Macrophobia: Symptoms and Characteristics of Waiting Phobia

Phobias are a type of psychological alteration based on anxiety characterized by generating a state of extreme and irrational fear and loss of control over the body in the person who suffers from it. The trigger for this exacerbated fear can be objects, animals or everyday life situations, as long as they do not represent an objective danger.

In any of its manifestations, phobias generate great discomfort in the person and progressively undermine their self-esteem, their personal autonomy and in general their physical and psychological health. However, it is not always easy for the person who suffers from a phobia to realize that he has developed a psychopathology of this kind.

In the case of macrophobia, or phobia of long waits, that line that separates the pathological, on the one hand, from the reasonable discomfort generated by a negative experience, on the other, is especially blurred. Therefore, in this article we will talk about this phenomenon taking into account its two aspects: the phobic disorder, and the tendency to feel bad if we do not use our time very well and avoid waiting at all costs.

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What is macrophobia?

The intense fear of long waits is known as macrophobia. This fear must be persistent, generalized, irrational and unjustified in any situation in which the person must wait for a more or less prolonged time.

It is a little-known and therefore little-studied phobia, something that is not surprising if we take into account that there is a wide variety of phobias; and that is partly why it is difficult to differentiate between a tendency towards impatience, on the one hand, and macrophobia, on the other.

As a disorder, macrophobia can be caused by the experience of a traumatic event by the person, who has helplessly experienced a very distressing or stressful event that they associate with the experience of having to wait. However, In general, phobias do not have a single cause nor do they necessarily derive from a specific experience being rather multi-causal.

Symptoms and characteristics of macrophobia

These are the main characteristics of macrophobia, the symptoms associated with phobias in general (in most cases only the triggering situation varies).

1. Anxiety

The research that has been carried out in this regard indicates that macrophobia It generally occurs in anxious, insecure or impatient people.

This psychological profile is conducive for a person to become desperate and end up losing control in a waiting situation in their daily life, whatever the time and place, and within whatever circumstances.

2. Irrational fear

Like any other phobia that can be diagnosed as such, macrophobia is characterized by generating an irrational fear of waiting situations, that is, any time in life when one must wait for a relatively long period.

This phobia can be triggered, for example, in a hospital waiting room; in any government building where we must wait our turn or in any other situation of daily life in which a waiting situation intervenes.

3. Ease of suffering other psychological disorders

Most phobias end up generating a notable psychological impact on the person who suffers from them and it may often be that not only one psychological disorder develops, but more than one, and that these become interrelated and act together.

For example, if a person has a tendency to be anxious in their daily lives and develops a case of macrophobia, they may also end up developing an addiction.

4. Physical affectation

The psychological affectation mentioned above increases progressively over time, which in turn can lead to all kinds of physical problems in the person who has macrophobia.

These physical alterations are related to the intense fatigue that the person may end up feeling, with a general fatigue, insomnia, headaches sweating while waiting and a wide variety of physical symptoms that can be of greater or lesser extent.

5. Social impact

As is also the case with most phobias, macrophobia is also usually linked to an alteration in the person’s social life, since their fear of finding themselves in waiting situations where there are also other people can cause them to change their social habits.

That is why it is so important contact a psychology professional when we feel that we can present this type of alteration, since with its help we will be able to overcome it successfully.

What to do about these symptoms?

To be diagnosed, macrophobia must present, like all phobias, a series of well-differentiated symptoms that tell us without fear of being wrong that we are facing this type of alteration. This diagnosis can only be made by health professionals, and in any case, the person is not diagnosed with the concept of “macrophobia” but with a specific phobia.

If a person presents any symptoms that may be associated with an anxiety disorder, it is important to correctly assess whether they suffer from a case of macrophobia or if they are simply impatient (perhaps due to another psychopathology that is not part of the category of anxiety). phobias). The good news is that Phobic disorders respond very well to psychological therapy and with professional support it is possible to overcome them in a few months.

How is it related to impatience?

As we have seen, it is not easy to identify macrophobia; It could even be said that there are certain social dynamics that push us to experience waiting in a negative way, enhancing impatience. In a society in which many people feel guilty or distressed if they do not spend every minute of their day wisely, psychologically managing a wait can be quite a challenge.

Thus, there are several aspects that can lead us to feel distress if we have to wait, such as: