Fear Of Responsibilities: What It Is, Types, Symptoms And Treatment
There are many different types of phobias, but one of the most common is the one that involves the fear of taking responsibility.
We will dedicate this article to collecting all the information related to this phenomenon so that the reader can know how this difficulty is generated, what characteristics it is associated with, what type of person is more prone to suffer from it and what is the appropriate treatment to solve it.
The fear of responsibilities is a pathology consisting of a phobia, that is, an irrational fear, in this case at the mere idea of having to assume a situation in which the person is in charge of managing or taking care of some element, a task or a person. This phobia receives the technical name of hyperengiophobia or hyperengiaphobia, taking from the Greek word engys, which means narrow.
When a person suffers from fear of responsibilities, faced with a circumstance that presents one of these possibilities, they will react through flight behavior that will also be visibly disproportionate, since the situation will not be objectively threatening. Furthermore, the subject who experiences this reaction will not be able to explain why this is happening to him, it simply happens to him.
You will not be able, therefore, to voluntarily control your reaction, but rather it will be an automatic and uncontrollable response. of his body, which prepares his body for an imminent escape from what he considers an aversive situation and which is therefore putting him at risk. In short, when faced with the option of taking responsibility for something, the person automatically runs away, without knowing why or being able to do anything else.
Obviously, this type of reaction can represent a serious imbalance for individuals who are afraid of responsibilities, since, as with all phobias, it is not an issue that they have voluntarily chosen. However, In other types of fears, for example, fear of needles, the person is calm because it is not a situation that occurs frequently.
On the contrary, being afraid of responsibilities, you are distressed that an event of these characteristics could arise at any time, since it is a much more plausible option on a day-to-day basis, even if we are talking about small-scale responsibilities.
Consequences of this phobia
Let’s imagine for a moment what the life of a person with a severe case of this phobia would be like.. Depending on when these fears had appeared, she could have had problems even as early as school, increasing the chances of dropping out of school early. It would also have interfered with his immersion in the world of work, causing him difficulties both in getting a first job and in getting promoted.
It might even disturb you simply for the action of making a date with another person, even if it were a friend. Obviously, suffering such unpleasant reactions to such routine situations would lead to an imbalance for the person that would affect their mood and could even trigger another series of pathologies.
Therefore, hypengiophobia or fear of responsibilities is not a disorder that we should take lightly, because like all phobias, could be causing discomfort and serious damage to the life of the patient who suffers from itwith the difference that the triggers for these specific fears are much more abundant in people’s daily lives than those stimuli that awaken other types of phobias.
Another risk that people who fear taking responsibility face is that of make their fear increasingly more powerful, since the flight or delegation they make to avoid having to face the situation acts as reinforcement (they avoid discomfort) and make that response more likely in the future. But at the same time, in a more rational way, they generate anguish in the person, since he is aware that it is increasingly difficult for him to face the fear of responsibilities,
Types of fear of responsibilities
We already know what the fear of responsibilities consists of and the serious consequences that this pathology can have. Below we will delve into the different types that we can break down based on the characteristics of the situation that is causing the fear.
One of the main causes that triggers the fear of responsibilities in these people is the possibility of making a mistake.. This option automatically blocks them and causes them to flee from the situation, which represents the threatening stimulus for them.
2. Panic of not being up to par
The second option has nothing to do with the possibility of making mistakes, but refers to the fear of not living up to what others expect of us. This anguish translates into a rejection of the situation, completely eliminating that hypothetical option, by not acting in one direction or the other.
3. Fear of being judged
Similar to the previous point, but with different nuances, there is also the fear that others will judge you for your behavior. For this reason, a person with fear of responsibilities You will prefer to leave the place before running the risk of receiving a negative review of his behavior.
4. Terror of losing control
These individuals will also not feel comfortable in situations that are beyond their control, since These are moments that generate stress in the event that they imply an assumption of responsibility on their part.. This would be the fourth type of fear of responsibilities that we could encounter.
5. Fear of not being popular
Finally, the typology that also causes discomfort to these people refers to the scenario in which the individual in question is branded as unpopular. It is a variant of the fear of being judgedwith the difference that in this case the specific fear is of receiving a judgment that classifies him as irrelevant or unpopular.
By avoiding social situations due to their fear of responsibilities, they will in turn fear not being popular, thereby running the risk of entering a vicious cycle, which could increase the distress that this person suffers.
How to overcome this psychological problem
The most important question that anyone suffering from this disorder will ask is, how can I overcome the fear of responsibilities? As with most issues that concern health, in this case mental health, there is no quick solution. But the good news is that phobias have a good therapeutic prognosis. Therefore, the first and fundamental advice is to have the help of an expert psychologist.
Although your clinical judgment will be key to deciding, these are some of the courses of action you could take.
1. Practice relaxation techniques
A person who suffers the effects of anxiety caused by fear so frequently will need to find the tools that help them reduce this physiological activation in order to begin to recover a state of neutrality. A technique widely used for this, due to its ease of learning and effectiveness, is deep breathing..
You can also use more complex techniques such as meditation or mindfulness, which require more training.
2. Progressive exposure
In order to deal with the fear of responsibilities, the therapist will guide you on a path of controlled exposure to the stimuli that cause fear. For this, the affected person will be the one who prepares a list of situations that generate less or more panic, in order to gradually overcome them one by onewithout causing an overflow in the patient’s emotions.
It is a delicate procedure and therefore should always be handled by an expert in psychology, since it is a behavioral technique that requires training to be effective. Such a tool, used incorrectly, could be counterproductive by causing too rapid an approach to the aversive stimulus.
3. Cognitive work
In addition to physiological conditions and behaviors, It is important to spend time working on the erroneous thoughts that the person with fear of responsibilities is experiencing.. These have to do with the types that we saw in the previous point, related to the fear of being judged, of not measuring up, of making mistakes, etc.
Thanks to the help of the psychologist, the patient will be able to rationalize situations and overcome these negative thoughts.
4. Self-esteem work
Finally, the person’s self-esteem must be stimulated, because after so many negative experiences and with the type of thoughts we were talking about, it is very likely that it has been weakened.
