Fear Of Clocks (chronometrophobia): Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
Human beings can develop fears of anything, and sometimes these fears are irrational and persistent. This is what is known as a phobia, a disorder that usually develops as a result of a traumatic experience from the past
There are many types of phobias. Some of them are very strange as we explain in our article “The 15 strangest phobias that exist”. And some phobic disorders can surprise many people due to the harmlessness of the feared stimulus. A clear example is chronometrophobia or fear of clocks.
I’m sure many readers are wondering, “How is it possible that this very useful and non-dangerous device causes fear?” In this article we will answer this question and delve into the causes, symptoms and treatment of this disorder.
As we said at the beginning of the article, there are many types of phobias. You can check it out in our article “Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders”.
These irrational fears can be classified as social phobias, agoraphobia or specific or simple phobias. The latter are distinguished from the previous ones because the phobic stimulus is an object, an activity, a situation or an animal. The phobia of clowns (coulrophobia), of dogs (cynophobia) and, of course, The phobia of clocks (chronometrophobia) belongs to this type of phobias
Phobias are included in the group of anxiety disorders, so anxiety, in addition to extreme fear, is one of the characteristic symptoms of this disorder. People who suffer from chronometrophobia, in the presence of clocks or the imagination of them, feel extreme fear, anxiety, confusion, the need to avoid the feared stimulus and many other symptoms that cause discomfort.
The relationship of this phobia with the fear of the passage of time or chronophobia
Clocks are objects that tell us the time and allow us to know the moment in time we are in. For the life of today’s human being, these devices are very useful.
But some people develop these phobias for different reasons. In some cases, this phobia is associated with chronophobia or fear of the passage of time This disorder is complex, and according to experts, older people and individuals in prison experience it more commonly. In the case of incarcerated people, this disorder is called “prison neurosis.”
Causes of watch phobia
But clock phobia does not only appear as a consequence of chronophobia. The most common cause is as a result of a traumatic experience, generally during childhood Chronometrophobia develops through classical conditioning, as it occurs due to the association of a stimulus that initially provokes a reflex response of fear and another that originally does not provoke it. This last stimulus is called the neutral stimulus. After these stimuli are presented together, and as a result of the traumatic experience, the neutral stimulus can elicit a fear response.
Ivan Pavlov originally investigated this phenomenon; However, the first researcher who managed to develop a phobia in humans was John B. Watson, an American psychologist who carried out a series of studies that today are considered unethical.
Symptoms
Now, this phobia also has an effect on the behavior of the subject, who, in the presence of clocks, tends to avoid them. Other characteristic symptoms, known as physical symptoms, are:
Anxiety disorders are very frequent reasons for consultation in Psychology clinics Among these are phobias, which cause great discomfort. Patients are often aware of the problem they suffer from, but fear is an emotion that takes place in the primitive brain and not in the neocortex (rational brain), so phobias do not usually respond to logical arguments. The best way to treat a phobia is through exposure therapy, which belongs to the therapeutic model known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
CBT is a form of psychotherapy that has given many results, and that includes other useful techniques for the treatment of phobias, such as relaxation techniques, which help the patient control the symptoms of this pathology.
One of the most used techniques is systematic desensitization, which includes the previous two, and which consists of gradually exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus This means that, for example, first the patient is exposed to photographs in which watches appear, and then, in the last stages of treatment, he or she can have direct contact with the feared stimulus.
Other types of therapy are currently being used successfully. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy or acceptance and commitment therapy are some examples. Furthermore, as we explain in our article “8 apps to treat phobias and fears from your smartphone”, new technologies are also at the service of treating phobic disorders.
