Ambulophobia (fear Of Walking): Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
There are different types of phobias as we explain in the article “Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders”. The human mind often surprises us, and one of those cases in which this happens is when a person suffers from ambulophobia or fear of walking
Although it is a rare phobia, the fear of walking can be very disabling. In this article we delve into its causes, symptoms and consequences so that you can better understand this phenomenon.
ambulophobia It is the irrational and persistent fear of walking or, in reality, it is the fear of falling, so the person avoids walking. Although it can be experienced at any age, it appears to be more common as a person becomes older and older.
An individual may have walked without problems throughout his life, but as a result of a bad experience, an operation or a fall, he becomes insecure, and is genuinely afraid to walk, at least to do so without a cane or support that allows him to walk. commute.
Some of the individuals who experience this disorder are afraid of walking on both flat and uneven surfaces especially when they are far from home, where they feel even more vulnerable and insecure.
The fear of walking and falling It is a fear that many children may experience, but they quickly overcome it without further ado. Although it is totally normal at an early age, it stops being so in adulthood, and the person with ambulophobia may feel anxious or fearful where they think there is a danger of falling, and this fear and discomfort goes beyond natural fear, becoming completely disproportionate. with the situation.
The fear of walking is often the result of a past traumatic experience in which the person fell or saw another person fall. For example, it can occur when a person is prone to dizziness and thinks that he can get dizzy in any situation, fall and hit his head.
The individual may suffer great discomfort as a result of this fear and avoid walking or doing so without support. Walking is a highly functional act and therefore, this reaction can be truly disabling.
Like any phobia, ambulophobia is usually learned through a process called classical conditioning, a type of associative learning. Classical conditioning is a learning in which the person learns a reflex response to a stimulus that did not previously produce it, but that produces it through association with another stimulus. If you want to better understand what classical conditioning is, you can read this article “Classical conditioning and its most important experiments”.
Classical conditioning was first investigated by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist famous for his experiments with dogs. Now, the researcher who made this concept popular and who studied this phenomenon with humans for the first time was the American psychologist John Watson, one of the precursors of behaviorism
Other causes of this phobia
The theory that phobias have an environmental origin and that they are learned through classical conditioning is accepted; However, they can also be learned through vicarious conditioning, observational learning that is similar to, but not the same as, modeling and imitation.
Other authors also think that we are biologically programmed to suffer from phobias, since fear is an adaptive emotion that has helped human beings evolve and survive. This explains why the primitive brain intervenes in this type of learning, which occurs through primitive and non-cognitive associations. This fear does not respond to logical arguments.
Ambulophobia presents symptoms similar to any phobic disorder, since the only thing that changes is the stimulus that elicits these symptoms. Phobias usually cause symptoms that occur at a cognitive, behavioral and physical level.
Regarding cognitive symptoms, irrational beliefs, catastrophic thoughts disorientation, lack of concentration, anguish or fear appear.
Behavioral symptoms are characterized by accelerated speech, avoidance of the phobic stimulus and other coping strategies. Tremors, headaches, dizziness, hot flashes and nausea are some of the physical symptoms that appear when a person suffers from ambulophobia.
Treatments
Phobias are quite common disorders and They belong to the group of anxiety disorders There are many studies that have been carried out to try to find out which is the most effective treatment. Scientific research affirms that cognitive behavioral therapy works very well in helping patients overcome their irrational fears.
This form of therapy uses different techniques. In the case of phobias, the most used are relaxation techniques and exposure techniques Now, a technique that combines both is systematic desensitization, which consists of exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus progressively after having learned different coping strategies such as relaxation techniques.
In addition to cognitive behavioral therapy, other forms of psychotherapy are also used, such as Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and hypnotherapy.
In severe cases, anxiolytics or antidepressants can be administered, but always in combination with psychological therapy.
