Why does phobia occur?
When we talk about phobias, we mean disorders in which the only symptom is fear of certain situations and objects, says Bronislav Fetisov, a medical psychologist at the MEDSI Clinical Hospital in Botkinsky Proyezd.
“Facing this situation causes the person to display disturbing physical symptoms, such as panic attacks. People suffering from phobias often have an anxious personality radical, that is, they usually always have an increased level of anxiety. At the same time, a person can experience anxiety from any phenomenon, and even most he may be afraid of an object that does not pose a threat to him in the situation, ”said he.
According to him, technophobia is a combination of symptoms such as anxiety, irritation and increased level of aggression that occur when encountering new technical tools. Basically, the reason lies not in the fear of the technical means themselves, but in the lack of desire to master them.
Technophobia, like any other phobia, can be attributed to anxiety disorders, Valeria Moshnyatskaya, a clinical psychologist at the European Medical Center (EMC), told socialbites.ca.
“In general, all phobias except agoraphobia and social phobia are phobic anxiety disorders. The names we give these phobias are only necessary for convenience, so that the expert immediately understands exactly what the person is afraid of. All these phobias are not distinguished as separate diseases, ”explained Moshnyatskaya.
ludetrophobia
One type of technophobia is ludetrophobia. This is the fear of virtual games.
“Fear of virtual games can stem from both traumatic, frightening experiences and fear for the player. For example, many parents fear that their children will develop aggression because of games.
The distribution is not specified in the separate statistics, often included in the traumatic experience and further avoidance of the causal factor. It may be accompanied by panic attacks, aggression or anxiety,” Moshnyatskaya said.
cyberphobia
Cyberphobia is the fear of computers and updates caused by a traumatic memory. For example, if someone has been harshly criticized, teased, or lost their job because they couldn’t handle a program.
“This fear is inherent in older people to a greater extent, where, due to age-related characteristics, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the rapid update rate of technology,” said the clinical psychologist who works with mental trauma. , a psychotherapist of the online psychotherapy service socialbites.ca Zigmund.online told Julia Kaminskaya.
According to him, all people find it difficult to tolerate rejection. Such situations can cause states of helplessness, hopelessness, and may well cause panic attacks, psychosomatic reactions, and phobias.
socionetophobia
Suffering from this phobia, they turn off the laptop camera, do not want to put a photo on the avatar and do not rush to create accounts on social networks.
“Socionetophobia is a cruelty spree that has changed with the introduction of new technologies. Basically there is fear of public disapproval. A person has the feeling that any information found on the Internet can be used for blackmail, persecution, ”Kaminskaya explained.
According to him, in Russia this fear is further reinforced by family and historical stories about the dire consequences of speaking someone’s true opinion in times of oppression.
radiophobia
Radiophobia is the fear of the consequences of exposure to radiation from antennas, base stations, and equipment. As a rule, the main enemy of a radiophobic person is a microwave oven, since it irradiates not only food, but also the area around it.
“In the 1900s, after the invention of X-rays, people were extremely worried about the possibility of using this technology to image the human skeleton. Since the development of 5G technologies, radiophobia has gained a new and significant impetus to spread,” says a psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the Zdorovye telemedicine clinic. by Viktor Nurdaev.
Lack of understanding of technology and distrust of official information sources that define its working principle play an important role in the development of this fear.
nomophobia
Nomophobia is the fear of being without a phone. Those who suffer from this disease in the absence of a smartphone develop a decrease in irritability, mood swings, anxiety and sometimes even depression.
“There can be various reasons, such as feelings of emptiness, abandonment and loneliness from not being able to communicate with the community, or a feeling of helplessness when you cannot complete the planned tasks without access to the phone. In addition, the presence of the phone reduces anxiety and increases the confidence that one can use the phone to seek help or solve an acute problem,” Fetisov explained.
Moshnyatskaya noted that this anxiety disorder is mostly seen in the 20-35 age category.
“Today, on average, one in three people will feel uncomfortable being unable to communicate or be left without a phone. For one in five people, this is a life-threatening symptom of nomophobia,” he said.
scopophobia
With the advent of CCTV cameras, a new mental disorder has emerged – scopophobia. According to experts, scopophobia is associated with a fear of being looked at, speaking in public, or speaking over video calls.
“We can talk about this term if a person is uncomfortable with the thought of being watched by cameras all the time. Scopophobia is closely related to agoraphobia, the fear of leaving the house,” says Nurdaev.
emojiphobia
Gadgets opened up the world of social networks to people, in which many things seem ideal. This led to emojiphobia.
“A person suffering from this disorder is worried that their message will be misunderstood, choosing the wrong emoji, or sharing a new post inappropriately. The mere thought of such a situation can cause anxiety,” says Kaminskaya.
To some extent, he says, this is due to the fact that there is a growing culture of cancellation in Western countries when the community “fires” one of its members for misconduct or bad words.
Moshnyatskaya believes this also led to the spread of trollephobia. Due to the impossibility of conveying intonation and the lack of detail in the comments, many are prone to mistaking the words of another person.
“A person isolates himself from others by interpreting comments as insults, he wants to be invisible on the Internet. This phobia is often treated by novice bloggers, who are faced with the fear of actively positioning themselves on the network, Moshnyatskaya says.
phobia
“Many Internet resources publish disturbing news, including on a psychological topic, which can cause another type of discomfort in predisposed people – fear of fear or fear of phobia,” Nurdaev said.
According to him, people with this disorder become more suspicious and fearful because of the risk of getting into a situation where they will feel bad.
“Phobophobia often develops in people with phobic or anxiety disorders and is manifested by the fear of experiencing unpleasant sensations,” said the expert.
Source: Gazeta
