Anthophobia (fear Of Flowers): Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
Human beings can feel fear of a wide variety of objects or situations, a reaction that can be normal as long as this fear is objective and realistic. However, there are times when a person may feel great fear of seemingly harmless things, as is the case of anthophobia, the irrational fear of flowers
In this article we will delve into the most characteristic aspects of this disorder and review its causes, symptoms and consequences.
Anthophobia may not be one of the best-known phobias, but it is one of the most curious. This pathology is an intense and irrational fear of flowers, which are stimuli that pose little or no real danger This, on the other hand, is something that happens with all phobias: although they cannot explain why, the person develops an irrational fear of elements that are in principle harmless. The cause of this has to do with the functioning of emotional memory, as we will see.
With the exception of those individuals who may suffer from allergies, the majority of the population should not fear the reproductive systems of most plants; However, some subjects are afraid of flowers, and this disorder can be truly disabling for them.
Phobias belong to the group of anxiety disorders and, therefore, some of the most characteristic symptoms experienced by subjects with this condition are anxiety and anguish (besides fear). Phobic people tend to avoid the feared stimulus in an attempt to reduce discomfort. Luckily, and despite the great suffering that this phobia can cause, anthophobia has a cure.
People who develop a phobia were not born with this disorder, but they have learned it. In most cases, this occurs implicitly after a traumatic experience that provokes intense negative emotions. Phobias are learned through classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning is a type of learning that occurs through the association of a stimulus that is originally neutral with another that provokes a fear response. A person may have had a negative experience when running through a garden full of flowers, and the impact of this situation causes that the next times he encounters a flower he develops great anxiety and a disproportionate fear of the seemingly harmless situation.
They are also learned by observation
But experiencing a traumatic situation is not only the only cause of the appearance of anthophobia, but phobias can appear through vicarious conditioning. For example, when watching a horror movie in which roses appear in bloody scenes in the film. In this way, an association is created in our mind between a stimulus that initially did not have a very significant emotional charge (flowers) and another that produces aversion, so that perceiving the first makes us feel bad because of that “emotional memory”
Phobias do not respond to logical arguments, largely because the emotion of fear has to do with the primitive brain. In this sense, some experts affirm that phobias are produced by primary associations and have a survival function, not by cognitive associations.
Symptoms of fear of flowers
The symptoms of phobias appear when imagining or coming into contact with the stimulus, in this case, flowers. Anxiety and stimulus avoidance are some of the most characteristic symptoms; nevertheless, the phobic experiences cognitive, behavioral and physical symptoms
The most characteristic cognitive symptoms are irrational fear, anguish, catastrophic thoughts, lack of concentration or confusion. It is also common for intrusive ideas to occur and in general “mental images” that cause great discomfort and that appear in consciousness in a disruptive way, without anything being able to do to avoid it.
Stimulus avoidance is the most characteristic behavioral symptom. Regarding the physical symptoms, we can highlight:
Treatment of anthophobia
Cases of anthophobia are not very common, but phobic disorders in general are. For this reason, there is a lot of research that has been carried out in this line, which has made it possible to develop very effective treatments to end these irrational fears. Thus, although these pathologies cause great suffering, the prognosis for patients is good.
When seeking help, the first step that many phobics take is to go to the family doctor, but the option is to receive treatment from a psychology professional. There are many methods that work to treat phobias, but the best known and the one that seems to provide the best results is cognitive behavioral therapy. This form of therapy is made up of different techniques, among which relaxation and breathing techniques stand out and exposure techniques.
For the treatment of phobias Systematic desensitization is usually applied, which includes the two previous techniques, and which gradually exposes the patient to the feared stimulus. Of course, you must first learn coping strategies such as relaxation and breathing techniques.
In addition to cognitive behavioral therapy, Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy or acceptance and commitment therapy have also proven to be very effective. Both types of psychotherapy belong to third generation therapies.
If you want to know more about third generation therapies, you can read our article: “What are third generation therapies?”
In recent years, the development of new technologies has also allowed the treatment of phobias to be different, since it is now easier to create situations in which the person feels close to the phobic stimulus. Furthermore, this can be done in the consultation itself where psychological intervention services are offered, in a controlled manner and with a professional supervising the process.
The emergence of virtual reality allowed the patient not to have to expose himself to the phobic stimulus, but it can do it by simulating reality. Some psychologists use this technique with excellent results, which can also be found in mobile apps. You can read more about this topic in our article: “8 apps to treat phobias and fears from your smartphone”
