Iophobia (fear of being poisoned): symptoms, causes and treatment

A specific phobia based on the fear of being poisoned.

There are as many phobias as there are objects, stimuli or situations in the world. In this article we will learn about iophobia, which consists of the phobia of being poisonedwhether accidentally or provoked.

But why does this phobia appear? What symptoms does it entail? How can we treat it? We will answer all these questions and, finally, we will realize his differential diagnosis.

Iophobia: What is it?

The word iophobia comes from the Greek "ios" (poison, toxic) and "phobos" (phobia, fear). Thus, iophobia consists of the disproportionate fear or phobia of poison.. Specifically, it is an abnormal and unjustified fear of poison, of being poisoned or of intoxicants.

Thus, iophobia consists of the sensation of fear or dread of consuming, ingesting, breathing or having any kind of contact with any poisonous substance; on the other hand, the person may also be afraid of being accidentally poisoned, and therefore iophobia is related to toxicophobia or toxophobia. is related to toxicophobia or toxophobia..

A specific phobia: symptoms

The iophobia consists of a specific phobia, since in this case there is a fear of a specific stimulus or situation. In specific phobias, the person has an intense fear or anxiety of that stimulus or situation. an intense fear or anxiety before this stimulus or situation, for at least 6 months.for at least 6 months.

In iophobia, the phobic situations would be the possibility of being poisoned and/or dying from poisoning, and the objects or stimuli would be, for example, substances, chemical products, liquids, etc.

These sensations of fear that are born in the individual, provoke the intense need to flee from the stimulus, as well as the avoidance of both exposure to it and to situations where it could appear.as well as the avoidance of both exposure to the stimulus and to situations where it could appear (if the situations are not avoided, they are endured with high anxiety or discomfort).

All these symptoms alter and interfere in the normal functioning of the person, in all areas of his life.

Causes

There can be several causes for the appearance of iophobia (the origin can be diverse). Let us see some of them:

1. conditioning

Repeatedly receiving or seeing news of people who have been poisoned (and/or have died from poisoning), either accidentally or provoked (by themselves or by third parties), together with a personal predisposition or vulnerability to suffer from a phobia, can generate iophobia.

We may also have experienced a poisoning situation ourselves (traumatic experience). Thus, the person with iophobia can acquire the phobia conditioned by past experiences (self or vicarious).

As we have seen, if it is vicarious, it is produced by visualization of a poisoning through direct observation, reading or audiovisual media. through direct observation, reading or audiovisual media..

2. Other related phobias

It may also be that the person already has a certain fear (or directly, phobia) of different plants and animals.

This can be related to Seligman's priming theorywhich argues that certain stimuli or situations are more likely to trigger phobias (since they are phylogenetically prepared, i.e., we "inherited" these fears from our ancestors when they faced dangerous or life-threatening situations). For example, fear of lions, a snake bite or some poisonous herbs or substances (all these stimuli can cause death).

Thus, the human being would have "inherited" the fact of being afraid of certain animals or plants and would have learned to avoid them, feeling an innate fear or repugnance towards them.

3. Predisposition

We also find a predisposition (whether genetic, biological, social...) at the basis of many phobias, including iophobia. Thus, the person could have this vulnerability, added to the generalization of previous fears of dying or becoming ill due to an external agent not directly visible (for example, a poisonous substance, a bacterium, etc.).

The following would be fulfilled an adaptive function would be fulfilled when the person would avoid such stimuli that could cause death (increasing the possibility of survival). (increasing his chance of survival)

Treatment

The most effective psychological therapy at present to treat specific phobias is exposure therapy. In this type of therapy, the individual is exposed to the feared stimulus or situation (usually gradually after the elaboration of a hierarchy of items between patient and therapist).

In the case of iophobia, the exposure will not be "real", i.e., the subject will not be exposed to being poisoned in a real way, but exposure therapy in imagination (where the individual must imagine in detail that he/she is being poisoned) can be performed. On the other hand, we can also work on the situations avoided by the subject as a consequence of the iophobia.

All this can be illustrated with an example; let us imagine a person with iophobia who does not drink any drink served in a restaurant. In this case, the therapy would consist of exposing the subject to drinking from the glasses that are served and not avoiding such a situation. Another example would be to expose the subject to using cleaning products, or simply eating outside the home.

On the other hand, the technique of cognitive restructuring (within cognitive behavioral therapy) can also be used. (within cognitive behavioral therapy); this will be aimed at discussing the patient's irrational beliefs and fears, as well as the meaning attributed to these beliefs, as well as the poison itself.

Differential diagnosis

Finally, a good differential diagnosis should be made, mainly with:

1. OCD

Patients with OCD may manifest obsessions and compulsions related to cleaning (this is not an iophobia). (this is not an iophobia per se).

Psychotic disorders

Patients with schizophrenia, delusional disorder or others, can manifest delusions of being poisoned (this is not an iophobia per se). (this would not be an iophobia either).

Bibliographical references:

• Caballo (2002). Manual for the cognitive-behavioral treatment of psychological disorders. Vol. 1 and 2. Siglo XXI (Chapters 1-8, 16-18).
• Belloch, A.; Sandín, B. And Ramos, F. (2010). Manual de Psicopatología. Volume I and II. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-5. Masson, Barcelona.