A disease when you are afraid of everything. Fear of people: what is the name of a phobia and how to deal with it? Types of Social Phobias

Schizophrenia is a mental personality disorder that impairs the patient's quality of life and leads to disability. Schizophrenia can be treated in several ways. In modern medicine they use:

• drug therapy;
• alternative methods;
• psychotherapy
• folk ways.

Drug therapy

I have schizophrenia, how to live? With a diagnosis such as schizophrenia, you can fully live, but so that the symptoms of a mental disorder do not destroy everyday life, it is necessary to start treatment in a timely manner. An effective treatment is medication.

The main drugs for schizophrenia are antipsychotics.  According to their properties, they are divided into typical and atypical.

1. Typical antipsychotics affect areas of the brain where impulse transmission is due to dopamine, acetylcholine and adrenaline. Due to such a powerful effect on the central nervous system, antipsychotics cause a number of side effects, therefore the doctor prescribes the dosage and course of treatment only. Typical antipsychotics have a sedative, relaxing and antipsychotic effect. The most effective drug in this group of drugs is Haloperidol.
2. Atypical antipsychotics do not have such a powerful effect on receptors. Such drugs are prescribed for sluggish schizophrenia. Atypical antipsychotics also have a calming and sedative effect.

Drug treatment is carried out in several stages. First of all, stopping therapy is performed. With a sluggish mental disorder, treatment can be carried out on an outpatient basis, but with an exacerbation of the patient's attacks, they are hospitalized, and treatment takes place in a hospital.

Depending on the severity of symptoms, the doctor prescribes typical antipsychotics. The course of treatment can be from 1 to 4 months. The main task of supervising therapy is to normalize the patient's behavior, restore critical thinking, the disappearance of seizures and awareness of the presence of a mental disorder.

The next stage of treatment is stabilizing therapy. At this stage, the administration of antipsychotics continues, but their dosage is gradually reduced. If the patient has a depressive state, then doctors prescribe antidepressants. A good result is shown by the tablets Ixel and Venlafaxine. The duration of stabilizing therapy can be 4-8 months. If the patient has a complete suppression of productive symptoms, then treatment proceeds to the next stage.

The final stage is the adaptation stage. Doctors prescribe atypical antipsychotics. Such drugs include Ipoperidal, Aripiprazole and Ziprasidone. In order to avoid exacerbation of an attack of schizophrenia, prolonged forms of drugs are used. The duration of this stage is 10-12 months.

Drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia are prescribed individually by a strictly attending physician.

Non-drug methods

In modern medicine, non-pharmacological methods of treating schizophrenia are considered effective. They are usually prescribed in combination with drug therapy to enhance the effectiveness of the result.

1. Schizophrenia is treated with lateral physiotherapy. The principle of the procedure is the effect of an electrical impulse on the skin areas that are regulated by different hemispheres of the brain.
2. With increased sensitivity or anxiety, lateral phototherapy is performed. The essence of the manipulation is that the right and left retina of the eye are alternately exposed to a light pulse. Due to this effect, the procedure has a calming effect.
3. To enhance the effectiveness of drugs, the patient is treated with intravascular laser irradiation. The principle of the procedure is that the patient’s blood is cleaned with a laser device. Due to this, laser irradiation reduces the likelihood of an overdose of the drug or the development of side effects.
4. If hallucinations are observed in a patient with a mental disorder, then doctors use transcranial micropolarization. This method of treatment affects the structure of the brain through an electric field. This manipulation helps to relieve depression.
5. Schizophrenia is treated with immunomodulatory agents. They restore the patient’s immune system after injuries caused by seizures, and enhance the effect of drug therapy. Immunomodulators include Rhodiola rosea, Splenin, Vilazone, Timogen and Erbisol.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy for schizophrenia is one of the components of the complex treatment of mental disorder. Psychotherapy helps patients control the disease. This treatment helps patients to adapt to aspects of everyday life, such as communicating with people or visiting public places.

Psychotherapy sessions can be carried out individually or in a group of people suffering from schizophrenia. In group sessions, patients share with each other their experiences and the acquired skills of everyday life.

Psychotherapy has several directions. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is aimed at studying their own behavior. The main objective of CBT is to change the way of thinking and behavior. As a result, the patient begins to better understand himself, his feelings and learn to control his thoughts and behavior.

In the advanced stages, schizophrenia can be treated with hypnosis. During hypnosis, the doctor through suggestion forms the skills that are necessary for self-control of the disease.

In the treatment of schizophrenia, the support of loved ones is especially important. Therefore, in psychology there is family therapy. During the sessions, family members are trained in various types of medical and social assistance.

Latest approach

One of the most severe forms of mental disorder is schizophrenia, and the treatment of the disease is therefore carried out comprehensively.

In the pharmacological market today, the latest drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia are presented, namely: Sertindol, Blonanserin, Ipoperidal and Aripiprazole.

These drugs have virtually no side effects. In addition, they reduce the risk of depression and cognitive impairment.

Treatment with cytokines is considered effective. This method is aimed at restoring immunity and stimulating regeneration processes. Treatment is by injection. The course of treatment can vary from 5 to 10 days, depending on the degree of schizophrenia. Cytokines contribute to the restoration of damaged areas of the brain.

The death of hippocampal cells can provoke the development of schizophrenia, therefore, in the treatment of mental disorders, the use of stem cells, which contribute to the regeneration of dead structures, has shown good results. This method of treatment is carried out in a state of remission.

Treatment with folk remedies for schizophrenia has been practiced for many years. Today, there are many different ways of home treatment, but all of them can not cure schizophrenia. With the help of traditional medicine, you can only eliminate the symptoms of the disease and improve the general condition of the patient. Select folk remedies should be together with the attending physician on the basis of concomitant diseases and tolerance of the components.

1. A calming effect is provided by a medicine based on vegetable oil and reseda. Pour 150 g of grass with 400 ml of unrefined oil. The infusion should stand in the refrigerator for 10-14 days. Rub the mixture into the temples 3-4 times a day. This method will also help get rid of insomnia.
2. Schizophrenia can be treated with an infusion of blackberry leaves and hop cones. Take each ingredient 100 g. Pour a mixture of 400 ml of boiling water. Take the drug before meals for 1 tbsp. l The course of treatment is long. Such a procedure should be carried out throughout the year. This infusion helps strengthen the nervous system.
3. As a rule, the main symptom of schizophrenia is a feeling of fear. You can deal with this sensation with the help of a zyuznik. Pour 2 tbsp. l herbs 200 ml of hot water. Leave the infusion for 1.5-2 hours, then strain the finished mixture. You need to take the drug 2 times a day for 100 ml. The course of treatment is one month.
4. With attacks of suffocation and hysteria, treatment can be carried out with tincture from viburnum bark. To do this, grind the bark and pour 1 tbsp. l a mixture of 250 ml of boiling water. Cool the infusion and strain. Take the drug should be in small sips throughout the day.
5. The feeling of anxiety can be reduced by alcohol tincture from the rhizome of valerian. To prepare the recipe, fill in 1 tbsp. l roots of 100 ml of vodka. Take the drug every day for 5-7 drops 3 times.
6. To alleviate the condition of the patient will help digitalis infusion. Pour 1/3 tbsp. l herbs 200 ml of hot water. You need to drink the drug 3 times a day for 50 ml.

In order to get rid of bouts of frustration once and for all, during treatment it is necessary to stop drinking alcohol and tonic drinks, as well as from smoking. Particular attention should be paid to nutrition. From the diet you need to exclude meat and other heavy foods.

Anthropophobia is a severe phobic disorder, which is complicated by the constant presence of objects of fear in human life. If with arachnophobia a meeting with spiders can be completely excluded, and an aerophobe can do without flights on air transport, then with a phobia of people it is almost impossible to avoid contact with them completely. This circumstance makes this disorder so difficult to tolerate. What to do if you are faced with anthropophobia?

Fear of anthropophobia is directed at others like themselves - people, society. The object of a phobia is certain people or a certain social category of people, which are characterized by certain signs or features. In especially severe forms of the disorder, the individual experiences fear in relation to any person present nearby or in his field of vision, and the individual characteristics of the object of fear (gender, age, appearance and social affiliation) do not matter to the patient.

Anthropophobia and sociophobia: what are the differences?

Both of these anxiety disorders fall into one general category - social phobia. Both of them are connected with the fear of people, communication with them or any social activity.

However, there are differences between people's fear and sociophobia. Under sociophobia, an individual lives an order of magnitude easier than anthropophobia. Feeling the fear of people, the anthropophobe is forced to constantly avoid contact with representatives of any social groups or even with all people. A sociophobe, however, experiences inconvenience when participating in any social actions, when communicating with a team, an unfamiliar company. In his case, excluding the object of a phobia from life is somewhat easier.

Symptoms of Anthropophobia

Any person does not like when others unexpectedly violate his personal boundaries. When your personal space has been grossly implanted, taken you out of your comfort zone, you will naturally begin to experience anxiety, possibly anger, concern about your own safety. Each of us sometimes needs to be left alone with us, separately from everyone. If such an opportunity is constantly absent in a person’s life, this can lead to deep or latent depression, and can affect health in general. This is a normal reaction of a healthy person. However, if such symptoms do not leave you for a long time, and you want to be alone all the time, you should think: maybe this is anthropophobia?

The main symptom of people's fear is often compulsive behavior. These are compensatory actions: they help you get distracted, relieve tension, have fun or high in a stressful situation. An example of this behavior is the following:

• Unreasonable walking from corner to corner.
• Count (the individual under the influence of stress begins to count people, objects, etc.) ..
• Mumble, talking to himself.
• Involuntary movements.
• Jamming stress (relieving stress with food).

In addition to the main symptom, anthropophobia is manifested by extensive symptoms, which each manifest individually. The patient may develop deep depression, neurosis, persecution mania, akathisia, and a number of other mental pathologies. It is possible to increase anxiety to the point where a person even alone with himself, not in contact with other people, constantly expects an attack or an unpleasant collision with objects of his fear. Also, the condition can be complicated by hypochondria: the anthropophobe constantly seems that his health is deteriorating every day, he is afraid to lose his mind, to behave inappropriately, to get sick or die.

The symptoms are no less diverse at the behavioral level:

• The individual limits to a minimum or completely eliminates contact with other people.
• He never asks for help from others, even if it is vital.
• I am ready to refuse professional growth, money, profitable and interesting offers if they are somehow connected with the object of his phobia.
• Rejects the care and help of others.
• Tragically, painfully reacts to any opinions addressed to him. Even if they are positive, they might consider them a mockery.
• It becomes pathologically suspicious and suspicious.

The main problem that his fear brings to the life of the anthropophobe is the huge difficulties with finding a job and the lack of career growth and, as a consequence, financial well-being. Most professions involve productive communication with people, and any training in new specialties implies inevitable communication with the teacher and other students. It’s very difficult for anthropophobe to find a job where you don’t have to talk to anyone at all. A change in work also becomes a huge problem: anthropophobes are afraid of interviews and new teams.

Causes of Anthropophobia

Most often, anthropophobia develops during the puberty. After all, it is at this stage that a person begins to manifest himself on a larger scale in all spheres of life: he learns his future profession, begins to actively participate in social life, there are attempts to build relationships with the opposite sex. At the same time, the psyche of a young person at this very moment is the most unstable and vulnerable to stress. Violence (physical or psychological), excessive mental or physical stress, personal failure - all this can become a prerequisite for the formation of phobias and other mental pathologies.

A good example of a patient with anthropophobia:

Some teens, having difficulty communicating with other people, despair and decide that it is better to be alone. After all, when you are alone - no one can offend, hurt, hurt you. Suspicion is formed, distrust of other people and excessive caution. Gradually, the young person is more and more isolated from society, reduces communication with other people to a minimum.

