Yatrophobia: what is it and how to get rid of it?

There are people who cannot imagine their lives without visiting a doctor. They are ready to sit in queues and seek help from experts about and for no reason. It soothes them and gives hope for health. Others, on the contrary, are afraid even to approach medical facilities. From one of their kind, such individuals have an unpleasant feeling. And when it comes to visiting the hospital, they panic. This is how jatrophobia or nosocomophobia manifests itself.

First of all, it should be noted that the name of the disease, which defines the fear associated with doctors, translated from Greek as follows: ατρός - “doctor”, φόβος - “fear”. The disease, called nosocomophobia, practically does not differ in nature from iatrophobia and is interpreted as follows: fear of hospitals.

Ordinary people always experience anxiety before going to the doctor. And this is a common occurrence. This light fear is associated with simple human experiences for the state of their health. He understands that in the hospital he can be told bad news about the disease.

A normal person accepts the inevitability of what is happening and tries not to “wind up” his consciousness, but simply to experience unpleasant moments. Otherwise, when an individual shows signs of iatrophobia, he begins to fear in advance what has not yet happened.

Those people who have already had a negative experience from visiting the hospital are most susceptible to such a state as the “white coat” syndrome. Even the most innocuous manipulations cause panic in them. Measurement of the pressure during a medical examination can cause hysteria and fainting.

People who have experienced pain when visiting a doctor are afraid to go to the reception again. Specialists such as dentists say that their work causes the greatest anxiety in patients. This is due to toothache, which is the most sensitive because of the proximity of the nerve endings. Therefore, jatrophobes often become dentofobs. And these diseases are strongly intertwined.

That is why iatrophobia and nosocomphobia are considered collective diseases. They combine several types of phobias. Take, for example, such a specialist as a gynecologist. For most women, going to this doctor is far from having the best feelings. Other patients are afraid not so much of pain as to be infected by a dirty needle with some dangerous disease, such as AIDS. And this is a completely different kind of phobia.

As a result, people with obsessive states may be afraid of all the specialists who work in the hospital at once. Even a nurse with a bucket and a rag will cause a feeling of fear in Jatropha. There is such a category of personalities who are afraid of manipulations carried out in treatment rooms. And all these fears together can develop into known types of phobias: dentophobia (fear of dentists), tomophobia (state of panic before surgery), trypanophobia (fear of pricks), pharmacophobia (fear of taking medications).

All sorts of phobias do not occur on level ground. This is especially true of the fear of hospitals and doctors. A person who brings himself to panic only at the mere thought of a medical institution may have had a negative experience of visiting a doctor in the recent past.

In an adult person, fear can be postponed in the event that he was given poor-quality assistance: had a painful manipulation, after which he almost became disabled. And this fear, on the one hand, is fully justified. On the other hand, a strong personality will not wind himself up and make his state of absurdity.

In the end, in life there are unpleasant situations, but they can not be repeated every time you consult a doctor. The conclusion here is one: suspicious people are more susceptible to various obsessive states than those who are used to not be distracted by negative moments and continue to live fully and happily.

Doctors should also treat their patients accordingly. The real doctor who has taken the Hippocratic Oath will not behave inappropriately. On the contrary, in order to set up a person for treatment, he must also be a psychologist who can relieve anxiety. And then the individual will begin to trust the doctor.

To this it is necessary to add that there are a number of prerequisites that lead any person to the development of a phobia.

• Social circumstances. If a person is energetically dependent on the people around him, then he has a big risk of “getting infected” with the fear of something. It is enough to hear any unpleasant story in the bus and suspiciousness will complete the process begun.
• Hereditary genetic circumstances. Parents suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, in 25% of cases, transmit these conditions to their children. To this opinion, scientists have come after numerous studies.
• Biochemical predisposition - this is another circumstance. What is the reason for it? Improper production of the hormones serotonin, melatonin and adrenaline. Here you can also rank individual dependence on alcohol or on narcotic drugs. These substances lead to the fact that a person ceases to adequately respond to this world. And doctors who are trying to help, become enemies, because they interfere with obtaining dubious pleasures.
• To this set of circumstances can be attributed psychological reasons which are directly dependent on the behavior of the individual and her character. So, let us list them: low self-esteem, negative attitude towards oneself, unfavorable environment, vision of one’s future only in black tones, self-isolation from society, excessive demands on one’s self, chronic fatigue syndrome.

A person suffering from the fear of doctors, long before visiting a medical institution, begins to wind himself up. Instead of doing daily activities, this individual scrolls in his mind the non-existent future moments of visiting the doctor’s office. And each time the projection produces pictures that look one worse than the other. Ultimately, the phobia grows to such an extent that when the individual actually crosses the therapist's office, he begins a panic attack.

At the time of the panic, a certain process is triggered in the body of jatrophobe, which contributes to the release of a huge amount of adrenaline. With it, the body can not cope. And as a result, failures in terms of physical health. Serious symptoms are as follows:

• respiratory failure occurs;
• starts to spin and headache;
• pressure may rise or descend strongly;
• dry mouth appears;
• the person begins to feel sick and vomiting may occur;
• excessive sweating is observed;
• vision deteriorates, speech becomes incoherent;
• an inadequate attitude to what is happening.

If iatrophobia manifests itself in a light form, then you can cope with it yourself. To do this, you need to overcome yourself only once and get rid of the obsessive state. The main thing is to take the first step, and then it will not be so bad. Inspire yourself that going to an appointment with a doctor and treating a diseased organ is a vital necessity.

To get started, sign up with a therapist and go through all the recommended manipulations. After the tests you will definitely be easier to overcome your fear and come to see a doctor. If you have very good results, then the fear will recede by itself. If the tests indicate any abnormality, then you will begin treatment, and this fact will also be reassuring that everything will work out after treatment. And then why be afraid?

Another thing is when a phobia has already become uncontrollable. Then, to overcome fear, you need to contact a specialist. He will identify the cause of the obsessive state and prescribe treatment. You may be offered the following methods: cognitive-behavioral therapy, auto-training, hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming.

If the disease has become neglected, then along with the practices listed above, you will be prescribed treatment with the help of drug therapy: antidepressants, tranquilizers etc. Drugs should be under the control of a high-class specialist.

Working with a psychologist does not give quick results, but they are more effective and practically do not lead to relapses. The specialist will offer you to drink soothing infusions of medicinal herbs and give the following recommendations.

• Samurai technique: pull out the chin and take a step towards danger. For greater effect, take two breaths and two breaths.
• Visualize fear. To do this, we track where the body weakens, as soon as the panic begins (arms, legs, head, back). At the time of crisis, you need to strain the part of the body that is most vulnerable.
• We are a superhero who is not afraid of anything. As soon as there is a reason for panic, we “turn on” courage and rely on it.
• Draw your fear on paper. Draw it as you want and draw what you want. Maybe your fear seems to you in the form of a snake. As soon as the drawing is ready - tear it apart, putting all your emotions into it.
• Before you get into the doctor's office, you need to "be afraid." Retire to a secluded place and begin to tremble violently. Your muscles will quickly tire and fear will also subside. True, this method is difficult to perform in a public place, but the one who decided to get rid of a phobia must show determination in everything.
• When fear is good sport helps. It takes a lot of energy. When a person is exhausted, he wants to think more about sleep than about fear.
• Physiotherapy relaxes the brain and muscles. Treatment with current, wave radiation well helps to establish harmony.

The behavior of children in the hospital and the attitude of the children towards the hospital is largely dependent on the mood of adults. It is they who must make the child no longer afraid of doctors. To do this, you must take the following preventive measures.

• Explain to the child in advance that you are going to the doctor tomorrow. Answer his questions in detail and very calmly.
• If your child is concerned, give them their reasons. Let him talk about his concerns. Once he does this, develop them with logical explanations.
• When you enter the office, behave calmly. Then your baby will understand that there is nothing terrible in the doctor's office.
• Introduce your baby with medical activities. Play in the hospital, for this buy a special game set. Translate all your actions into jokes and explain why you need to make an injection or see the condition of the throat.

See more on iatrophobia in the next video.