Tomophobia (phobia Of Surgical Operations): Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Have you ever heard of tomophobia? It is a phobia considered “rare”, although, in reality, more common than we really think. It is the phobia of surgical operations.
Why does it occur? What are its typical symptoms? And finally, what treatments exist, on a psychological level, to combat it? In this article we will answer all these questions in relation to tomophobia.
Tomophobia is the phobia of surgical operations On the other hand, phobias are intense, irrational and disproportionate fears of a certain object or situation, and are part of anxiety disorders, classified as such in the DSM-5 (Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
In the case of tomophobia, there is an excessive fear of surgical operations. Although it might seem like a normal fear to us (because it is very common to be afraid of surgical operations), we insist that, in phobias, this fear becomes pathological. That is The phobia of surgical operations goes far beyond normal fear truly interfering in the person’s life and, in serious cases, disabling them.
Fear of surgical operations
It is normal and common to be afraid of a surgical operation, since it is a complex process where someone accesses our body (although, logically, some operations are simpler than others).
They can operate on practically any part of the body, to solve a problem, a pathology, remove a tumor, etc. There are operations with more risk than others, obviously it is not the same to have an appendicitis operation than an open heart operation or to remove a brain tumor.
Seeing all this, and going to the most rational part, we can understand that there are people who feel real panic about having surgery, whether due to a bad previous experience, having heard stories of operations that have gone wrong, fear of hospitals, etc. .
However, in tomophobia we talk about an intense panic that occurs with the idea of having surgery when the risk levels are reasonably low This panic sometimes translates into strong anxiety, psychophysiological symptoms, hyperarousal…
Symptoms
The main symptom of tomophobia, as occurs in all specific phobias, is anxiety and/or intense fear. This anxiety or fear can manifest itself in different ways; through physical (psychophysiological), cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
On a physical level, various symptoms appear at the idea of having surgery (or even at images of an operation), such as: excessive sweating, hyperarousal, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, feeling of suffocation …
At a cognitive level, dysfunctional ideas appear or catastrophic thoughts in relation to operations (“everything will go wrong”, “all operations go wrong”, “I won’t be able to wake up”, etc.).
Finally, at the behavioral level, it appears avoidance of the phobic stimulus (for example, not wanting to watch medical programs on television, not wanting to go near a hospital, not wanting to listen to stories about operations…). On the other hand, if avoidance does not appear, the situation (in this case, the operation) is resisted, with great discomfort and intense associated anxiety.
Causes
The main cause of tomophobia is a traumatic experience with surgical operations For example, having undergone an operation where complications arose, suffering after-effects resulting from an operation, medical negligence, difficulties waking up, a lot of pain, etc.
Tomophobia can also be acquired through vicarious conditioning, If we see someone suffer a lot from an operation Finally, the stories we hear regarding medical negligence, operations that have not gone well, etc., can also have a lot to do with the origin of tomophobia.
On the other hand, other phobias related to medical situations can also influence the appearance of tomophobia (or coexist with it), such as: phobia of blood (hemophobia or hematophobia), phobia of injections (trypanophobia), phobia of hospitals, phobia of doctors, etc.
Treatment
The treatment of tomophobia, like that of all phobias, focuses mainly on two types of therapy: exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy Here, however, we will also see a third: psychoeducation techniques.
1. Exposure therapy (and virtual reality)
In the case of exposure therapy applied to tomophobia, it is somewhat complex, since how to simulate a medical operation to expose the patient? It `s difficult; That is why, in this specific case, we can go to the exposure therapy using virtual reality (VR)
This type of therapy, increasingly on the rise, simulates fictitious situations through technology. The patient can experience the sensations associated with the phobic stimulus in a quite realistic way, and has the positive side that he is never in danger and can always “escape” from the situation.
This type of therapy is increasingly used, which is ideal for some phobias where the phobic object is difficult to simulate, represent or use, as would be the case of tomophobia.
2. Cognitive behavioral therapy
On the other hand, the cognitive-behavioral therapy used for cases of tomophobia would be focused on eliminate or modify the negative and irrational thoughts that the patient has in relation to surgical operations as well as to adopt stress management and prevention habits.
That is, it would be about being able to rationalize their fears and replace catastrophic thoughts with more realistic ones. Examples of thoughts associated with tomophobia, which should be reviewed with the patient, are: “if I go into the operating room I will die,” “if I go into the operating room I will not wake up,” “I will come out worse than when I entered,” “my body will not he will endure it”, etc.
3. Psychoeducation and other techniques
Using (and teaching) specific strategies to cope with anxiety will also be important these being, for example: relaxation techniques, breathing, meditation, pleasant images…
In the case of children with tomophobia, symbolic modeling techniques can be chosen (through videos, stories… where fictional characters undergo successful surgical operations).
It will also be convenient to carry out psychoeducation sessions, so that the patient really understands the operation that is going to be performed (if this is the case) Furthermore, in the latter case, it will be important to resolve all your doubts in relation to the operation you must undergo, so multidisciplinary work with the medical team will be essential.
