Anthophobia (fear of flowers): causes, symptoms and treatment

This type of phobia is rare, but no less harmful in natural environments.

Humans can feel fear of a wide variety of objects or situations, a reaction that can be normal as long as this fear is objective and realistic. However, there are times when a person may feel great fear of seemingly harmless things, as is the case of anthophobia, the irrational fear of flowers..

In this article we will go into the most characteristic aspects of this disorder and we will review its causes, symptoms and consequences.

What is anthophobia

Perhaps anthophobia is not one of the best known phobias, but it is one of the most curious. This pathology is an intense and irrational fear to flowers, which are stimuli that pose little or no real danger. This, on the other hand, is something that happens with all phobias: even if he/she cannot explain why, the person develops an irrational fear of elements that in principle are harmless. The cause of this has to do with the functioning of emotional memory, as we shall see.

With the exception of those individuals who may suffer from allergies, the majority of the population should not fear the reproductive apparatus of most plants; however, some subjects fear flowers, and this disorder can become truly disabling for them.

Phobias belong to the group of anxiety disorders and, therefore, some of the most characteristic symptoms experienced by subjects with this condition are anxiety and distress (in addition to fear). Phobics tend to avoid the feared stimulus in an attempt to reduce discomfort. Fortunately, and despite the great suffering that this phobia can cause, anthophobia can be cured.

Causes of this phobia

People who develop a phobia are not born with this disorder, but have learned it.but have learned it. In most cases, this occurs implicitly after a traumatic experience that provokes negative and intense emotions. Phobias are learned by classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning is a type of learning that occurs by the association of a stimulus that is originally neutral with another stimulus that elicits a fear response. A person may have suffered a negative experience while running through a garden full of flowers, and the impact of this situation causes that the next time he encounters a flower he develops great anxiety and a disproportionate fear of the flower. and a disproportionate fear of the seemingly harmless situation.

• If you want to know more about classical conditioning, you can read our article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

They are also learned by observation

But experiencing a traumatic situation is not only the only cause of the appearance of anthophobia, but phobias can appear vicarious conditioning. For example, when watching a scary movie in which roses appear in bloody scenes of the film. In this way, an association is created in our mind between a stimulus that in principle did not have a very significant emotional charge (flowers) and another that causes us aversion, so that perceiving the former makes us feel bad because of the latter. makes us feel bad because of this "emotional memory"..

Phobias do not respond to logical arguments, largely because the emotion of fear has to do with the primitive brain. In this sense, some experts claim that phobias are produced by primary associations and have a survival function, not by cognitive associations.

• Related article : "Vicarious conditioning: how does this type of learning work?"

Symptoms of fear of flowers

Symptoms of phobias appear when imagining or coming into contact with the stimulus, in this case, flowers. Anxiety and avoidance of the stimulus are some of the most characteristic symptoms; however, the phobic experiences cognitive, behavioral and physical symptoms..

The most characteristic cognitive symptoms are irrational fear, anguish, catastrophic thoughts, lack of concentration or confusion. Intrusive ideas, and in general "mental images", are also frequent.and, in general, "mental images" that cause great discomfort and appear in the consciousness in a disruptive way, without being able to do anything to avoid it.

Stimulus avoidance is the most characteristic behavioral symptom. As for physical symptoms, we can highlight:

• Shortness of breath
• Headache
• Rapid pulse
• Hypersweating
• Dry mouth
• Nausea
• Tremors

Treatment of anthophobia

Cases of anthophobia are not very frequent, but those of phobic disorders in general are. For this reason, a lot of research has been carried out in this line, which has allowed the development of very effective treatments to put an end to these irrational fears. Thus, although these pathologies cause great suffering, the prognosis for patients is good.

When it comes to seeking help, the first step many phobics take is to go to their family doctor, but the option is to receive treatment from a psychology professional. There are many methods that work to treat phobias, but the best known and the one that seems to provide the best results is cognitive behavioral therapy. This form of therapy consists of different techniques, among which relaxation and breathing techniques stand out. relaxation and breathing techniques and exposure techniques. and exposure techniques.

For the treatment of phobias systematic desensitization is usually applied.which includes the two previous techniques, and which gradually exposes the patient to the feared stimulus. However, the patient must first learn coping strategies such as relaxation and breathing techniques.

In addition to cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy based on Mindfulness or acceptance and commitment therapy have also proven to be very effective. Both types of psychotherapy belong to the third generation therapies.

• If you want to know more about third-generation therapies, you can read our article, "What are third-generation therapies?"

The treatment of phobias today

In recent years, the development of new technologies has also allowed the treatment of phobias to be different, since it is now easier to create situations in which the person feels close to the phobic stimulus. In addition, this can be done in the same office where psychological intervention services are offered, in a controlled manner and with a professional supervising the process.

The advent of virtual reality allowed the patient not to have to be exposed to the phobic stimulusbut can do so by simulating reality. Some psychologists use this technique with excellent results, which can also be found in mobile apps. You can read more about this topic in our article: "8 apps to treat phobias and fears from your smartphone".