Fear Of The New: Causes And How To Overcome It

We all experience certain fear of changes, such as fear of changing jobs, fear of moving house or fear of doing new things. However, sometimes this fear becomes excessive and disproportionate.

What is the fear of the new and unknown called?

The fear of the new and unknown is called neophobia. This word derives from Greek so neos means new and phobos fear. Neophobia is a type of specific phobia in which there is an uncontrollable, persistent, irrational and disproportionate fear towards everything that implies novelty, is essentially the fear of doing new things.

In this phobia, unlike other specific phobias, there is a wide variety of phobic stimuli, since both material things, situations and activities can be feared, as long as novelty qualities are attributed to them. One of the most researched areas within this phobia is food neophobia, which has a high incidence, especially in childhood, when new foods and dishes are intensely rejected. However, neophobia can manifest itself in any area of ​​daily life and at any time in the life cycle, in the same way that it can be due to the fear of failing, the fear of uncertainty or the feeling of lack of control.

Symptoms of neophobia

The symptoms of this specific phobia are the following:

• Physical symptoms: symptoms of activation of the nervous system when exposed to or the idea of ​​being exposed to something new such as tachycardia, sweating, nausea, dizziness, hyperventilation, stomach pain, muscle tension, etc.
• Cognitive symptoms: distorted beliefs, irrational and catastrophic thoughts, fear of not being able to control the new situation if exposed to it, and intrusive ideas about the novelty.
• Emotional symptoms: anxiety, anguish, feeling of helplessness due to the inability to control disproportionate reactions, self-esteem problems, sadness, personal dissatisfaction, boredom,…
• Behavioral symptoms: avoidance or escape behaviors when faced with something new and resistance to change which can lead to progressive isolation. There is a limitation and damage to the quality of life of the person with neophobia, just as these people usually lead a totally monotonous and routine lifestyle that restricts the amount of rewarding elements that the person can access.

Regarding the etiology of neophobia, no single cause has been identified that is capable of explaining the origin of this irrational fear; rather, a series of factors that interrelate with each other have been recognized, which can lead to the development of this phobia. :

• Comfort zone: why are we afraid of change? Excessive fear and resistance to leaving this area of ​​control, comfort and stability may be due to fear of uncertainty and inability to manage change. This terror may be due to the person projecting themselves into the panic zone when thinking about leaving the comfort zone, so they believe that the situation or stimulus is going to overwhelm and overwhelm them. There is, therefore, a feeling of incompetence and lack of coping resources.
• Personality traits: There are certain personal characteristics that could be predisposing to neophobia, such as neuroticism, lack of self-esteem, self-efficacy and confidence, or perfectionism. It can also be related to an avoidant personality style, in which there is a generalized pattern of inhibition.
• Anxious/ambivalent childhood attachment: The bonds established in childhood with the main care figures can exert an influence on exploratory behaviors in general, as well as on mental representations about the person themselves and the world. An insecure attachment style can lead to the development of a fear of the new due to a negative unconscious interpretation of both the characteristics and competencies of the person themselves, as well as the outside, which is perceived as an uncontrollable place full of dangers that generates distrust. In the following article you will find more information about attachment theories.
• Traumatic situations: Experiencing a situation that represents trauma for a person can lead to the development of mental schemas and models through which the world is conceived as threatening and dangerous, which is why everything that is unknown is rejected.
• Parenting styles: An educational style that transmits an excessive sense of responsibility and perfectionism can generate fear in the person for fear of failing or disappointing the parenting figures, so they avoid all those situations that they do not control and over which they do not have control. there is certainty of success. On the other hand, an educational style that conveys a rejection of innovation and exploration, as well as attributes a sense of danger to novelty, can condition this fear.
• Cognitive styles: The thinking patterns and distortions typical of an anxious and neurotic style could also contribute to neophobia. These cognitions are characterized by catastrophic thoughts, attentional biases towards threats, generalized pessimistic vision, etc.

How to stop being afraid of the new? Regarding neophobia, psychological intervention is recommended to overcome fears and insecurities. Once information has been collected about the person with this phobia, the treatment should address the following areas of work:

1. Psychoeducation: The first step to overcome the fear of the new is to know the theoretical explanation about fear, its function, adaptive and maladaptive fear, about phobias, symptoms and mechanism of operation and, finally, neophobia and its consequences.
2. Exposure technique: The behavioral component of the phobia is worked on through the exposure technique. In it, the person creates a hierarchy of fears and is gradually exposed to them, either live or in the imagination previously, through the support and guidance of a specialized person, and in a controlled manner. The reinforcing role of avoidant and escape responses in phobia is explained, and an attempt is made to prevent their appearance. The objective is to generate a habituation to lose the fear.
3. Relaxation and breathing: Training in both techniques reduces anxiety levels, and can increase the effectiveness of the exposure technique if it is applied to it, since the person will find and feel equipped with resources to calm down when facing their fear. Through these exercises the physical element of neophobia is addressed.
4. Cognitive restructuring: work on the cognitive component of this disorder with the aim of improving thought distortions and promoting more functional and adaptive beliefs. To do this, you can use the questioning of beliefs, the records of thoughts, Socratic questioning, taking the belief to the limit “what would be the worst that could happen?”, etc.
5. Work on personal skills: To overcome the fear of the new and unknown, it is essential to address and work on qualities such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, confidence, security or social skills. To do this, an exhaustive exploration of the person’s specific problem is necessary, what skills are diminished, personality traits and their interaction with the disorder, as well as the origin of their phobia (fear of failure, intolerance of uncertainty). , need for control, mental models of threat, etc.), since depending on all of this, the intervention will be individualized and will place greater emphasis on certain aspects.
6. Behavioral activation: Regarding the emotional state, it is expected that this will increase as the person faces more and more novel situations or activities. This improvement in mood, on the one hand, will be due to the increase in self-esteem and self-efficacy by seeing that you are capable of facing what you fear and, on the other hand, because new activities tend to be rewarding and constitute a reward in themselves. As the person assimilates new experiences, it may be beneficial to jointly develop a plan for new tasks and activities with the aim of maintaining this activation.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor 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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