Litigaphobia: symptoms, causes and treatment

This type of phobia is related to the fear of litigation and contentious situations.

We live in a society whose relationships are regulated by rights and duties. As human beings we are provided with legal guarantees that safeguard our physical, psychological, social and economic integrity in situations of injustice.

Most states have judicial mechanisms aimed at restoring the balance between two between two parties when either of them has committed a fault or crime against the other, including penalties in the civil and criminal spheres.

We can all have recourse to this system when we perceive ourselves to be victims of harm, and we also have an obligation to answer to it when we have committed an offense under the rule of law.

Litigaphobia is an irrational fear of situations of this type (litigation), which is much more common than it might seem.It is much more frequent than it might seem. We proceed, then, to approach its fundamental aspects.

What is liticaphobia?

Litigaphobia (also known as lithophobia) is a term in which two words of classical origin converge, but of disparate origins. The first comes from the Latin "litigium", which in turn comes from the root "lis" (dispute or lawsuit), and the second (phobos) is a Hellenic inheritance (fear or aversion). Thus, liticaphobia describes a phobia of a situational type, which is circumscribed to the moment in which one is part of the defense or the accusation in a trial.

The fact is that problems of a legal nature are very stressful situations. for most people, even if they do not suffer from any anxiety disorder. The knowledge of having been charged in an investigation or court case always triggers mixed reactions, both for the victim and the offender. Thus, the former may fear that her status as a victim will not be recognized, and the latter may fear being subjected to an excessively severe judicial decision.

For this reason, it is difficult to draw a line that clearly distinguishes the point at which anxiety, which reasonably arises in such a context, becomes a psychopathological phenomenon. In any case dimensions related to the interference with daily life (impairment in relevant areas) and the (impairment in relevant areas) and the intensity or scope (disproportionate expectation with respect to the consequences expected as a result of the process).

In the following lines we will delve into this specific phobia, with special emphasis on the way in which it is expressed and its possible causes. At the end, a brief review of the therapeutic strategies of application will be made.

Symptoms

The fear of litigation can be expressed in several ways.. Below are some of its most common symptoms. People suffering from this anxiety condition tend to experience more than one of them. Their anxiety is precipitated in situations that are related to ordinary disputes, civil and criminal (from preliminary hearings to the last appeal); in which they are persisting as part of any of the agents involved.

1. Anticipatory anxiety before a trial

One of the common symptoms is anticipatory anxiety. These are concerns that extend from the very notification of the injunction (or the forced imposition of a lawsuit) to the moment when the case is finalized. Throughout this period the person imagines how events will unfold, adding dramatic overtones to his or her situation (content of the ruling, severity of the application of the law, etc.) and exacerbating fear of the imminent future.

The symptoms tend to become more pronounced as time goes by and the day of the court appearance approaches.. During this period there may be automatic negative thoughts ("they are going to destroy my life" for example), hyperactivation of the autonomic nervous system (accelerated Heart rate and breathing, sweating, muscle tension, diffuse pain, etc.) and avoidance behaviors (unsuccessful efforts to stop thinking or to do activities that take your mind off the problem, for example).

Fear of being accused

Another common symptom is the irresistible fear of being accused by another person of a crime or misdemeanor, which translates into an attitude of condescension even when suffering an obvious violation of rights. It implies an attitude that disavows any potential offense to a third partyThis inhibits the expression of opinions or acts that could evolve into tensions that would merit judicial mediation. Thus, politeness would become excessive and would clearly transcend the lower limits of assertiveness (passivity).

3. Fear of participating as a witness in a civil or criminal trial

People with a diagnosis of liticaphobia are intensely afraid of participating in a judicial process as a witness, even though they do not take a position in favor of any of the parties (neither as prosecution nor as defense). For this reason, they tend to withdraw from the scene of an illegal situation they have witnessed, so as not to be called upon to testify in court. This attitude means that the victim may lose a valuable legal resource in claiming his or her own rights. in claiming their own rights.

This fear may be motivated both by the inquiry of the magistrates and by the fear that the accused party may decide to take revenge in some way against all the people who contributed to the prosecution process. In other cases, there may be a fear that mere participation could degenerate into a situation of personal involvement, even though there is no evidence to support this idea.

4. Uncertainty about one's own capacity as a juror

One of the most distressing situations for someone with lithophobia is to be asked to sit on a jury. being asked to serve on a popular jury.. If this (random) circumstance arises, they may try to invoke any legal loophole that allows them to avoid the task entrusted to them, since they perceive that they do not have sufficient critical capacity to decide on the innocence or guilt of a third party. They are also wary that the accused/defendants may try to take revenge at a later date.

