Wise people say that fear is considered a fundamental feeling that helps to survive. In many respects, this statement is true, therefore, one does not need to try to completely eradicate the ability to fear in oneself. Many have the fear of getting sick, the intensity of this fear can vary from reasonable to hypertrophic, seriously impairing the quality of life and interfering with normal socialization. How to get rid of this phobia in order to regain normal perception of life and the world around it?
Why are people so afraid of getting sick?
This fear can be considered one of the most ancient. If we consider precisely the historical context, then in the ancient world and in the early Middle Ages, illness was the easiest way to turn into an outcast of society. And the number of various ailments simply could not be calculated. What is now being treated with antibiotics, or even completely disappeared thanks to vaccinations, has successfully mowed entire cities. Not surprisingly, the fear of getting sick took on a global scale.
For example, any skin disease that could not be identified was included in the leprosy category. The overwhelming majority of cases were diagnosed by a healer, or even a local priest. A person suffering from psoriasis found himself in a leper colony - it’s the same as in the realm of the dead, only with continuing torment and fierce rejection of society.
Now, when a huge number of diseases are still treatable, people can be afraid intuitively, out of habit or solely on their own impressionability. Of course, there is nothing pleasant about disturbances in the body, but sometimes forms of fear take truly bizarre forms.
Hypochondria: a simulation or a disease?
If a person is suspicious to such an extent that any bodily manifestation is considered as a possible symptom of a terrible disease, he is usually called a hypochondriac. This word has received a dismissive and mocking emotional connotation, because the fear of getting sick has been known for many centuries, and even millennia. If a person is healthy in all respects, but sincerely considers himself sick or at risk, then those around him sooner or later annoyance and irritability accumulate in critical volumes.
If you are called a hypochondriac, and you really feel somehow unwell, then guilt can also be added. How to fight against this phenomenon? Doctors recommend in the first place not to try to overcome their obsessive-painful condition. It is possible that there is a diagnostic error, and there is some kind of disorder of the internal systems. Sometimes hormone analysis helps. There is a known case when a young man's sensation of pain reached critical nervous breakdowns against a background of relatively stable health. Analysis of hormone levels showed that he had a serious hormonal imbalance, and correctly selected therapy turned a nervous and weak person into a completely happy and healthy man in just a month. But what if fear goes to the limit?
Nosophobia as a serious psychiatric diagnosis
Sometimes people are interested in: "Fear of getting sick - is this a phobia?" How to understand that it’s time to go and surrender to a psychiatrist? In most cases, such questions do not arise in the victims of panic fear themselves , but in their loved ones. If someone from the family behaves inappropriately, everywhere suspects insidious microbes, then sooner or later the thought of a diagnosis will appear.
In the movie “It Never Happens Better,” Jack Nicholson played a man who suffers from misophobia, a panicky fear of germs. This phenomenon can be considered an integral part of nosophobia. His character washes his hands only with a new bar of soap, which he then throws away, because microbes can settle on the bar once used. Perhaps this is the most striking example of pathological fear.
Nosophobia can lead to panic attacks, provokes obsessive states. It is she who makes it constantly boil and smooth the laundry on both sides, wash every inch of the floor with bleach, and so on. Do not get annoyed if someone from the family shows such excessive cleanliness, it is better to contact a specialist for help. Remember, you can’t just pull yourself together and stop, it does not give in to reason.
Preliminary Self-Test
What if you suspect yourself of having a phobia? It may be worthwhile to make a preliminary diagnosis, follow up with yourself and, without waiting for the condition to worsen, go to a psychiatrist. Not to a psychologist, but to a psychiatrist, if there are no problems with his profile, the doctor will recommend another specialist to you and will prescribe all the necessary tests and examinations. You already know what the fear of getting sick is called - this is nosophobia, which can be fundamental or consist of a complex set of other small phobias by a common criterion.
An illogical search for the source of fear, even where it is absent, can be considered a sign of phobia. For example, you can catch yourself trying to diagnose each of the people around you to make sure there is no potential danger to yourself. If you get a frightened heart rate due to the fact that someone nearby sneezed, and when you enter the clinic you only think that you will inevitably become infected with something terrible from other patients, you should be wary.
How fear of getting sick affects quality of life
A person suffering from nosophobia may be held captive by self-deception. Indeed, after all, taking care of one’s own health cannot be dangerous, people around are incredibly irresponsible about themselves, do not follow hygiene rules, eat the wrong food, have many bad habits, and neglect the daily routine. You just need to fix it all, and then everything will be fine, not a single insidious virus will come close! A person may think that with his relentless battle with windmills, he improves his quality of life, but in practice, everything is slipping into the grotesque.
A panic fear of contracting an incurable disease can lead to psychosomatic manifestations, when the symptoms really indicate a disease, which actually does not exist. A feverish attempt to perfect the amount of vitamins in the diet will never achieve the result, since this is impossible - doctors openly say that it is worth adhering to the concept of the norm, which is very blurred between the sides of excess and deficiency. As a result, life turns into a painful confrontation between an illusion seasoned with fear and a reality that stubbornly does not want to obey the framework of your personal fears.
Justified and unjustified phobias: logical interpretation as a way of struggle
Any person can to some extent pull themselves together and weigh all possible options in order to separate the real risk from the far-fetched one. For example, it is well known that tuberculosis can be infected if you communicate with a person who has an open and active form of the disease. But to suspect every accidentally coughing person precisely in this diagnosis is already speculation. In fact, the fear of getting sick is a natural phobia, not as bizarre as anatheyphobia (when a person is afraid that a duck is watching him).
If you logically comprehend and accept that fear in this case is not childish or ridiculous, then it becomes a little easier. It remains only to learn to separate the present from the far-fetched and ephemeral.
Awareness of carcinophobia and a way to deal with it
Separately, one can consider the fear of getting cancer as a sufficiently strong phobia, which has a hint of doom. Even despite the rapid development of medicine, which is quite successfully coping with various types of cancer, this diagnosis continues to scare.
We have to admit that the relatives of those who died of cancer are most affected by carcinophobia. Doctors recognize that a predisposition to cancer can be inherited, but it is so individual that each individual case should be considered separately.
In order for carcinophobia not to deprive of self-control to such an extent that it becomes difficult to exist in society, compliance with the recommendations of doctors helps best. Namely, if possible, exclude carcinogenic factors from your life, stop smoking, undergo regular medical examinations. The main thing is to remember that early diagnosis allows you to count on the most positive prognosis, even if a tumor is detected.
Awareness: a way to ease nosophobia
As mentioned above, the correct information allows you to cope with unreasonable fears. At the same time, it is advisable to carefully choose the sources of information - questionable Internet sites with unprofessional articles can only raise fears.
Try to protect yourself from frightening information, this allows you to maintain self-control. During epidemics, the media begin to hysteria, and it’s useful to know that this is done for the sole purpose of provoking a barrage of drug consumption with unproven efficacy that fills the pockets of pharmaceutical corporations. This does not mean that you need to hide in the apartment and not trust anyone - doctors, as a rule, prescribe effective drugs. But to make a diagnosis yourself and “be treated on the Internet” is not worth it.
Professional medical care
Why is it recommended to consult a psychiatrist? There are two main mistakes made by people who suspect themselves of having a phobia: self-medication and non-core care. It would seem that if the fear of getting cancer is tormented, how to fight, is it just fear? So, you need to pull yourself together and stop - that's what people think and fall into the trap, because without professional treatment, the condition can worsen. Psychology also does little to help, because a phobia, especially a neglected one, is a serious problem that must be treated comprehensively. Conventional soul-saving conversations are not enough. The doctor will help reduce general anxiety, and only if it is really necessary, will refer to a therapist.
To be afraid to get sick is normal
Not every fear is actually a phobia. In fact, the fears are absolutely normal, and if the fear of getting rabies is only a refusal to stroke an unfamiliar stray dog or a cute fox, which seems completely harmless, this is not a phobia. This is just a reasonable concern that helps maintain good health.