Also at risk of developing anthropophobia are people with low self-esteem, prone to harsh self-criticism, condemnation of themselves and their actions. This is also facilitated by constant condemnation by relatives or the team (at school, at work). Accustomed to living in a state of constant self-condemnation or censure from the environment, the individual begins to expect the same from completely strangers. And so carefully avoids contact with them.

The cause of the development of anthropophobia can also be scoptophobia - anxiety disorder, the object of which is the fear of falling into an awkward position, causing criticism from the side of society through its actions. Dysmorphophobia can also be a prerequisite for the development of people's fear. This is an anxiety disorder based on a biased perception of one’s external data, their rejection and constant self-criticism. Shy of his appearance, the dysmorphophobe tries to avoid communicating with others.
  Not always injuries from the past become the prerequisite for the development of phobic disorders. They can occur for various reasons and in people who did not experience any injuries, severe stresses. For example, due to the characteristics of the nervous system, lifestyle, genetic predisposition.

Anthropophobia Treatment

How to treat anthropophobia? This disease has a rather severe course, and therefore requires an integrated approach, a carefully developed treatment program. That is why with this alarming pathology, it is best to contact a qualified psychotherapist. Treatment of anthropophobia alone is highly discouraged, since uncontrolled medication, unskilled psychological work on oneself can not only not bring the desired result, but also exacerbate the disease. Progressing, anthropophobia easily transforms into more severe mental disorders.

Treatment of anthropophobia begins with the identification of the prerequisites for its development. Personal motivation of the patient, his desire to work on himself and achieve high results is also very important. Only with the coordinated joint work of the patient and the doctor is it possible to completely get rid of people's fear.

In this article, we introduced readers to a disease such as anthropophobia - a fear of other people and society as a whole. We have tried to collect for you basic information about this anxiety disorder, as well as about the causes and symptoms of the disease. We hope that this information will be useful to you and will help you work on your own fears and phobias. We will be glad if you join our efforts to help people fight phobic disorders and share this post with your friends on social networks. Your opinions and feedback are also important for us: you can leave them in the comments.

What other social phobias are:

Sociophobia is a fear of society and social actions.

Ergophobia - fear of work, professional activity.

Demophobia is a fear of large crowds.

Breaking a relationship with a loved one / partner.

Fear of meeting a new person.

Autophobia - fear and intolerance of loneliness.

Fear of exams (interviews, testing).

Erythrophobia - fear of reddening in the presence of other people.

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 kingdom of the dead, only with ongoing torment and violent 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 in 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 against a background of relatively stable health. Analysis of hormone levels showed that he had a serious hormonal imbalance, and correctly selected therapy in just a month turned a nervous and weak person into an absolutely happy and healthy man. 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 with the victims themselves, but with 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 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 feature.

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, because caring for one’s own health cannot be dangerous, people around are incredibly irresponsible, they don’t follow the rules of hygiene, 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 sliding into the grotesque.

A panic fear of becoming ill with an incurable disease can lead to psychosomatic manifestations, when the symptoms really indicate a disease that actually does not exist. A feverish attempt to bring the amount of vitamins in the diet to an ideal 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 understanding as a way to fight

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 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 following 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 susceptible to 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 stir up fears.

Try to protect yourself from frightening information, this allows you to maintain self-control. During epidemics, the media begins 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 - people think so 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 \u200b\u200bor a cute fox, which seems completely harmless, this is not a phobia. This is just a reasonable concern that helps maintain good health.

Anthropophobia (in other words: fear of humans, fear of people, fear of people) is a neurotic disorder, manifested in a panicky fear of people and an obsessive desire to avoid contact with them. Fear of people is one of the most serious diseases of our time and is a real scourge of our time.

Symptoms of Anthropophobia

There are many varieties of this disorder. Anthropophobia may include, for example, fear of overweight people, fear of strangers, fear of children (this phobia is also called pedophobia), fear of redheads, fear of disapproving looks, fear of looking into the eyes, etc. Anthropophobe can experience not only a sense of fear, but also a pronounced aversion to people.  He may also fear becoming a victim. aggression. Some anthropophobes are afraid of falling and being trampled - their fear of people takes such exaggerated forms.

Anthropophobes in every possible way avoid the society of other people, are afraid to look into the interlocutor’s eyes, generally talk to people. Usually they have a low social status, do not work anywhere, preferring to stay at home. Often they do not realize that they are sick. They are not able to independently overcome their fear of people. Do not even dare to make an appointment with the doctor. Typical symptoms of anthropophobia are as follows:

1. Cognitive symptoms. The patient has an irrational, inexplicable feeling of fear from the mere thought that he needs to meet with someone. This feeling is impossible to overcome.
2. Vegetative symptoms. In a frightening situation, the patient may experience a rapid heartbeat, trembling, sweating, nausea, bouts of vomiting, diarrhea, etc.
3. Homophobia is often accompanied by obsessive actions or compulsions. In a frightening situation, the patient performs the same type of repetitive action, for example, tugging his earlobe, counting passers-by, etc. Thus, he tries to overcome the feeling of fear, overcome anxiety, and get rid of self-doubt.
4. Avoiding behavior - the patient tries to avoid frightening situations: not to go out and stay at home all the time, not to look into the interlocutor’s eyes, not to go for an interview, not to talk to anyone, to avoid crowded places, etc. An antrophobic person may be afraid only of people with whom he is not familiar. Such people feel good only before those whom they know, and before strangers they experience irrational fears.

Here's how a girl suffering from this phobia describes her condition:

“The psychologist and doctor said that I have anthropophobia. I have a feeling that I am very different from others. In November, I stopped going to school. It just couldn’t do it anymore ... It seemed to me that everyone was looking at me condemningly, they wanted to do me something bad. I am now depressed. I can’t do anything at home, almost do not want to eat, I do not want to talk to anyone.

I have no friends at all. I am afraid of people, afraid to talk to them, look into their eyes. I don't leave home at all. I'm afraid to even go to the windows and go to the balcony, I'm afraid of a bad eye. I just have wild self-doubt. I even go to the clinic with my grandmother, all these people in line are scaring me ... I'm afraid of a doctor and a nurse. If I have to leave the house alone, then I go around every person I meet. It seems to me that he will attack me and beat me. I understand that this is stupid, I read a lot on psychology, but I can’t get rid of this feeling. I don’t understand why this is happening to me. I do not know what to do, how to get rid of this terrible phobia. I even had thoughts of suicide. ”

In this case, it is necessary to distinguish anthropophobia from sociophobia (fear of society). A sociophobe is afraid of social situations (for example, public speaking, parties or dates) and self-esteem by society, rather than specific people. At the same time, anthropophobia may be accompanied by a pronounced fear of social situations.

Fear must be treated by a qualified doctor. If you ignore the symptoms of the disease, the patient may develop depression, neurosis. To overcome his fear and get rid of a sense of hopelessness, he can resort to the help of alcohol and drugs. It is not recommended to fight the disease on your own: in most cases, it is not possible to overcome anthropophobia without qualified assistance.

Why does anthropophobia occur?

Anthropophobia arises in early childhood and develops in response to adult aggression towards the child. It can occur if in childhood a person experienced violence, psychological trauma or a frightening situation that poses a threat to life (for example, a terrorist attack). Often the culprits of the disease are the parents of the child. The baby transfers his fear of them to other people and to society as a whole. Latent fears can arise from many situations. So, for example, resentment, fear and violence, deception and other factors were aimed at ensuring that children were obedient. Fear of punishment leads to the fact that children feel fear of people, all this is introduced, included in its character, provoking indecision, as well as hatred of people. Due to the large number of fears, a person experiences numerous emotional stresses. All this can result in cynicism, melancholy, a teenager may experience social phobia, a child, growing up, becomes a misanthrope.

It happens that anthropophobia develops in an adult, for example, after an attack by hooligans or aggression by strangers.

However, not all people who survive a traumatic event become anthropophobes. An important role here is played by the hereditary predisposition and individual characteristics of the personality. Most often, anthropophobia overtakes suspicious and vulnerable people who are characterized by self-doubt and anxiety, as well as those who have already experienced cases of anxiety-phobic disorders in their families.

The fear of people today is provoked by new gadgets: tablets, cell phones, computers. Inability to communicate in the “real”, leaving the virtual world, also leads to social phobias, especially among young people. A large number of people around, the dynamism of modern life and densely populated, depressed and overworked - all these are the causes of social phobias, people's fears and many other fears.

Diagnosis and treatment of anthrophobia

Detecting anthrophobia is quite simple. To do this, you just need to talk with a psychologist. This should not be joked, because the cause of it may be a congenital mental illness. Properly performed diagnosis and treatment will certainly help to get rid of fears.

It is unlikely that they can overcome the fear of people on their own. Anthropophobia is a serious illness that requires treatment by an experienced psychotherapist.

Treatment of anthropophobia usually begins with a conversation. The doctor asks the patient to dwell on every moment of his life. Thus, he tries to find out what traumatic situation provoked the development of phobia, what prevents the patient from socializing normally, why he is insecure, it is necessary to identify all problems and fears of a person. Cognitive-behavioral therapy gives a good result in the treatment of anthropophobia. The psychotherapist corrects the illogical conclusions of the patient, and also teaches him more productive behavior. In addition, the doctor can apply Erickson hypnosis in order to influence the patient’s subconscious, in which the specialist develops his own, individual approach to each patient.

If the patient categorically refuses psychotherapy, medication can be used. The doctor prescribes medications aimed at reducing anxiety, self-doubt and panic attacks. But drug treatment is less effective, since it does not affect the underlying cause of the disease.

What to do if you are afraid of people

• First of all, you need to try to realize that the problem exists. Determine the presence of phobias and where they most often occur. This can be a crowd of people, transportation, a hospital, a shop, etc. Try to communicate more with people, help older people, more often be in places where there is a crowd of people, get acquainted with representatives of the opposite sex, etc.
• If your fear reaches the point that you cannot leave home or get a job, you need qualified help. You need to see a therapist. You can go for a consultation with a trusted relative. In extreme cases, if you can’t overcome fear and force yourself to leave your home, you can contact a specialist who advises on Skype.
• If everything is not so serious, you can try to overcome self-doubt and fear on your own. So what to do? First of all, get a notebook where you will be at home, every evening write down all situations in which fear arose, as well as your feelings about this. For example: “Today a new topic was held at the lecture. I didn’t understand anything, because I was ashamed to ask who an anthropologist is. She imagined how everyone would laugh at me, consider them a fool. ” Or: “Yesterday, one guy wanted to meet me. My hands were immediately sweaty, afraid to look into his eyes, afraid that he would start laughing at me. Hastened to leave faster. I noticed that I’m generally afraid to look people in the eye ... ”etc.
• From the point of view of psychology, in order to get rid of fear and self-doubt, you need to understand why you have them. Try to remember when the fear of people arose for the first time. Maybe mother for no reason began to yell at you, still a baby. Or some stranger was very scared. The realization that fear appeared in childhood and still “lives” in you is an important step towards getting rid of it. After all, the current situations in which it arises have nothing to do with those of children.

In order to be cured, small steps should be taken daily to overcome oneself, only in this case it is possible to achieve a complete cure for this disease.

The spread of anthropophobia

Fears of communication, fear of people today are very common around the world. So, today it is believed that more than 13% of the population already suffer from it. Fear grows in an individual from childhood to adulthood, gradually becoming more and more dangerous. Patients need long-term treatment, serious and painstaking work with a psychologist. If you ignore your fear and do not treat it, try to live side by side with fear, then this can lead to depression, problems with the stomach, blood pressure, and various diseases of the cardiovascular system and brain. In rare cases, this can lead to alcoholism and drug addiction. And from here the first step to serious illness, up to suicide attempts. That is why, at the first signs of anthropophobia, it is advisable to consult a doctor as soon as possible.