It is necessary to take into account that the formation of a popular jury is carried out by public lottery in even-numbered years, and that it assigns this responsibility for a period of up to twenty-four months (which is experienced with overwhelming anxiety).

5. Resistance to filing complaints

In liticaphobia, there is usually an evident refusal to file a complaint about events in which the subject has been harmed, due to an intense fear of participating in a lawsuit. the intense fear of participating in a process that would expose him/her to a great affective tension and that can last for several years. and which may last for several years. Such a way of proceeding leaves him/her helpless in legal terms, since he/she will not obtain any retribution for the wrong received. The situation worsens if there is an objective risk to life (e.g., intentional crimes of physical violence).

This is a classic avoidance mechanism in specific phobias, which can be associated with beliefs regarding the uselessness of the legal system or the fear that the lawsuit will impose a situation of frank lack of protection (that police or other devices will not be articulated to protect the complainant). In any case, it has important consequences, since the person is deprived of the recourse available in any democratic system to resolve conflict situations for which no agreement is reached (by mediation or during the preliminary hearing).

6. Distorted thoughts about procedural consequences

As soon as people with liticaphobia have not been able to avoid participation in a trial, the fear shifts to its potential consequences. One of the most common concerns that arises is about the financial availability to hire a litigator. about the financial availability to hire a good lawyer.The court case is not only a matter of the court's decision, but also to cover the costs of the trial in the event of an unfavorable outcome. These types of thoughts, which are articulated over many months of tension, become significantly detached from the reality of the trial itself.

Thus, there may be fears that a civil case may somehow evolve into a criminal trial, or that one's own defense may arouse suspicions in the judge and turn against oneself. In serious cases, there is a fear of imprisonment, even if the offense committed is a very minor one and is punishable by a penalty of equivalent magnitude.

7. Anxiety in the face of double victimization

When one has been a victim of a particularly serious crime, which has entailed the eruption of considerable emotional damage, there may be a tenacious fear that the judicial process implies a double victimization.. This concept refers to the harm that results from the system not believing or recognizing the extent of the harm, downplaying it, or even shifting responsibility for the event to the person who has suffered the direct consequences of the event.

This fear is common in cases of harassment, abuse and rape; and it is not limited only to the legal system, but also extends to the healthcare system or any agency responsible for the care of those in such a situation. In some cases is a factor that prevents the reporting of events that progressively erode self-image and self-esteem, interacting with the rest of the family.interacting with the rest of those previously mentioned.

Causes

The causes of liticaphobia are varied, and result from the confluence of a set of environmental and personality factors. a set of environmental and personality factors. Among the first is the possibility of having personally (or in the family) experienced a very adverse legal situation, with very harmful consequences for the sufferer of this specific phobia or for those close to him (extreme financial penalty, deprivation of liberty, etc.), especially during childhood.

In other cases, it is possible that the phobic fear is associated associated secondarily with the potential consequences of a lawsuit. consequences of a lawsuit. Thus, the fear would be the result of a sense of vulnerability to which the system is considered unable to respond adequately.

Finally, liticaphobia is more common among people who have difficulty tolerating uncertainty, since these are processes in which a certain margin of unpredictability must be recognized and which tend to be prolonged over a long period of time. It is therefore a very aversive experience for those with these traits, so they tend to deliberately avoid it.

Treatment

An effective cognitive-behavioral treatment is available for liticophobia.. Given that the characteristics of the phobic stimulus hinder the development of an in vivo exposure, it is advisable to design a program in imagination by means of which a series of scenes related to the feared thing are presented (having previously ordered them according to the level of anxiety that the patient attributes to them), so that a progressive habituation can be produced (from the mildest to the most serious). For this purpose, a relaxation technique is usually taught as well.

The approach to irrational beliefs linked to judicial contexts is often also important, since the patient's is often also important, since the person may harbor thoughts that do not conform to the reality of the facts he or she is facing. Aligning what is expected with what might actually occur is a necessary step to alleviate feelings of unease. The combination of these two procedures is more effective than each of them separately.

Bibliographical references:

• Carpenter, J.K., Andrews, L.A., Witcraft. S.M., Powers, M.B., Smits, J.A., and Hoffman, S.G. (2019). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Related Disorders: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials. Depression and Anxiety, 35(6), 502-514.
• Kakzkurkin, A.N. and Foa, E.B. (2015). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 17(3), 337-346.