por What is microphobia?
The microphobia It is the irrational and excessive fear of very small things. A good example of this type of phobia is the fear of germs. The fact that the germs are so small that it is impossible to see them plays a significant role in the anxiety these people experience.
Microphobia is not restricted to just being afraid of bacteria and viruses, but can include a fear of anything that is tiny in size.
Although many people with this type of phobia realize and admit that their fears are irrational, they often cannot avoid extreme anxiety or even an anxiety attack when facing the feared stimuli, or even just thinking about them. .
When a serious type of disorder like this takes place, it affects not only the person suffering from it, but also those around them.
The person with microphobia may be unable to perform daily tasks effectively, so they may need extreme help from those who live with him or her. You may also stop doing activities you used to do because of the extreme fear you feel.
symptoms of microphobia
physiological symptoms
Some symptoms that people with microphobia may experience include:
– intense anxiety,
– fear,
– shaking chills,
– increased heart rate,
– lost of control,
– sweating,
– dizziness,
– nausea,
– difficulty breathing.
A behavioral symptom of these people is avoidance, typical of all phobias.
These people avoid many things that are small in size. The fear can be so intense that the person with microphobia may not want to leave their house to avoid any risk of having contact with these things they fear.
cognitive symptoms
Some mental symptoms can be:
– obsessive thoughts,
– Difficulty thinking about things other than the feared object,
– feelings of unreality or being detached from oneself (derealization/depersonalization),
– fear of fainting
Emotional symptoms are also included, such as anticipatory anxiety, which consists of a persistent worry about events that are yet to come and that involve small objects.
These people also feel an incapacitating fear and a desire to escape from situations where there may be objects they fear.
People with this disorder suffer from an inability to function normally in their daily lives due to their anxiety. They are often aware that the fears they have are completely exaggerated or unreasonable, but feel that they cannot control them.
The symptoms of microphobia can occur comorbidly with other phobias.
Causes
Most experts believe that the causes of this phobia are found in a combination between a biochemical imbalance in the brain, which may be genetic, and environmental factors.
Environmental factors
An example of an environmental factor might be a frightening experience with the feared object or objects, such that an association has been produced between the experience and the object.
The fear of microphobia may also have been learned by observation. Fear of an object can occur after observing someone else who has that fear.
The possibility that the phobia will develop usually depends on the confidence that one has in the person who fears the object that it is. If you have a lot of trust in that person, there is a greater chance that your point of view will be adopted regarding what to fear and what not to fear.
The fear of small or almost imperceptible things, visibly, could be a reflection of the fear of the unknown that most human beings suffer from.
Treatments
Before undergoing any type of therapy, it is advisable to go see a psychologist. This will be able to advise on the best type of therapy that suits the patient and on the prognosis of the disorder.
Some of the professionals who can help treat phobias are, apart from psychologists, psychiatrists and hypnotists.
These professionals can help people with microphobia to deal with it and understand what is causing the problem so that it can be resolved.
Behavioral-cognitive therapies
Exposure therapy is a type of cognitive-behavioral treatment that is used to treat many anxiety disorders. The procedure involves gradually exposing the patient to a stressful situation and allowing them to feel the anxiety.
The objective is for the person to become desensitized, that is, to stop feeling the intense emotion that is fear, after a period of high exposure to the feared stimulus. This treatment is used for many types of phobias.
In this case, to treat a phobia of a small object, the patient is first asked to imagine being near the feared object. Afterwards, they are shown images or models of the object and, finally, they will have contact with the real object.
hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a type of therapy in which a person, with the assistance of a trained specialist in the subject, opens their subconscious mind to suggestion, with the purpose of changing one or more behavior patterns.
By talking directly to the subconscious, it may be possible to find out what is causing the phobia, as well as introduce new ideas and positive suggestions. These positive suggestions can be used to help make the changes that the person with microphobia desires.
Teaching the person to associate feelings and emotions other than things that are feared can usually be accomplished after a few hypnotherapy sessions.
Some people find it unpleasant to know that someone is messing with their mind. However, hypnotherapy, also known as hypnoanalysis, is considered to be safe and works quite quickly.
This type of therapy has been approved as a method of therapy since 1958 by the American Medical Association.
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is basically the study and practice of how we each create our reality. The most basic premise of NLP is that the words we use reflect an unconscious, internal perception of our problems.
If these words and perceptions are not accurate, they can create an underlying problem as long as we continue to use and believe them. Our attitudes are, in a sense, a self-fulfilling prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that, once made, is itself the very cause of its coming true.
In this type of therapy, a neurolinguistic therapist will analyze every word and phrase you use when describing your symptoms or concerns about your health. He or she will examine your facial expressions and body movements.
After determining the problems that exist in your perception, the therapist will help you understand the origin of them. The therapist will help you reshape your thoughts and mental associations to fix or improve your preconceived notions. These preconceived notions may be preventing you from achieving the success you deserve.
energy psychology
Energy psychology is a type of therapy that uses various techniques, such as acupuncture, yoga, tai chi, prana, and energy medicine, that teach people to take simple steps to make big changes in their lives.
These techniques stimulate energy points on the skin’s surface that, when coupled with certain psychological procedures, can change the electrochemistry of the brain. This type of therapy is still in an area of considerable controversy, but, apparently, it can help a lot when it comes to dealing with phobias.
Psychoactive drugs
In addition to all the types of therapy described above, there are psychotropic drugs that, although they do not «cure» this disorder, do mitigate the intensity of the symptoms. It is essential that the person combine drug treatment with some type of therapy.
To treat the symptoms of anxiety caused by microphobia, serotonin reuptake drugs may be prescribed. Some antidepressants help relieve obsessive thoughts that phobias can cause. Medicinal compounds do not treat the disease, but the symptoms, and should only be used in extreme cases of anxiety.
Benzodiazepines are drugs that help calm the nervous system. Thus, they are useful for preventing or relieving panic attacks, as well as their symptoms, such as dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest pain. They can also reduce the worries that the person suffers around the feared object.