Fear is an adaptive emotion that has a key function: to protect us. Therefore, it is logical that fear is activated in the face of diseases to help us avoid them and, thus, survive. However, sometimes fear begins to be dysfunctional, that is, it is so strong that instead of helping us survive, it paralyzes us and creates discomfort that prevents us from continuing with our lives normally.
The fear of diseases can interfere with people’s lives, to the point of avoiding many situations and having a really bad time. Therefore, from Psychology-Online we want to explain to you how to overcome the fear of diseases with effective psychological techniques and guidelines.
What is the fear of diseases called: name
Fear of disease, also known as hypochondria or currently called by him Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM 5 as illness anxiety disorder. This disorder is characterized by excessive and constant worry about suffering from or contracting a certain serious illness.
Symptoms of fear of diseases
Below we share with you what the symptoms present in the fear of diseases may be:
- Excessive worry and constant due to suffering or contracting a serious illness.
- High anxiety Related to health, the person is very easily alarmed by their state of health.
- There may be no symptoms of illness or, if they are, they are only mild.
- If there are high risks of developing the feared medical condition (for example, family history), the concern is disproportionate or excessive).
- Worry takes up a lot of time: Focus your habits, conversations and other available time to address your concern.
- Excessive behaviors towards your health (for example, repeatedly checking your body for signs of illness, frequently going to health services and doctors, or undergoing medical procedures or tests). Although it may also present avoidance due to maladaptation (for example, avoiding visits to the doctor or available health services).
- They are easily alarmed with illnesses, hearing that someone has become ill, or reading news about health-related stories.
- Despite the tests being negative and the doctor’s attempts to reassure him, the fear does not disappear and does not bring him any type of relief.
- The disease becomes a central element of the person’s identity, it is a frequent theme in their social discourses, and a characteristic response to stressful stimuli or events.
- They research excessively about their fear or suspicion of the disease (for example, the most frequent resource is the Internet), or they seek comfort with family, friends or doctors.
- This fear can be frustrating for others and consequently cause tension in the family.
- Avoidance behavior Disadaptive can lead to not visiting the sick members of the family or friends, not exercising for the risks that are run by doing them …
Why am I so afraid of diseases: causes
It is necessary to understand that fear is a normal emotional response to an imminent threat, whether real or imagined. Anxiety is an anticipatory response to a future threat. Fear cannot be considered a pathology or abnormality in behavior; but it must be evaluated as such if it harms people’s quality of life. Next we will see the causes of the development of fear of diseases:
1. Learning
Excessive and constant fear of any type of stimulus is often learned and specifically the fear of illness can arise in contexts with little or no capacity for emotional regulation. The primary support network contributes through most of the structure of the mental schemes with which we function (for example, parents with a very low emotional intelligence nullify the importance of emotional expression inside and outside the home; parents who They face life events with excessive emotional burdens, whether they are frustration or success).
2. Biology
Secondly, the genetic load contributes to the formation of our neural systemswhich implies that all the areas involved in the response to danger, that is, the cerebral amygdala, adrenal gland and HPA axis, are over activated and thus natural physical symptoms are produced in the response to fear, which are the ones that confuse people. people with their symptoms.
3. Social context
Thirdly, the social context in which the person develops, which attributes importance to certain information and avoids other information as not very fundamental (for example, the dissemination of information that can create anxiety in the population).
How to face fears
To face fear, we can start with these two basic guidelines:
1. Normalize
The first thing is to recognize that fear is a normal response in all human beings, as it is an emotion that allows us to survive by prompting us to distance ourselves or fight against anything that represents a threat (for example, if there is an obvious catastrophe such as a possible fire or flood, it is time to be alert and look for the means to get to safety).
2. Regulate emotions
Being aware of our emotions and their somewhat subjective responses will help us identify the stimuli of each of them (as we each experience the fear “we move away or try to have control of every detail”). Although when we are afraid we try to exercise control although we are not aware that this ends up making things worse.
How to overcome the fear of diseases
Can you live without fear of diseases? The truth is that you cannot live without fear because it is a basic and primary emotion, however, you can learn to manage fear and you can live without excessive fear of diseases. To lose the fear of diseases and stop having a paralyzing fear to diseases, the following guidelines can be put into practice:
1. Identify what triggers fear
Record what the stimulus of our fear is (in this case, the disease) and then explore where our information about the stimulus comes from (information about the disease “causes, probability of suffering from it or contracting it, possible treatments and symptoms”).
2. Rationalize
Verify the veracity of that information or thought. Question and seek reality testing to determine whether the thought or information may be true or not.
3. Share
Talking about what is feared, explaining and sharing with loved ones helps to accept and cope. Expressing the emotion verbally while manifesting the emotion physically will allow others to empathize with it and support us.
4. Feel the emotions
Allowing yourself to live the cognitive, affective and physical experience will give way to confrontation. For this process, it is appropriate to consult and be accompanied by professionals or people who can be of support. Allowing yourself to feel the fear of illness is not equivalent to succumbing to it, but rather experiencing it to give a beginning, an ending and an end to the experience.
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This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5). Panamericana Editorial.
- Bonet, JIC (2001). Effective psychological treatments for specific phobias. Psychothema, 13(3), 447-452.