allows you to remain calm due to the illusion that he has at least something in control in his life.
- Naturally, there are difficulties in communication, the fob gradually loses social ties, or even completely closes at home.
- In severe cases, he even refuses to talk, get out of bed, so as not to overwork, and so on.
- If medicine, according to the nosophobe, is powerless, he begins to try non-traditional methods of treatment.
- There is an increased interest in specialized literature.
Somatic
- Loss of appetite, or vice versa, it is aggravated due to high levels of anxiety. He is unable to cope with it, which is why he tries to “chew”.
- Problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
- Insomnia, nightmares, in connection with which there is constant fatigue and lack of interest in everything that happens. Unless, of course, this does not apply to topics about health.
- With a panic attack, dizziness, nausea, sometimes vomiting and loss of consciousness are observed. Pain in the chest is scary, as it suggests thoughts about a heart problem. There are also difficulties with breathing. It becomes more frequent, and the level of oxygen in the blood rises, therefore, in principle, the head is spinning. The nosophobe sweats profusely, his hands and feet tremble.
Causes
Exhaustion of the nervous system
The stresses that arise daily in the life of every person can lead to the exhaustion of the nervous system. This is if you do not make any attempts to cope with them.
Suppose you continue to work at an unloved job, every morning, literally forcing yourself to get out of bed to get ready.
And also to endure the humiliation and aggression of the authorities, who allow themselves a boorish attitude towards their employees. Naturally, no organism is capable of enduring this from day to day, which is why the psyche fails at one moment.
Not everyone is able to afford to quit and go in search of a job that, in addition to income, can also bring pleasure.
And not everyone decides. But to suddenly be afraid for your health, which, of course, suffers in such conditions, you can afford it.
At least as an excuse for himself. Here he would happily work further tirelessly, only the probability of falling ill with a deadly disease stops him from “unfolding” vigorous activity.
All the energy of a person is directed to experiences about death and pain, he is no longer up to building a career. It happens that the body thus reacts to the load and tries to «stop» its owner, limiting it.
Hypochondria
Hypochondria is also a mental disorder, which is characterized by the fact that a person suspects that he has almost all existing diseases.
It is worth opening a medical reference book, as he will find half of the symptoms indicated in it.
Accordingly, hypochondria with nosophobia, so to speak, often «go shoulder to shoulder» to each other, but in the case of a phobia, there are also panic attacks.
Psychological trauma
The death of a loved one from some disease may well provoke pathophobia. Especially if the loss was sudden. Here was a man and rapidly «melted», also, suffering from pain.
It is enough for impressionable personalities to learn about some such terrible case. After all, at such a moment a person understands that he is finite, and is not able to fully control his life.
But he is desperate to do so. Therefore, he begins to actively suspect the presence of various dangerous diseases, to be terrified of them, to spend a large amount of money on examinations, the purchase of vitamins, and so on.
Treatment
Nosophobia is not so easy to diagnose. Since a person, having discovered in himself, for example, signs that something is not right with his heart, is unlikely to think that he is starting to develop a phobic disorder.
Therefore, she will not run to a psychotherapist, but first of all she will go to a cardiologist.
This is also confusing for relatives, who sound the alarm only after countless examinations that deny the fact that their loved one has an incurable disease.
Therefore, a person usually comes to a psychologist in severe cases, when he is exhausted by obsessive thoughts, insomnia, and so on.
It is recommended to take medications prescribed by a psychiatrist in parallel with psychotherapy. These can be sedatives in order to reduce the level of anxiety and relax the nervous system.
Antidepressants, when there is no mood for a long time, and despondency and fear cause one desire — that it all ends as soon as possible.
If you notice that you have become too worried about your well-being, that even a slight ailment causes panic — just in case, go to the specialists.
Because if things go too far, you will have to think not only about how to get rid of a phobia, but also from a number of psychosomatic diseases that will arise due to experiences.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers!
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Take care of yourself and be happy!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina