Fear of clutter (Ataxophobia): causes, symptoms and treatment

This mental disorder results in situations of severe stress and fear in cluttered places.

The world of mental disorders is complex, and there are many types. One of the most common are anxiety disorders, which include different types. Among these types of disorders, phobias, which are irrational fears, stand out.These are irrational and persistent fears that can seriously affect the life of the person who suffers from them.

Today we will talk about the extreme fear of disorder, known as ataxophobia, and we will explain its causes, its causes, its causes, its causes and its causes.and we will explain its causes, its symptoms and its treatment.

Fear of disorder: what is it?

The phobias are irrational and persistent fears that lead to a person to avoid the feared stimulus in an attempt to reduce the discomfort experienced in its presence. But there are many phobias, because people can develop irrational fears towards any object, animal or situation. A spider, a clown, the fact of interacting with other individuals and even towards disorder or untidy elements, whether physical or not, can provoke phobias.

Phobias can be classified as complex or simple. Within the latter, specific phobias stand out, which occur when the person has contact with other individuals.which occur when the person comes into contact with or imagines a specific situation, animal or object, such as the fear of flying, the fear of insects and the fear of disorder discussed in this article. Complex phobias are social phobias and agoraphobia.

Causes of this phobia

The causes of phobias often go unnoticed, because these disorders usually develop from a type of learning usually develop because of a type of implicit learningknown as classical conditioning. It occurs when the individual experiences a traumatic event (conditioned stimulus) that provokes strong emotional reactions (known as unconditioned response).

In cases where irrational fear develops, the phobic stimulus, which is originally a neutral stimulus, becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus, which turns the phobic stimulus into a conditioned stimulus that goes on to elicit the initially unconditioned response, which is then called the conditioned response (the fear experience).

While it is true that most phobias develop in this way, it can also happen that the phobia is produced by another type of learning known as vicarious conditioning. In this case it is not the person who develops the phobia who experiences the traumatic event, but the phobic person who experiences the traumatic event. watch how another person goes through this traumatic situation.. In this sense, vicarious conditioning is a type of observational learning. You can learn more, in our article "Vicarious conditioning: how does this type of learning work?"

On the other hand, phobia experts claim that fear is an adaptive emotion, which has actually been useful for the survival of the species. But fear occurs due to primitive associations in primitive brain and not in neocortex (related to logical thinking). That is why phobias do not respond to logical arguments and the treatment is characterized by exposure techniques, in which the patient has to confront the feared stimulus by exposing himself to it.

Symptoms of ataxophobia

There are many types of phobias; however, these disorders usually share the same symptoms, which can be classified as cognitive, behavioral and physical. The experience of fear, the anguish that the person feels, confusion, lack of concentration or catastrophic thoughts are some common cognitive symptoms.The main behavioral symptom is the attempt to avoid the feared stimulus.

The main behavioral symptom is the attempt to avoid the feared stimulus. As for physical symptoms, it is possible to highlight: tension in the muscles, headache, shortness of breath and hyperventilation, nausea, among others.

Treatment and therapy

Phobias are very frequent disorders, but they have a good prognosis if they receive the appropriate treatment. Except in extreme cases, the application of drugs should never be the first therapeutic option. In fact, phobias respond very well to psychological therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy, according to scientific studies, is usually sufficient for the patient to be able to cope with the feared stimulus.

There are different cognitive behavioral techniques that work well for the treatment of phobias.. Relaxation techniques and exposure techniques are the most effective. However, a technique that combines both is cognitive desensitization, which is widely used in these cases.

Cognitive desensitization consists of exposing the patient to the feared stimulus gradually, but first he/she must learn different coping strategies such as relaxation techniques.

However, other therapeutic methods seem to produce great results. Among which cognitive therapy based on Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) stand out.. You can learn more in our articles: