Fear of responsibilities: what is it, types, symptoms and treatment

There are many different types of phobias, but one of the most common is the one that involves fear of taking responsibility.

We will dedicate this article to compiling all the information related to this phenomenon so that the reader can know how this is generated. difficulty, what characteristics are associated with it, what type of person is more prone to it and what is the appropriate treatment for fix it.

• Related article: "The 9 stages of the life of human beings"

What is the fear of responsibilities?

The fear of responsibilities is a pathology consisting of a phobia, that is, an irrational fear, in this case at the mere idea of ​​having to assume a situation in which the person is in charge of managing or taking care of an element, a task or a person. This phobia receives the technical name of hypengiophobia or hypengiaphobia, picking up the Greek word engys, which means narrow.

When a person suffers from fear of responsibilities, faced with a circumstance that poses one of these possibilities, he will react through a flight behavior that will also be visibly disproportionate, since the situation will not be objectively threatening. In addition, the subject who experiences this reaction will not know how to explain why this is happening, it simply happens.

Therefore, you will not be able to voluntarily control your reaction, but it will be an automatic and uncontrollable response. of your body, which prepares your body for an imminent flight from what it considers an aversive situation and therefore is putting you at risk. In short, faced with the option of taking responsibility for something, the person automatically runs away, without knowing why or being able to do anything else.

Obviously, this type of reaction can become a serious imbalance for individuals who are afraid responsibilities, since, as with all phobias, it is not a matter that they have chosen voluntarily. However, in other types of fears, for example, the fear of needles, the person is calm because it is not a situation that occurs frequently.

On the contrary, being afraid of responsibilities, he is distressed that an event of these characteristics may arise in any time, as it is a much more plausible option on a day-to-day basis, even if we are talking about responsibilities as a child scale.

Consequences of this phobia

Let's imagine for a moment what life would be like for a person with a serious case of this phobia. Depending on when these fears appeared, he could have had problems even from school, increasing the chances of dropping out early. It would also have interfered with his immersion in the world of work, causing him difficulties both in accessing a first job and in promoting.

It might even upset you simply for the act of making a date with someone else, even a friend. Obviously, suffering such unpleasant reactions to such routine situations would entail a imbalance for the person that would affect his mood and could even trigger another series of pathologies.

Therefore, hypengiophobia or fear of responsibilities is not a disorder that we should take lightly, because like all phobias, could be causing discomfort and serious damage in the life of the patient who suffers it, with the difference that the triggers of these specific fears are much more abundant in people's daily lives than those stimuli that arouse other types of phobias.

Another risk faced by people who fear taking responsibility is that of make their fear more and more powerful, since the flight or delegation they carry out so as not to have to face the situation acts as reinforcement (they avoid discomfort) and make that response more likely in the future. But at the same time, in a more rational way, they generate anguish to the person, because he is aware that it is increasingly difficult for him to face the fear of responsibilities,

• You may be interested in: "The Peter Pan Syndrome: adults trapped in Neverland"

Types of fear of responsibilities

We already know what the fear of responsibilities consists of and the serious consequences that this pathology can have. Next we will delve into the different types that we can break down based on the characteristics of the situation that is causing the fear.

1. Fear of making mistakes

One of the main causes that triggers fear of responsibilities in these people is the possibility of making a mistake. This option automatically blocks them and causes them to flee from the situation, which represents the threatening stimulus for them.

2. Panic not to measure up

The second option does not have to do with the possibility of being wrong, but refers to the fear of not living up to what others expect of us. This anguish translates into a rejection of the situation, completely eliminating that hypothetical option, by not acting in one sense or another.

3. Fear of being judged

Similar to the previous point, but with different nuances, there is also the fear that others will judge you for your behavior. For this reason, a person afraid of responsibilities you will prefer to leave the place before risking receiving a negative feedback of their conduct.

4. Terror of losing control

These individuals will also not feel comfortable in situations that are beyond their control, since these are moments that generate stress in the hypothesis that they imply an assumption of responsibility on their part. This would be the fourth type of fear of responsibilities that we could encounter.

5. Dread not being popular

Finally, the typology that also causes discomfort to these people refers to the scenario in which the individual in question is labeled as unpopular. It is a variant of the fear of being judged, with the difference that in this case the concrete fear is to receive a judgment that classifies him as irrelevant or not popular.

By avoiding social situations because of your fear of responsibilities, you will in turn fear that you will not be popular, with This will run the risk of entering a vicious circle, which could increase the anguish suffered by this person.

How to overcome this psychological problem

The most important question that anyone suffering from this disorder will ask is, how can I overcome the fear of responsibilities? As with most health issues, in this mental case, there is no quick fix. But the good news is that phobias have a good therapeutic prognosis. Therefore, the first and fundamental advice is to enlist the help of an expert psychologist.

Although your clinical judgment will be the key to deciding, these are some of the lines of action you could take.

1. Practice relaxation techniques

A person who suffers from the anxiety effects caused by fear so often will need to find the tools that help you reduce this physiological activation in order to begin to regain a state of neutrality. A technique widely used for this because of its ease of learning and effectiveness, is that of deep breaths.

You can also resort to more complex techniques such as meditation or mindfulness, which require more training.

2. Progressive exposure

In order to cope with the fear of responsibilities, the therapist will guide you on a path of controlled exposure to the stimuli that cause you fear. For this, the affected person will be the one who prepares a list of situations that generate less or greater panic, in order to gradually overcome one by one, without causing an overflow in the patient's emotions.

It is a delicate procedure and therefore should always be handled by an expert in psychology, since it is a behavioral technique that requires training to be effective. Such a tool, misused, could be counterproductive by provoking a too rapid approach to the aversive stimulus.

3. Cognitive work

In addition to physiological conditions and behaviors, it is important to spend some time working on the wrong thoughts that the person with fear of responsibilities is experiencing. These have to do with the types that we saw in the previous point, related to the fear of being judged, of not being up to par, of making mistakes, etc.

Thanks to the help of the psychologist, the patient will be able to rationalize situations and overcome these negative thoughts.

4. Self-esteem work

Finally, the self-esteem of the person should be stimulated, because after so many experiences negative and with those kinds of thoughts we were talking about, it is very likely that there has been weakened.

Bibliographic references:

• André, C. (2005). Psychology of fear: fears, anxieties and phobias. Kairos
• Capafons, J.I. (2001). Effective psychological treatments for specific phobias. Psicothema.
• Orgilés, M., Rosa, A.I., Santacruz, I., Méndez, X., Olivares, J., Sánchez-Meca, J. (2002). Well-established and highly effective psychological treatments: Behavior therapy for specific phobias. Behavioral psychology.