Ablutophobia
The Fear of Washing or Bathing
Ablutophobia, defined as the fear of washing, bathing and cleaning is an intense fear that poses no or little danger. Just thinking about bathing could cause a number of symptoms such as: breathlessness, dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or even an anxiety attack. Most people who are suffering from the phobia are surprised when they find out that they aren’t alone. Ablutophobia is surprisingly common. It is caused by the mind as a protective mechanism. From some point in the past there was a traumatic event linking with washing, bathing or cleaning. It could have also been formed from a realistic scare or even from movies, TV or seeing someone else experience trauma. Some people who suffer experience it all the time and some others experience it in just direct situations.
Not only does it effect your health and quality of life but, Ablutophobia can have a severe effect on anyone that works or is in school; living with the fear can make it hard to concentrate on something and fully give your best. Ablutophobia can cause a loss of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your lifetime due to lost opportunities, poor performance or grades, or promotions that pass you by.
There are two different treatments for Ablutophobia; the ever popular temporarily suppress the phobia with potent, prescribed medicine, and therapy, self-help treatment.
The medicinal treatment of Ablutophobia is only a temporary treatment to cover up the fear or make the person think that they are being medicated to not be scared anymore. The therapy treatment is more common and there are a few different therapeutic treatments. One is working with a practitioner to train the unconscious mind to connect different, positive feelings with the situation that triggers the phobia. After this you can stop the root of the fear of cleaning, bathing and washing. Another way is through a one day or sometimes, but rarely, a 1-6 day treatment program. Since I could not find a case study of a patient I added a psychologist specializing in phobias discovery that is quoted from one of my sources.
“A few years ago a scientist specializing in phobias like Ablutophobia made an amazing discovery.
Jackson would be to undergo Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a method of psychotherapy that looks to treat psychological disorders by implementing modifications that change dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, and behavior. (Zalyte, Neverauskas, & Goodall, 2017) CBT is the most commonly used and most effective treatments for Agoraphobia. (Gloster, Wittchen, et al. 2011) In this case, therapist guided exposure during CBT will prove to be Mrs. Jackson’s best option. Self-exposure to their trigger can be difficult for phobia patients, and they will often activate avoidance behaviors which can interfere with their progress through treatment. The presence of a therapist can help to counteract this. (Hahlweg, Fiegenbaum, Frank, Schroeder, & von Witzleben, 2001).The therapist’s role in this case would be to reassure Mrs. Jackson about her safety, and identify safety behaviors that Mrs. Jackson can utilize to ensure that she is secure, such as carrying a cell phone for emergency purposes. The therapist’s feedback can help guide Ms. Jackson and promote more effective behavior by providing modeling and verbal instructions. I would recommend setting up a daily plan that included gradual exposure to the world outside of the home, with small steps being taken until Mrs. Jackson is more comfortable and can make larger and larger advances into the outside world. The therapist’s presence will help keep her accountable, and ensure that she is
“Nosophobia and hypochondriasis in medical students”. Wikipedia, encyclopedia. 20 May 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosophobia. Web. 15 Ap 2014.
Conquering phobias is a specialty of hypnotherapists. A phobia is a compulsive fear of a specified situation or object (Knight 2). A few types of phobias are fear of open spaces, fear of snow, fear of the cold, fear of marriage, fear of insanity, fear of being alone, fear of darkness, fear of disease, fear of beards, fear of birds, fear of being stared at, fear of bein...
Change your response to the fear as you confront it. You can, for instance, learn to laugh at your fear. This is what comedian Kevin Hart learned to do, and he became
Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can't breath. I'm safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias.
Those who have social phobia either try to mentally beat the fear and some take certain medications. One way to treat social phobia is called psychotherapy, which teaches the person different ways of thinking and behaving to situations to learn new social skills. Another common treatment is anti-anxiety medication and that should not be taken for long periods of time because it could possibly cause suicidal thoughts.
