There are as many phobias as there are objects or situations in the world… which means that there are countless disparate, particular and even “rare” phobias that most of us have never heard of. In this article we bring you one of them: hormephobia
It is the phobia of experiencing a very strong emotion, a shock, a very extreme scare or a deep state of shock, which in turn, can be caused by an infinite number of factors. So, let’s see what this phobia consists of, what its particularities are, its symptoms, causes and possible treatments to apply.
The word hormephobia comes from the Greek terms “ormao”, which means “to excite”, and “phobia”, which means “fear”. Thus, it translates as phobia of different stimuli, such as a state of shock, commotions, impressions the shocks and the scares.
It is also related to the fear of strong emotions or everything that can “excite” us excessively. It is, therefore, a specific phobia and therefore an anxiety disorder, classified as such in the reference manual DSM-5 (Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
Its origin may be related to the deepest fear of losing control or mentally breaking down until you lose your nerve.
Thus, it is a curious phobia, because it is related to different states of the same “spectrum.” All of them, however, have to do with suffering some type of very emotionally charged event.
Phobic object/stimulus
With this phobia we highlight the particularity of its phobic object/stimulus since, as we have seen, it can be quite different in nature (although they all share the fact that they can cause a strong, generally negative, emotion). So, can emotions be feared? As shown by hormephobia, and although it sounds a little strange, yes.
So, There are people who would feel real panic at the possibility of experiencing strong emotions whether through a traumatic event, an extreme situation, suffering a shock, a blow, a fright, a surprise, a shock… the possibilities are endless, so, during the treatment of hormephobia (and as we will see later), it will be vitally important to specify the phobic object well.
There will be patients who fear “everything” (with “everything” understood as any event or object that can provoke a strong emotion), and others who only fear shocks, for example, and Logically, the treatment in each case will be different
Relationship with amaxophobia
Amaxophobia is the phobia of driving; So, does hormephobia have any relationship with this other phobia? It could be, since in both there may be the fear of suffering a crash, for example while driving.
That is, both could appear comorbidly, although they should be treated independently (taking into account, of course, that they can coexist).
Symptoms
Like any specific phobia, hormephobia presents a series of differentiated clinical manifestations. Let’s see what they are symptoms of hormephobia
1. Intense, irrational and disproportionate fear
Let us remember that phobias are mainly characterized by a fear that has three particularities: it is an intense fear, irrational (generally the patient himself recognizes that his phobia is irrational) and disproportionate (although in “normal” conditions the phobic stimulus can cause fear, the symptoms it provokes exceed those expected by the nature of the stimulus).
Fear is an altered reaction of the body to the possibility of suffering harm ; Fears are frequent and “normal”, and most of them are evolutionary (they have allowed us to adapt to the environment and survive). However, when this reaction is disproportionate and irrational and also interferes with our daily lives, we speak of a phobia, as is the case of hormephobia.
Beyond the fear of the possibility of suffering a shock, a strong emotion, a trauma or a scare, other associated symptoms appear in hormephobia, triggered by that intense fear. These symptoms are psychophysiological, that is, They cover two aspects: the psychological part (la pisque) of the person and the physiological part (physical)
Examples of these symptoms are: nausea, dizziness, feeling of suffocation, tachycardia, sweating, tension, chest pressure, migraines, panic attacks… In the case of hormephobia, all these symptoms are triggered by the possibility of being in contact with the phobic stimulus, that is, with the possibility of experiencing a state of shock, of suffering a strong shock, etc.
They can also appear in the mere imagination of one of these situations.
3. Discomfort and interference
In order to diagnose a specific phobia, it is necessary that the above symptoms cause significant discomfort in the patient and/or interference in your daily life at work, academic, personal, social level …
Causes
The most likely cause of suffering from hormephobia is having previously suffered a state of shock or great shock due to a certain life event. The fact of having experienced such a situation can give rise to a strong fear of experiencing it again which ends up causing hormephobia.
So, the main cause is a traumatic event, as happens in most phobias. Furthermore, we must bear in mind that we are dealing with a very particular phobia, since the phobic object of hormephobia itself may already be a traumatic situation, which does not happen with most other phobias (for example, being afraid of clowns). , to the costumes, to the heights…).
In the psychological field, the treatment of hormephobia is based, as in all specific phobias, on two major therapeutic options: exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy
1. Exposure therapy
In this case, the patient with hormephobia will be exposed to the phobic stimulus gradually, through a hierarchy of items.
First, you must identify very well (specify it very specifically) what causes fear in the patient; If it is the possibility of suffering a blow, a concussion, a state of shock… and based on this, develop the hierarchy. In the first items, items that cause little anxiety should be placed to progressively incorporate increasingly more intense items into the scale.
2. Cognitive-behavioral therapy
In the case of cognitive-behavioral therapy, Its objective is to replace the negative, irrational and catastrophic thoughts associated with the phobic stimulus such as: “I will lose control”, “I will hurt myself”, “I will have a terrible time”, “I will go crazy”, “I will not know how to react”, etc., with others that are more functional, adaptive and realistic.
These other thoughts can be, for example: “I don’t have to suffer a shock if I go outside”, “if I get hurt they can help me”, “I don’t have to lose control”, “I don’t have to suffer a commotion”, etc.
