Phobias considered rare are those phobias that are infrequent, or about which we have never heard of… Maybe this happens to you with dinophobia which consists of the phobia of the sensation of vertigo and/or dizziness (we should not confuse it, however, with the phobia of heights).
In this article we will see what exactly this phobia consists of, as well as its associated symptoms, some of its possible causes and treatments that can be applied.
Dinophobia is the phobia of vertigo and/or dizziness. We should not confuse this phobia with the fear of heights (acrophobia), since in dinophobia the phobic object is vertigo, not heights (which would be one of the causes of vertigo).
Thus, it is about a specific phobia (a type of anxiety disorder), classified as such in the current DSM-5 (Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
Thus, in dinophobia there is a disproportionate, intense and irrational fear of feeling vertigo or even dizziness. What is feared, too, are the sensations associated with this physiological state; For example, feeling like your body is going one way and your head is going the other, feeling short of breath, feeling like everything around you is moving/wobbly, losing your balance, lack of stability…
Dinophobia is actually a rare phobia; That is, it is a rare phobia. It is much more common, for example, acrophobia (phobia of heights).
The vertigo
Vertigo consists of an objective sensation of movement, of rotation of the environment or oneself. It is also related to a feeling of “precipitation into a vacuum” (although this does not actually exist). The feeling of vertigo not only appears when we are in high places, but it can also appear in a panic disorder, for example.
This altered psychophysiological state is related to an alteration in the vestibular system (related to balance, posture and spatial control), and which is located in the ear. Furthermore, the sensation of vertigo is very unpleasant and can cause intense fear, so it is logical that this sensation could end up causing a phobia such as dinophobia.
On the other hand, vertigo can be accompanied by other symptoms, such as a feeling of imminent fainting, loss of balance and/or nausea.
How long can the feeling of vertigo last? It depends on its trigger, etiology… but, generally, from minutes to days. Vertigo can affect anyone (we must differentiate it, however, from dinophobia itself), although the most frequent ages of onset are between 40-50 years and 70 and older.
Relationship with other phobias
As a curiosity, Dinophobia has been related to other types of phobia, in this case phobias of more abstract objects such as eternity or infinity (apeirophobia).
An evolutionary sense…?
Like many other phobias, dinophobia It could also have, etiologically, an evolutionary meaning That is, our ancestors could have feared this sensation of vertigo by relating it to possible damage or traumatic events.
As a result, we may have “inherited”, to a certain extent, this type of phobia. The same occurs with more biological phobias, such as the phobia of heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), etc.
Symptoms
The symptoms associated with dinophobia are the following.
1. Intense fear of vertigo
The main symptom of dinophobia, like that of any specific phobia, is an intense, irrational and disproportionate fear of a specific phobic object (in this case, vertigo and/or dizziness). This fear can be triggered by stimuli that remind us of the sensation of vertigo or simply appear without a triggering stimulus.
Let’s remember that specific phobias are anxiety disorders. All of them involve physiological symptoms such as: dizziness, vertigo, feeling of shortness of breath, tachycardia, sweating, tremors.
In the case of dinophobia, these are the same symptoms (causally, one of them is the dizziness / vertigo itself).
3. Interference
In order to diagnose a phobia as such, the symptoms must cause interference in the person’s daily life to. Although it is true that there are some phobias that do not interfere with daily functioning, because the phobic stimulus is not found in everyday life (think, for example, of snakes, living in a city…). So the same can happen with dinophobia (although, remember, a triggering stimulus is not always necessary for dinophobia symptoms to occur).
4. Discomfort
Another important symptom of dinophobia is the discomfort that the phobia itself causes, since the person can be limited in their daily life due to the constant fear of suffering from vertigo.
Causes
Phobias can have many causes, although the most common cause is a traumatic event In the case of dinophobia, it may be that the person has experienced a traumatic situation related to these bodily sensations (vertigo or dizziness), as well as with bridges, heights, airplanes…
Thus, the fact of experiencing a situation of these characteristics (with a great emotional burden associated with it) may be enough to develop dinophobia. This also includes cases where one does not directly experience such a situation, but one does hear people talk about it, see it in other people (vicarious conditioning), etc.
Furthermore, once the symptoms of dinophobia are experienced, the following often occurs: a terrible fear of experiencing these symptoms again, which turns the disorder into a vicious circle difficult to get rid of without treatment.
Treatment
The treatment of dinophobia, on a psychological level, includes two main options: exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (They can be used together, although exposure therapy normally already includes cognitive-behavioral techniques).
Let us remember that exposure therapy is the most effective treatment for specific phobias, as demonstrated by various studies. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also offers very good results.
For its part, exposure therapy includes exposure to the phobic stimulus, gradually (through a hierarchy of items). The objective is that the patient “overcomes” increasingly difficult items until he or she manages to face the phobic situation without needing to escape from it.
To do this, the patient is often trained in coping strategies that they can use when they feel high levels of anxiety, such as breathing, relaxation or positive images. On the other hand, cognitive-behavioral therapy essentially includes cognitive restructuring, which has the objective of “restructuring” the patient’s catastrophic thoughts in relation to vertigo and its associated symptoms, in order to replace them with more functional, realistic ones. and adaptive.
That is to say, with phobias cognitive distortions and irrational thoughts often appear that should be combated; This also happens in dinophobia. For this reason, cognitive behavioral therapy has the mission of offering the patient tools so that they are able to detect these thoughts, in order to subsequently modify them.
