Enochlophobia (fear Of Crowds): Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
One of the most common reasons why people visit a psychologist is because of a phobia: fear of flying (aerophobia), social phobia or claustrophobia are some of the most common.
Enochlophobia or demophobia (that is, the phobia of crowds) also leads many individuals to seek psychological help, since phobic disorders are not rational fears, but are pathologies that seriously affect the life of the person who suffers from them. Phobic people know that this irrational fear does not disappear even when they know that nothing has to happen to them when they are faced with the feared stimulus.
In other words, the fear is so intense that it becomes uncontrollable, and the discomfort forces the person to avoid any contact or idea that could cause the great anxiety characteristic of this disorder. Luckily, phobias can be cured, and scientific studies have shown that the help of a psychologist is key to overcoming enochlophobia, among other irrational fears. In this article we will talk about enochlophobia and we will delve into its symptoms, its causes and its treatment.
Albert Einstein once said, “I hate crowds and having to give speeches in front of a large audience.” This well-known character was a genius. So if you identify with his words, you can rest assured: everyone can suffer from irrational fears, and brilliant people too.
What Einstein said, in extreme cases, could represent a common phobia such as social phobia (fear of other people’s evaluation) or claustrophobia (fear of being in closed spaces); However, this fear (the one in the example) has to do with being in front of a large crowd of people, so it would be enochlophobia.
Enochlophobia can happen to anyone, but according to research, the proportion is higher in women than men, and it usually develops when it begins in early adulthood. In most cases, enochlophobics hide their feelings of fear and try to act normally, but inside they feel great discomfort when faced with the sensation of fear, and they avoid any possibility of finding themselves in this feared situation, because when they are in a crowd, they can feel like they are having a heart attack. They get very anxious and nervous.
Causes of this phobia
Enochlophobia or demophobia, like any type of phobia, is a learned irrational fear, which generally occurs as a consequence of some traumatic experience from the past. This learning happens through classical conditioning, which is a type of associative learning that was first studied by Ivan Pavlov and later by the behaviorist John B. Watson. The latter is responsible for one of the most controversial studies in the history of Psychology, in which he managed to make a little boy, named Albert, learn to be afraid of a white rat that he initially adored.
Watson thought that human beings could learn strong emotions through conditioning and then generalize them to similar situations, and he used children to do so. Little Albert was only 8 months old at the time of the study, and during the first sessions he played calmly with the white rat, but as the sessions progressed, Watson began to pair the presence of the animal with the loud sound of metal hitting the rat. hammer. After a few sessions, Albert stopped playing with the rat, and every time it appeared he moved away as a consequence of the fact that he had associated the presence of the rat with the sound that scared him. Not only that, but the little guy was also afraid of other furry animals. According to the theory of classical conditioning, a generalization phenomenon had taken place.
Today, this study could not be carried out since the ethical guidelines that govern research would not allow it. Below you can watch a video explaining Watson’s study.
Classical and vicarious conditioning
Classical conditioning is not the only way to learn a fear, but vicarious conditioning, that is, observational learning, can also cause a person to suffer from a fear of being in a crowd.
Some cognitive factors such as irrational beliefs cause enochlophobia, and some experts claim that biological factors are also important, since people can develop fears of certain stimuli more easily. This is because it has been useful for our survival as a species. These fears would develop through primitive and non-cognitive associations, so they are not easily modifiable by logical arguments.
Symptoms and warning signs
Phobias present cognitive, behavioral and physical symptoms. Cognitive symptoms, therefore, would refer to the anxiety, fear and anguish that a person feels, which in turn would cause narrowing of attention, confusion, daze, concentration difficulties…
These symptoms would cause other physical and physiological symptoms such as headaches, stomach pain, chest tightness, etc. Behavioral symptoms would refer to the person avoiding situations that cause anxiety.
In summary, the symptoms of enochlophobia are:
Treatment
Like any phobia, and according to scientific data, cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in the treatment of this disorder. To do this, some techniques are used such as cognitive restructuring, which helps the patient realize that his thoughts are irrational; relaxation techniques, which are useful to reduce symptoms at times when the disorder manifests itself; and expository techniques. Regarding the latter, the ideal treatment is carried out with the systematic desensitization technique, which gradually exposes the patient to the feared stimulus while learning effective coping strategies.
Currently, Other forms of psychotherapy are also used, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, both included within the group of contextual therapies. They are used for their good results in the treatment of anxiety disorders, according to research carried out to verify their effectiveness.
Pharmacological treatment is only recommended in extreme cases. Always under medical or psychiatric supervision and in combination with psychological therapy.
New technologies applied to phobias
The treatment of phobias has also benefited from the advancement of new technologies, and some specialized centers use Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality as part of the treatment. In addition, There are different mobile applications on the market that allow the patient to make use of these new forms of therapy.
