Fear of the doctor (iatrophobia): symptoms and causes

We have all seen the doctor several times in our lives, and the work of these professionals is essential for our health.

But despite the benefits of dealing with this group, some people suffer from a disorder called iatrophobia, which is an irrational and persistent fear of doctors and, in general, all the professionals who are related to them, such as nurses. In reality, this disorder can extend to everything related to health. For example drugs.

Iatrophobia is a serious condition that must be treated. In this article we will review its characteristics, its causes and its treatment.

What is iatrophobia

Although going to the doctor could save a person's life, some individuals fear going to health centers because of the fear they feel in the presence of these professionals. In fact, the vast majority of us were born in a hospital, so the first person we have contact with in This life, in addition to our mother, is a doctor and the rest of the health professionals who are at the place of delivery.

But despite the fact that doctors are there to help us, some subjects develop a phobic disorder towards them.

Phobias are irrational fears that cause great anxiety and discomfort and, therefore, the person tries to avoid the feared stimulus. Fear and anxiety are sophisticated survival systems that have to do with the primitive part of the brain, so they are complex to deal with. However, phobias and anxiety disorders They can be overcome with the correct psychological treatment.

Differences of this disorder with fear of injections

Another phobia that is related to the fear of doctors is thetrypanophobiaor fear of injections, which usually affects the person when they have to give themselves an injection and go to the health center to get it. Therefore, it shares similarities with the phobia of doctors.

However, iatrophoba is more general and affects the person regardless of whether he has to give himself an injection or go to the health center to get vaccinated. Iatrophobia is manifested even by a simple routine visit to the doctor and is a heterogeneous concept, which can vary depending on the person affected.

In severe cases, the iatrophobic may fear even direct contact with drugs or the idea of ​​conducting an auscultation test. Both because of the fear of doctors or injections, the person can put her life at risk, for example, by not get vaccinated against diseases such as tetanus or avoid going to the doctor despite the possibility of suffering a disease would.

Causes

Phobias are irrational fears that generally develop as a consequence of a direct experience lived by the patient. This experience causes him a strong emotional impact that leaves him marked.

In reality, phobias occur by a type of associative learning called classical conditioning., which was originally discovered by Ivan Pavlov, but made popular by John B. Watson. To know how phobias are learned, you can see the audiovisual content shown below.

As explained in the video, the first research on phobias that was carried out with humans is known as the "Little Albert experiment", in which the child was conditioned to be afraid of a white rat that before adored. At present this experiment could not be carried out as it is considered unethical.

• You can learn more about classical conditioning in our article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments”

Other causes of phobias

Phobias do not only develop by direct experience, but observation can cause an individual to end up fearing doctors. Therefore, vicarious conditioning is another reason why a person can suffer from a phobia, and consists of observing the reactions of other people to a stimulus relevant to both the subject and the person watch. You can delve into this concept in our article: "Vicarious Conditioning: How Does This Kind of Learning Work?”

Some experts also affirm that we are biologically predisposed to suffer from phobic disorders. for fear and anxiety are emotions that have allowed us to survive as a species. The problem is that they have to do with the most instinctive and primitive part of our brain, and that is why they are not easily modifiable by logical arguments. The reason is that these associations are not cognitive, but emotional and primitive.

How to treat this phobia

There is a lot of research on the treatment of phobias, as many patients go to psychological therapy seeking professional help to treat phobias.

Scientific evidence shows that to overcome a phobia, cognitive behavioral therapy works very well. The most widely used cognitive behavioral techniques are relaxation techniques and exposure techniques. A method that combines both techniques and that has become the treatment par excellence for these pathologies is systematic desensitization.

This technique consists of gradually exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus, but not without first receiving instruction by the psychologist to develop useful coping strategies in situations feared. This is where relaxation techniques are mainly included.

In severe cases, drug treatment is indicated; however, always in combination with psychotherapy.

Current treatments

Nowadays, other methodologies are also used to treat phobias and other anxiety disorders, mainly third-generation therapies, among which stand out, the Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and the Acceptance and commitment therapy.

Virtual reality (VR) becomes a support for psychologists, since they allow the patient to be exposed to feared situations without the need for the phobic stimulus to be present. In addition, thanks to new technologies, mobile applications have been developed that include VR and augmented reality. We tell you about it in our article: "8 apps to treat phobias and fears from your smartphone”