Automisophobia (fear of getting dirty): symptoms and treatment

This anxiety disorder is based on the fear of dirt.

Dirt, filth, dirt, grime, impurities, etc. There are countless words to describe the lack of hygiene and cleanliness and all of them have something in common: they generate a whole series of feelings of aversion and disgust in people.

Although these feelings are normal and justified, when they turn into a disproportionate fear or dread, it is very likely that we will find ourselves in a situation where we are not able to control our own hygiene and cleanliness. it is quite possible that we are dealing with a case of auto-mysophobia, a type of specific phobia.a type of specific phobia that we will describe throughout this article.

What is self-mysophobia?

Self-mysophobia is classified within the specific anxiety disorders or specific phobias. These psychological disorders are characterized by provoking in the person an exacerbated and irrational fear of a specific stimulus or object, and in the case of self-mysophobia, it is the fear of being dirty, stained or soiled. it is the fear of being dirty, staining or soiling oneself..

If we take into account the etymological roots of the term, we can separate the locution into three different words of Greek origin. The first of them "autós" can be translated almost literally as self, "mysos" refers to dirt and finally we find "phobos" which means fear or dread. Based on this we can define automisophobia as the experience of an exaggerated fear of one's own dirtiness or the possibility that one is dirty or could be soiled.

As with all other phobic disorders, when people with autoimmune phobia encounter or think they will encounter the feared stimulus, in this case going dirty, they will experience a series of emotions and physical manifestations pertaining to very high states of anxiety.

Although it is logical to think that the fact of being dirty or soiled can generate feelings of repulsion and disgust, in the case of automisophobia disgust becomes terror. This feeling of fear can lead the person to perform all kinds of behaviors such as compulsive washing.

If the phobia is present to a very high degree, it is possible that these cleaning behaviors become compulsions, generating reactions and skin alterations due to excessive washing behaviors.

When to consider it a phobia?

In order to differentiate between an aversive feeling or habitual disgust and a pathological fear or specific phobia, we will have to determine the specific characteristics of this type of fear, as well as the consequences or direct effects that it has on the person's daily life.as well as the consequences or direct effects that this fear has on the development of the person's daily life.

It is necessary to take into account a series of requirements and characteristic qualities of fear disorders, which define a phobia and make its diagnosis possible. These requirements are the following:

1. It results in a disproportionate fear 2.

The main difference between a normal aversive reaction or sensation and a phobic fear is that in self-mysophobia the person experiences a completely exaggerated and disproportionate fear in comparison with the real threat that the phobic stimulus, in this case the dirt itself, represents.

2. It is irrational

In a phobia, the fear experienced does not have a logical basis, but is fed by irrational ideas and beliefs. Leople with autoimmune phobias themselves are unable to find a reasonable explanation for the fear they are experiencing. for the fear they are experiencing.

3. The person cannot control it

In addition, the fear experienced by a person with self-mysophobia is completely uncontrollable. This means that, even if the person accepts that the phobic stimulus may be harmless, he or she is unable to avoid the occurrence of the phobic stimulus. is unable to avoid the onset of anxiety and fear symptoms..

4. It lasts over time

Finally, for a fear to be considered as phobic or pathological, the fear reactions and responses must have occurred on more than one occasion and in a constant and consistent manner throughout the situations involving the appearance of the feared stimulus.

What are the symptoms?

In view of the fact that self-mysophobia is classified within the category of specific phobias, the clinical picture it presents is similar to that of the rest of anxiety disorders of this type. of this type. These symptoms of an anxious nature appear whenever the person feels or perceives that he/she is dirty or that he/she may become dirty.

This will generate a high anxiety response in which physical symptoms, cognitive symptoms and behavioral symptoms appear.

1. Physical symptoms

Before the appearance of the phobic stimulus, or only at the thought of it, a hyperactivity of the nervous system is produced that gives rise to all kinds of changes and organic alterations. Among the main physical symptoms of self-mysophobia are included:

• Increased Heart rate.
• Increased respiratory rate..
• Sensation of choking or shortness of breath.
• Increased muscle tension.
• Headache..
• Gastric disturbances such as stomach pains or diarrhea.
• Increased sweating.
• Dizziness and vertigo.
• Nausea and/or vomiting...

2. Cognitive symptoms

In addition to the physical or organic symptoms, people with self-mysophobia are characterized by possessing a series of distorted ideas, beliefs and speculations in relation to the fear of one's own soiling..

These cognitive symptoms favor the development of self-mysophobia and may also include mental images of catastrophic content about the possible dangers or effects of dirt on the person.

3. Behavioral symptoms

The third and final group of symptoms of self-mysophobia is that which includes behavioral symptoms. These symptoms refer to a whole range of behaviors that the person performs to avoid or escape the foul stimulus. to avoid or escape from the phobic stimulus.

Those behaviors that the person performs with the intention of avoiding encountering the phobic stimulus are known as avoidance behaviors. These may include obsessive washing or cleaning routines, which are performed in order to avoid experiencing feelings of distress, anxiety and fear..

As for behaviors that allow the person to escape from the feared situation, they are called escape behaviors. These appear when the subject has not been able to avoid encountering the phobic stimulus, so he/she executes all kinds of behaviors and behaviors necessary to escape from the situation in which he/she has been involved.

What causes it?

Both in automisophobia and in the rest of specific phobias it is hypothesized that it is an unconscious or involuntary reaction of the person caused by the experience of a highly traumatic situation.The phobic stimulus played an important role in the phobic stimulus, or with a high degree of emotional content, and which, in addition, appears as a protective response to it.

However, trying to determine the specific origin of a phobia is a complicated task, since in most cases not even the person himself is able to identify when it appears or what situation has provoked it.

Is there a treatment?

In all those cases in which the self-mysophobia involves a highly disabling fear or causes great interference in the person's daily life, as well as in his or her health, psychological therapy is one of the best treatment alternatives for this disorder. for this disorder.

The psychological intervention or treatment involves a series of techniques or tools that allow the remission of symptoms, and even their complete disappearance. Cognitive restructuring techniques are used to modify all those distorted thoughts that the person has with respect to his or her own body dirt.

This is usually is accompanied by techniques of live exposure or systematic desensitization, whereby the person is gradually exposed to thethrough which the person is gradually exposed to the feared stimulus. Either directly or through exercises with mental images.

Finally, this is accompanied by training in relaxation skills, which allows to decrease the levels of excitation of the nervous system and helps the person to cope with their fears in the best possible way.