Latrophobia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Fear of doctors can become pathological and have health effects.

As children, the experience of having to visit a doctor or any other type of health specialist, such as a dentist, is quite distressing and traumatic. However, this is a normative and understandable fear, since in many cases these visits are related to the suffering of some kind of pain.

However, when this fear becomes chronic and turns into an extreme fear of doctors, it may not be a case of latrophobia. a case of latrophobia. In this article we will discuss the characteristics of this disorder, as well as its symptoms, causes and treatment.

• Article related: "Types of phobias: exploring the disorders of the fear".

What is latrophobia?

Categorized within the specific anxiety disorders, latrophobia is the experience of an excessive, irrational and uncontrollable fear of doctors. the experience of an excessive, irrational and uncontrollable fear of physicians and their patients.. This fear can extend to any type of professional working in the health field (dentists, nurses...) or health centers themselves.

Any person capable of making a diagnosis, administering medication, giving an injection, or performing any type of medical treatment or intervention, can be the object of a latrophobic phobia. This anxiety disorder can go so far as to provoke a severe anxiety response just by perceiving the characteristic odor of a health center or hospital.

The main consequence of this phobia is that sufferers avoid at all costs having to go to a health center or hospital. avoid at all costs having to go to any space related to the health field.

Despite the fact that they are aware that any health professional aims to preserve their health, people with latrophobia will try by all possible means not to go to a doctor's office with the risk of overlooking diagnoses, of aggravating diseases, or even of them becoming incurable.

Although in the specific anxiety disorder known as nosophobia the patient also avoids at all costs having to go to a doctor's office, the main difference found with latrophobia is that, while in the former the phobic stimulus is manifested by the fear of getting sick, in the latter it is the figure of the professional that causes the phobia. it is the figure of the professional that causes such fear..

How to differentiate it from a normative fear of the doctor?

As we mentioned earlier, it is common to feel a certain degree of respect, or even some fear, at the idea of going to the doctor's office, dentist, etc. However, this fear need not be excessive or interfere with the patient's routine.

There are a series of specific characteristics that allow us to differentiate a normative fear from a phobic fear typical of phobic disorders such as latrophobia.

The first feature with which we can identify a phobic fear is that it is experienced in an absolutely disorganized way. is experienced in a way that is absolutely disproportionate to the actual threat that exists. that exists. Although it is true that sometimes visits to the doctor can lead to painful measures, the level of fear experienced by these people at the possibility of suffering such pain is excessive and exaggerated.

The second characteristic of this type of specific phobia is that the fear is experienced in a completely irrational way. That is to say, the person is practically incapable of giving a reasoning or logical basis to the fear he/she is experiencing, and even to the point of accepting that it does not make any sense, and still not being able to avoid it.

Finally, in this type of anxiety disorder, the person is also unable to control the fear he/she experiences at the appearance or the very idea of having to face the phobic object. This means that the patient cannot avoid experiencing the sensations and feelings of anxiety, as well as the appearance of thoughts of anxiety.as well as the appearance of intrusive thoughts and beliefs that favor and potentiate this anxiety response.

What symptoms does he/she present?

The most characteristic manifestation of latrophobia, as well as of the rest of specific phobias, is the experience of high levels of anxiety before the appearance of the feared object. In addition, for this fear to be diagnosed as phobic, the person must manifest some of the symptoms characteristic of this type of disorder.

These symptoms are divided into physical symptoms, cognitive symptoms and behavioral symptoms.. And although they do not have to arise in the same way and with the same intensity in all people, it will be necessary to experience signs of all three categories.

1. Physical symptoms

As with the vast majority of anxiety-related responses, experiencing a phobic fear usually involves a series of changes and alterations in the body. These changes appear due to the hyperactivity that the autonomic nervous system manifests upon the appearance of the aversive stimulus.

These symptoms include the following:

• Increased Heart rate..
• Increased respiratory rate.
• Sensation of suffocation or shortness of breath.
• Increased sweating.
• Increased muscle tension..
• Headache.
• Gastric disturbances and problems such as diarrhea.
• Sensation of dizziness.
• Nausea and/or vomiting.
• Loss of consciousness.

2. Cognitive symptoms

Accompanying the physical symptoms, latrophobia presents within its clinical picture the appearance of a series of irrational thoughts and distorted beliefs about the feared object. In this case, medical personnel or health professionals.

These cognitive symptoms are manifested as follows:

• Intrusive and uncontrollable ideas about the supposed danger or risks of the phobic stimulus.
• Obsessive speculations.
• Appearance of catastrophic mental images.
• Fear of losing control and not being able to manage the situation adequately.

3. Behavioral symptoms

Within this last category of symptoms are included those behavioral patterns that appear in response to the appearance of the phobic stimulus. The aim of this symptomatology is to avoid the feared situation or to flee from it if it has already appeared. These behaviors are known as avoidance or escape behaviors.

The first type of behavioral symptoms are those aimed at avoiding the encounter with a health professional. That is, it includes all those behaviors or acts that the person performs to avoid the possibility of facing them. Thanks to these symptoms the person temporarily avoids experiencing the feelings of anguish and anxiety typical of a phobia. typical of a phobia.

On the other hand, escape behaviors appear when the person with latrophobia has not been able to avoid the phobic stimulus, so he/she will carry out all acts and behaviors that enable him/her to escape from the situation as quickly as possible.

What are the causes?

Although it is really complicated to determine the specific origin of a phobia, it is hypothesized that a genetic predisposition, coupled with traumatic experiences, may be the basis for the development of a phobia.may be the basis for the development of this and any other phobia.

In the same way, there are many other factors that we must take into account, such as personality, cognitive styles or vicarious learning, since they can favor the appearance and development of this type of irrational fears.

Is there a treatment?

Due to the complications for the patient's health that this phobia can cause, it is advisable for these people to see a mental health professional. There are different psychological interventions that can favor the reduction of the intensity of the symptoms until they even disappear.

Treatments that use cognitive restructuring techniques can help eliminate irrational thoughts and beliefs, which often form the basis of this disorder.

Likewise, the treatment known as "systematic desensitization", in which the person is exposed mentally and gradually to the thoughts or situations that provoke this fear, accompanied by training in relaxation techniques, is very effective in helping the person to overcome his or her phobic fear and restore his or her normal rhythm of life.