People regularly contact their own kind - at work, at school, in shops, in public transport, etc. It is impossible to live without at least minimal communication, and such a need is usually taken for granted. But there is a not too well-known phobia - the fear of people, imposing a “taboo” on any communication. What is the peculiarity of this fear? How does phobia manifest?

What is the name “fear of people” called?

Man-fear is described by the term "anthropophobia" (from the ancient Greek ánthrōpos + phóbos - "man + fear"). This fear may be a form of social phobia or accompany psychasthenia.

An anthropophobic sufferer feels that danger is coming from those around him. And it does not matter how harmless these people really are: even an elderly woman walking by can seem a source of threat. As a rule, fear intensifies if a person finds himself in a crowd or meets several young men, that is, in situations where a potential danger does occur.

What is the difference between anthropophobia and sociophobia

If anthropophobia is a fear of a person as such, then sociophobia implies a fear of public opinion. It turns out that in both cases, the object that inspires fear is people. But there are some subtleties:

1. Anthropophobia is as afraid of man as is arachnophobe - of spiders. That is, fear manifests itself in front of an object of a biological species, because of which there is a rejection of physical contacts, touches, conversations, mutual views. A person is stressed just being close to other people (especially strangers). Just as spiders scare an arachnophobe with one of their appearance, so people inspire anthropophobia with fear.
2. Sociophobe fears not so much the people themselves as their opinions. He worries that others will think badly of him, find him funny or ridiculous. Therefore, the sociophobe is trying to avoid public speaking, gatherings in companies, making new acquaintances: the fear of being “not good enough” blocks any desire for social activity.

Sociophobia is a phobia of a social level. There is a leading fear of being negatively evaluated by others. Nevertheless, a sociophobe can have close friends (usually no more than two or three) with whom he is comfortable.

Fear of people is a phobia of the physical level. People are perceived as dangerous creatures that can cause harm: hit, insult, kill, rob, naughty, shout, etc. Anthropophobes are very difficult to converge with anyone and often do not have close contacts.

Symptoms of Anthropophobia

Human fear is manifested to one degree or another during contacts with others. Anthropophobia is afraid:

• touch;
• conversations;
• being in the crowd.

Sometimes a phobia "focuses" on a particular type of people. For example, you can be afraid of black-haired men with low foreheads or red-haired women.

With an attack of anthropophobia, a person behaves compulsively, that is, performs obsessive movements and actions designed to distract ("protect") him from danger. For example, a person suffering from fear may:

1. Count (steps, surrounding, birds, just from zero to ten).
2. Flick your fingers.
3. Run the tongue over the teeth.
4. Yank your shoulder.
5. Nervously raise the tips of the mouth.

Sometimes anthropophobes try to forget themselves with the help of alcohol, cigarettes, food, sex, and gambling. All activities that briefly calm a person and remove him from the “fear mode” are related to compulsive behavior.

The first manifestations of anthropophobia are usually observed in adolescence (and fear arises equally in both boys and girls). People’s fear is most often found among owners of low self-esteem and those who pathologically cannot stand criticism.

Psychologists are looking for the roots of anthropophobia in childhood, when a person was just starting to build relationships with the outside world and could not learn to trust him. This could happen under the influence of:

1. Physical violence, which includes both domestic “educational” beatings and rape.
2. Psychological trauma due to the death of parents, relocation, etc.
3. Permanent stress associated with communication (humiliation, conflict).

Gradually, a small person concludes that one is better and calmer than with people. Over time, the teenager self-isolates of his own free will, as only in loneliness does he feel protected, comfortable, not expecting a blow.

Not all people with a difficult childhood have anthropophobia. A significant role is played by the characteristics of the psyche: if it is strong, then a person does not lose confidence in the world.

Since anthropophobia not only blocks normal life activity, but also has the ability to constantly progress, it is recommended not to start it, but to start treatment under the supervision of a specialist. The sooner therapy is started, the higher the chances of success (and the more years a person has left for a “restored”, full life).