Apeirophobia: an irrational fear of infinity.

A fear of the concept of infinity. What can cause this phobia?

There are different types of phobias, some of them really strange. For example, hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia or fear of the number 666, turophobia or fear of cheese, or uranophobia or fear of heaven after death. Today we will talk about another uncommon phobia: the apeirophobia or fear of infinity.

But before we start talking about this phobia, and to better understand what characterizes phobic disorders, we will begin by briefly explaining what phobias in general consist of.

If you want to know more about strange phobias, you can read our article: "The 15 strangest phobias that exist".

What is a phobia?

A phobia is a strong irrational and uncontrollable fear of situations, objects, activities or people.. It belongs to the group of anxiety disorders, and its most characteristic symptom is the excessive and irrational desire to avoid objects or situations as a way to reduce the anxiety or discomfort that these people may suffer.

Experts affirm that certain genetic and environmental factors favor the appearance of a phobia. However, one of the causes that raises the greatest consensus among researchers is that phobias arise because the person has had a traumatic experience (mostly in childhood), to which he/she later associates the element that causes fear. This learning would be produced by classical conditioning.

Do you want to know more about classical conditioning? We recommend our article "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

It is important to note that the association that would provoke the phobia can be direct or indirect.. We speak of direct association when that element (object, situation, etc.) has been the very cause that leads to a phobia. For example, if a child is scratched by a cat that he/she unconsciously bothered, and as a result of this experience develops a phobia of cats. Indirect association refers to when the fear appears displaced. For example, when a child has a phobia of vaccines just because he knows that they hurt.

Classification of phobias

Phobias can be classified as follows: social phobia, agoraphobia and specific phobia.

• Social phobia: This type of phobia is characterized by the sufferer's irrational fear of social interaction situations. For example, when he/she has to speak in public, because he/she is afraid of being judged, criticized or humiliated. This is a serious disorder that should not be confused with shyness. People with social phobia may feel a strong anxiety when talking on the phone or eating in front of other people, so they avoid these types of situations.

• Agoraphobia: Although many people think that agoraphobia is the irrational fear of being in open spaces such as large streets or parks, this is not exactly the case. Individuals with agoraphobia feel a strong distress produced by situations in which they feel unprotected and vulnerable when they suffer an anxiety attack. In other words, they panic that the situation is beyond their control. The patient with this type of phobia usually secludes himself at home as a form of avoidance.

• Specific phobia: The irrational fear in this case is produced before a stimulus, for example, a situation, an object, a place or an insect. Therefore, apeirophobia would be classified within this type of phobia.

Learn more about the different types of phobias in this article: "Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders".

Characteristics of apeirophobia

Thinking about the universe and infinity can provoke certain questions or reflections that are difficult to answer, which can cause us a certain degree of anxiety. Now, when this thought about infinity or immense things produces an extreme irrational fear and a great discomfort, then we are facing a case of apeirophobia.

The concept of apeirophobia refers to an unusual type of phobia.. We usually speak with total normality of other phobias in which the phobic object is tangible: phobia of spiders or phobia of clowns, for example. All of them are objects or people that can be easily touched and avoided. For some, imagining the phobia of infinity can even be complicated.

The fear of infinity can appear both during the day and at night. For example, when the subject who suffers it is so quiet in the living room of his house and an intrusive thought about infinity causes him a serious anxiety problem. Or when he is in bed, trying to fall asleep, and the same image provokes a strong fear that does not allow him to sleep all night long.

Existential vertigo

Apeirophobia is a type of phobia in which the focus of the fear is something totally abstract, and not a living being, a landscape or a certain object. This means that it depends on activities linked to introspection and imagination, although its symptoms do not necessarily appear only when we reflect in silence and with our eyes closed.

There are certain experiences that enter us through the senses and, in certain cases, can make us think of the infinite, can make us think of the infinite. These sensory stimuli depend on each person, but some of the most recurrent ones are the sky, the sea or numerical sequences that never end.

Aperiophobia is experienced as a sensation of vertigo produced by the idea that, as one is coming into contact with infinity, there is no point of support, there is no point of support on which the person can remain "anchored" and maintain some control of the situation. This idea makes it, in a certain sense, similar to agoraphobia, since in this one also appears a wave of fear before the idea that the environment becomes unmanageable and impossible to control.

Treatment

Since apeirophobia is an anxiety disorder mostly caused by past traumatic experiences, it is necessary to see a mental health professional as soon as possible. The cognitive-behavioral therapy or Mindfulness have proven to be very effective in overcoming this type of disorder, although it is important to keep in mind that the symptoms of apeirophobia almost never disappear completely.

You can learn more about these types of therapy in our articles:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: what is it and what principles is it based on?
• Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy: what is it?