There’s a monster under your bed, and there are ghosts in the attic. The Bogey man is in your closet and ravens await your death so they can pick from your rotting flesh. Flowers are ready to strangle you, as pickles prepare to choke you in the night. It’s almost funny to hear of people who actually fear flowers and pickles. But these people have real legit fears of even the nicest of things. Although these fears are horrible, and should not be feared; I think the more we know about them, the more we can be prepared. There must be a deeper meaning of these weird phobias. Is it nature? Or inherited traits of the human body? Maybe they come from past experiences? Even as these fears are quite interesting, but unwanted, I want to know why people acquire these ridiculous fears and how we could stop them.
... to obtain anti-obsessional effects. Studies done to date suggest that the following dosages may be necessary: Luvox (up to 300 mg/day), Prozac (40-80 mg/day), Zoloft (up to 200 mg/day), Paxil (40-60 mg/day), Celexa (up to 60 mg/day), and Anafranil (up to 250 mg/day), (Jenike, 1999b).
For example, the fear of dentists can leave people suffering from it willing to risk the health of their teeth in order to avoid having to go through an exam or procedure (MacKay 2). There are a variety of treatments ranging from psychotherapy to even medication. Phobias are treatable conditions that can be reduced and even terminated. Symptoms of phobias vary from mild feelings of anxiety to full panic attacks. The closer the person with the phobia gets to their feared object, the greater the fear will be (Cause of phobias 2). This puts in perspective the mindset of someone who struggles with a phobia goes
Aquaphobia is a fear that can affect one’s daily life in many drastic ways anywhere from personal to social to professional life. Aquaphobia is a specific phobia of water that involves a certain level of fear that is beyond the patient’s control. Aquaphobia even classifies as a panic disorder, which is a severe anxiety disorder characterized by reoccurring panic attacks with anticipatory anxiety and significant behavioral changes (Ajinkya, 2015). People that suffer from Aquaphobia may experience it even though they understand that the water from an ocean, lake, river, pool or even bathtub poses no imminent threat. Some causes of this phobia include the fear of drowning, experiencing a horrific accident or even overprotective parents. Some symptoms
Having a specific phobia towards the natural environment may sound unrealistic but it is indeed much more common than people believe. A natural environment phobia is fear of one or more of the following: heights, storms, or water. About 75% of people with this specific phobia averse more than one of the fears listed (DSM- APA). However, there is a difference between being fearful of something and it being a personal phobia of an individual. If it is a phobia it will last more than six months. Anything shorter than six months is then dismissed as a temporary fear. In children, this anxiety will be expressed by crying, temper tantrums, freezing or clinging on to their caregiver (DSM-APA). This can also be seen in sever phobias in adults but rarely does the adult have a temper tantrum, rather, a more developed emotional response is provoked. Typically, the amount of anxiety or fear that is actually observed during a phobic episode is entirely inordinate to the actual threat that a specific phobia may have (DSM-A...
In conclusion, phobias are a big part of many people’s lives these days and a growing medical condition. People do not realize how badly phobias can affect their lives so they don’t receive medical attention. There are no cures for phobias but there are treatments which will help the phobic get over their fear. I personally believe that if people care enough about their lives, they will treat their phobias. Phobias can totally alter your life so if you have any of the symptoms I have listed above, please go and get treatment.
Having a fear of people is not like your average fear of snakes or spiders. Fearing fellow human beings can become a serious problem. I used to feel discomfort whenever I was around people, especially strangers. I felt the worst when I was around huge crowds. It was difficult to move around, and my thoughts were focused on getting away immediately. If my condition was any more severe than it actually was, I would have experienced nausea and panic attacks, which are
The ocean is the utmost amazing as well as the most mysterious place in the world, with hundreds of new species being discovered every year, in a place that takes about 70% of the earth's surface. This always makes people consider, “What else is out there?”. Thalassophobia is the fear of the ocean, a fear that countless people in the world suffer from. There is no clear number of people who suffer from thalassophobia, but there are multiple online groups dedicated to the phobia, with one of those having about 80,000 members.
In class, my teacher made me get in a group and put together a survey. On the survey we could ask any questions we wanted to, as long as it pertained to fear. Within the 2 days of passing around the survey and getting people to do the survey we ended up received many results. One specific question that shocked me when I saw the answers was“What was your fear, and why?”. Many people answered this question by saying spiders, snakes, drowning, flying, etc….. When I was reading these,I was expecting a different results more a deeper fear that has affected the way you look at that specific thing in life.