Everyone knows the expression ‘colors to suit your taste’, which can be extrapolated to a world as complex and, at the same time, so limiting, such as phobias.
There are many phobias, but the surprising thing is that there are even specific groups of phobias, such as phobias of animals, phobias of environmental phenomena, phobias related to the body…
A fairly unknown group of phobias are those that have to do with space phenomena, being cometophobia, fear of comets, the specific phobia that we are going to talk about here. Let’s look at this rare and, at the same time, curious phobic disorder.
Cometophobia (from the Latin ‘comet’, in turn from the Greek ‘kometes’, ‘hair, star with a pigtail’ and from the Greek ‘phobos’ ‘fear’) is the fear of comets. Is about a specific phobia that shares a category with other phobias related to astronomical phenomena or objects such as heliophobia (fear of the Sun), cosmicophobia (fear of cosmic phenomena), meterophobia (fear of meteorites), siderophobia (fear of stars) or spatiophobia (fear of outer space).
Those who suffer from this phobia feel an irrational fear of comets or phenomena related to them, and normally their appearance is related to superstitions or erroneous beliefs about outer space. Although comets are objectively just a mixture of rocks, ice and stardust, there are those who still believe that they are messages from the beyond or signs that the end is near. There are also those who believe that they are interplanetary ships sent by aliens to invade Earth.
Whatever the cause behind this phobia, the truth is that cometophobes have serious problems witnessing the passage of a comet, talking about the last time one of them passed or seeing them in science fiction films and documentaries about outer space. .
As with other phobias, it is accepted that the factors that cause cometophobia are a combination of external events, such as having experienced a traumatic event, and internal predispositions of the individual like your genetics and personality.
In the past, this fear was quite common, given that there were no scientific explanations or objective methods to study comets, what they were composed of, and when their frequency of appearance was. Because of this, in times like the Medieval Ages, it was believed that the passage of a comet was a sign that the day of judgment was approaching, or that the destruction of humanity was just around the corner. These types of beliefs were closely associated with religion and related superstitions.
However, today there are still people who fear comets. One of the reasons is that, either by having seen comets in science fiction series or by having documented their potential destructive capacity, comets They are seen as something that could spell the end of humanity, if they hit Earth Another belief shared by cometophobes is that comets could be interplanetary ships of very advanced alien civilizations that are planning to invade our planet.
Symptoms
As with other phobias and, in turn, other anxiety disorders, cometophobia implies high levels of stress for those who suffer from it. The symptoms can vary depending on the level of fear of the phobic stimulus and the degree of frequency with which there is contact. The symptoms and, especially, anxiety, will appear when the person views images of comets, although The phobic response can also occur when simply talking about these cosmic phenomena or thinking about them
Phobias are disorders that must be treated very seriously, given that among the symptoms that can occur are panic attacks. When the person, whether cometophobic or suffering from another phobia, manifests one of these attacks, they may present physical problems such as palpitations and accelerated heartbeat.
Other physical symptoms that cometophobia patients may manifest, in addition to the panic attacks, are excessive sweating, tremors, chills, irregular breathing, feeling of choking tachycardia, chest pain, feeling of butterflies in the stomach, nausea, headache, dizziness, feeling faint, numbness, feeling like needles in the skin, dry mouth, tinnitus, disorientation, increased blood pressure, confusion and hyperventilation.
As for psychological symptoms, we have fear of losing control, fear of fainting, fear of dying, fear of having an illness, guilt, shame, isolating yourself from others, depression, despair, problems concentrating, feeling disconnected, anger, irritability. , changes in mood, anxiety and general fear.
Treatment
Cometophobia is a very rare phobia and, since its phobic stimulus is comets, which in itself is rare, those who suffer from this phobia rarely decide to go to therapy. Actually, unless they work in something related to comets, such as astronomy, cometophobic people do not see the need to undergo treatment, since they already have the subjective feeling of being under control of their disorder. They believe that as long as they don’t see a comet, they can live a normal life.
This fact It is striking when compared to other more common phobic disorders, associated with more everyday stimuli, such as blatophobia (fear of cockroaches), acrophobia (fear of heights) or aerophobia (fear of flying). All of these phobias are usually seen in consultation because those who suffer from them suffer many limitations when avoiding cockroaches, heights and airplanes, respectively. On the other hand, since comets are rare, in cometophobia there is not a high degree of intromission.
However, asking for help never hurts. Comets are rare and, because of this, they are truly beautiful natural phenomena that, when they occur, their observation is considered a true recreational activity and unique experience. The individual with cometophobia not only risks missing a historical event, but also deprives himself of having a good time with his friends and family, who may have decided to spend the night watching the comet pass.
Within psychotherapy, the patient is encouraged to recognize patterns of behavior and thinking who have led you to the situation you are in, what your beliefs are about what a comet is and if you really believe they are as dangerous as you think they are. The consultation can teach you strategies to cope with the anxiety associated with your specific form.
Within the pharmacological route, the most prescribed psychotropic drugs for phobias are antidepressants, anxiolytics and beta-blockers These medications do not cure phobias, but they do reduce their symptoms and give the patient a greater degree of well-being. However, to ensure that the person does not have an irrational fear of comets or can acquire effective strategies to cope with it, psychotherapy will be the best option to achieve this goal.
Apart from the classic psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments, there are other less empirically proven options that could have good results on the cometophobic person, such as neurolinguistic programming or hypnotherapy, although, to date, there is little research that has found that these types of alternative treatments are effective in treating anxiety disorders.
