There are different types of phobias, some of them really strange. For example, hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia or fear of the number 666, turophobia or fear of cheese, or uranophobia or fear of heaven after death. Today we will talk about another uncommon phobia: apeirophobia or fear of infinity.
But before starting to talk about this phobia, and to better understand what characterizes phobic disorders, we will begin by briefly explaining what phobias in general consist of.
If you want to know more about strange phobias, you can read our article: “The 15 strangest phobias that exist”
A phobia is a strong irrational and uncontrollable fear of situations, objects, activities or people. It belongs to the group of anxiety disorders, and its most characteristic symptom is the excessive and irrational desire to avoid objects or situations as a way to reduce the anxiety or discomfort that these people may suffer.
Experts say that certain genetic and environmental factors favor the appearance of a phobia. However, one of the causes that has the greatest consensus among researchers is that phobias arise because the person has had a traumatic experience (mostly in childhood), to which they later associate the element that causes fear. This learning would occur by classical conditioning.
Do you want to know more about classical conditioning? We recommend our article “Classical conditioning and its most important experiments”
It is important to highlight that The association that would cause the phobia can be direct or indirect. We speak of direct association when that element (object, situation, etc.) has been the very cause that leads to a phobia. For example, if a child is scratched by a cat that he unconsciously bothered, and as a result of this experience he develops a phobia of cats. The indirect association refers to when fear appears displaced. For example, when a child has a phobia of vaccines just because he knows that they hurt.
Phobias can be classified as follows: social phobia, agoraphobia and specific phobia.
Learn more about the different types of phobias in this article: “Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders”
Characteristics of apeirophobia
Thinking about the universe and infinity can provoke certain questions or reflections that are difficult to answer, which can cause us a certain degree of anxiety. Now, when this thought about infinity or immense things produces extreme irrational fear and great discomfort, then we are dealing with a case of apeirophobia.
The concept of apeirophobia refers to an unusual type of phobia. We usually talk quite normally about other phobias in which the phobic object is tangible: phobia of spiders or phobia of clowns, for example. All of them objects or people that can be easily touched and avoided. For some, imagining the phobia of infinity can even be difficult.
The fear of infinity can appear both during the day and at night. For example, when the subject who suffers from it is so calm in his living room and an intrusive thought about infinity causes a serious anxiety problem. Or when he is in his bed, trying to fall asleep, and the same image causes him a strong fear that does not allow him to sleep all night.
existential vertigo
Apeirophobia is a type of phobia in which the focus of fear is something completely abstract, and not a living being, a landscape or a specific object. This means that it depends on activities linked to introspection and imagination, although its symptoms do not have to appear only when we reflect in silence and with our eyes closed.
There are certain experiences that enter us through the senses and, in certain cases, they can make us think about the infinite. These sensory stimuli depend on each person, but some of the most recurrent are the sky, the sea or numerical sequences that never end.
Aperiphobia is experienced as a sensation of vertigo produced by the idea that, as one is coming into contact with the infinite, there is no support in which the person can remain “anchored” and maintain some control of the situation. This idea makes it, in a certain sense, similar to agoraphobia, since in this also a wave of fear appears at the idea that the environment becomes ungraspable and impossible to control.
Treatment
Since apeirophobia is an anxiety disorder caused mostly by past traumatic experiences, it is necessary to see a mental health professional as soon as possible. The cognitive behavioral therapy or Mindfulness have proven to be very effective in overcoming this type of disorder, although it is important to keep in mind that the symptoms of apeirophobia almost never disappear completely.
You can learn more about these types of therapy in our articles:
