Man is a creature prone to experiences. Throughout life, we find ourselves in various situations that cause anxiety, discomfort or more serious consequences, as a result of which we form persistent fears. Some of them are quite understandable, others are understandable, but extremely exaggerated, and some are simply irrational. Under certain conditions, fears tend to develop into obsessive states - phobias.
Phobic symptoms
A person suffering from a mental disorder of this kind experiences persistent fear of high intensity. The latter is often irrational, so that beliefs do not work on the patient. Even the thought of possible contact with a phobic object causes him to panic, so he avoids such situations with all his might. If this did happen, the person turns pale, begins to tremble. He has a sharply increased pulse, there may be an urge to vomit. In severe cases, there is a loss of self-control.
What are phobias
Phobia is a very individual fear. To date, psychiatrists have described more than 1,000 types ofsimilar disorders. Some of them have been attested since antiquity. Among them, we can mention agoraphobia and claustrophobia (fear of open and closed spaces, respectively), hypsophobia (fear of heights), cynophobia (fear of dogs). In the same row with them is germophobia. This disorder, not very popular in antiquity, is now widespread.
Where does the fear of infection come from?
So, a germophobe is a person who is terribly afraid of germs. Fear of contact with microorganisms - germophobia - is associated with other similar conditions: bacillophobia, verminophobia, coprophobia. Another related ailment is the fear of dirt, or mysophobia. The causes of these conditions may be different. Behaviorists argue that obsession is formed according to the principle of a conditioned reflex. We find a classic example in the memoirs of Vladimir Mayakovsky: after the father of the future poet died of blood poisoning caused by a shallow scratch, the boy began to develop germophobia. It also happens that it is learned by imitation: if a mother has a habit of washing outerwear daily, boiling ready-made soup repeatedly and wiping vinegar on doorknobs, children are very likely to inherit her fear of bacteria. The development of germophobia in impressionable people is also stimulated by commercials urging consumers to disinfect everything and everything, as well as news reports about epidemics and science fiction films.
Similarailments: nosophobia and its special cases
All fears associated with microorganisms have a certain relationship with hypochondriacal phobias, that is, the fear of contracting something specific (AIDS, fever, helminthiasis, and so on) or getting sick in general. These disorders make life difficult for millions of people around the world. Phobia of diseases, or nosophobia, is often provoked by reading highly specialized literature and watching "near-medical" programs that escalate the situation.
Manifestations
Misophobe or germophobe is a person whose life is spent in constant struggle with the environment. He often washes his hands, constantly uses disinfectants, maintains a sterile cleanliness in the house. Even in their own apartment, misophobes use disposable wipes and gloves. They avoid touching surfaces that other people have touched, never pick up other people's things, and jealously guard their own. Germophobes may experience a panic attack if someone sneezes in their presence. Even a simple handshake turns into torture for them, so patients try to avoid personal contact. Of course, you will not meet misophobes at any entertainment events, as well as in public transport - it is too dirty for them there. Such people do not have animals and are very demanding about cooking.
All the rituals that a patient with mysophobia is forced to perform take a lot of time. In addition, bacillophobe is forcedlimits his social circle, and this, in turn, leads to the development of depression and neuroses. He may even develop other strange phobias, such as fear of vegetables or cats.
The most famous "guardians of purity"
The extravagant behavior of a misofob, of course, does not add to his attractiveness. Sometimes it even leads to conflicts with other people. Therefore, patients often choose voluntary seclusion, give up their ambitions and do not even try to fight the disease. Moreover, sometimes they even refuse to recognize the existence of such. But, of course, this is not the case for everyone.
It should be noted that a germophobe is by no means a person lost to society. A paradoxical, at first glance, situation is observed: there are quite a lot of bacillophobes among celebrities. On the one hand, the obsessive fear they experience may be triggered by the need to constantly interact with people. But on the other hand, this publicity just does not allow them to completely submit to the disease, although it causes inconvenience.
Thus, actresses Jodie Foster, Megan Fox, Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz, model Denise Richards and writer Teri Hatcher discover various manifestations of mysophobia. Pop idol Michael Jackson and millionaire Howard Hughes suffered from severe obsessions of this kind. Nikola Tesla had a number of phobias, and very specific ones. Misophobia was perhaps the most common of his disorders.
Treatment methods
As already mentioned, "germophobe" is not a labelfor life. If a person understands that he is sick, he has a chance for healing. With complaints of a phobia, you should contact a psychotherapist, not a psychologist. Various methods are used to combat phobias: for example, relaxation training to overcome fear or participatory modeling. In the latter case, the doctor himself interacts with the object of the phobia, and the patient follows his example. The method of paradoxical intention is effective, which consists in the fact that the patient learns to present his fear in a comic way. With regard to strong-willed patients, the flood technique is used. Being regularly exposed (under the supervision of a specialist) to the influence of an object that inspires them with horror, such people gradually come to the conclusion that it does not pose any danger to them. In some cases, patients are prescribed antidepressants, which accelerate and consolidate the effect of psychotherapy. With a timely visit to the doctor, positive changes are observed after a couple of months.
Danger of phobias
It doesn't make much sense to list what phobias are. All of them, without exception, belong to severe obsessions, which means that they significantly reduce the quality of life of a person suffering from them and their loved ones, cause bewilderment and aggression of those around them, who believe that the patient is “disdainful” or neglects them. The presence of a phobia (any) may indicate an incipient depression. At least for this reason, obsessions need to be identified and treated in time.
It is also worth noting that people suffering from germophobia and mysophobia should be treated with understanding, notcondemn their behavior and not blame them for “individualism.”
