Microphobia: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

There are people who have a phobia of certain things of small or even tiny size (for example, bacteria), so that they can become anxious when they are in public spaces, so they usually always have a gel or wipes on hand disinfectants and in the most serious cases they could avoid leaving the case as much as possible to avoid being exposed to that type of situations.

Microphobia is a type of specific phobia known as the irrational and excessive fear of bacteria, parasites and/or small objects and animals, whether visible or not.

In this article we are going to see what microphobia consists of and how this type of specific phobia could affect the daily life of those who suffer from it. We are also going to comment on some brief guidelines that can be applied from some psychological treatment approaches.

• Related article: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

What is microphobia?

Microphobia is a type of specific phobia characterized by an excessive and irrational fear or dread of bacteria, parasites, and/or very small objects and animalswhether they are visible or not.

In many cases of people suffering from microphobia, the existence of a constant fear of being able to become infected with some kind of bacteria and/or germ through any type of surface (for example, public toilets, tables, etc.) what causes these people to disinfect themselves with disinfectant gel or wipes continuously, especially in public spaces.

• You may be interested: "Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders"

Symptoms

When making a diagnosis of a case of microphobia, it is essential that the clinician take into account the most common manifest symptoms that are usually found in those patients who suffer from this type of specific phobia, these being the ones that we are going to list below:

• Catastrophic and dysfunctional thoughts and ideas about the danger that tiny things can have.
• Suffer excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis).
• Increased heart rate (tachycardia).
• Dizziness caused by other anxiety symptoms.
• Nausea and/or vomiting.
• Continuous and excessive cleaning rituals, which can trigger the development of an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

It is important to mention that to make a diagnosis of microphobia it is not enough that a person suffers from one or more of these symptoms, but it should be a professional who will evaluate the case exhaustively and, based on the relevant tests, make the diagnosis in case you were facing a real case of microphobia, always keeping in mind various factors associated with the patient such as their age, family history at the level of mental health, whether or not the patient had other pathologies both physically and psychological etc

In addition to the symptoms that we have just seen, which were mostly physiological and behavioral, it is convenient to keep in mind a series of symptoms at a cognitive level that tend to manifest in cases of microphobia and that it is important to take into account, these being the ones that are going to be listed below:

• obsessive thoughts
• Difficulty concentrating when fearing the possible presence of a tiny object or organism.
• Fear of fainting.
• Thoughts related to anticipatory anxiety (eg. g., fear of future exposure to tiny objects).
• Irrational thoughts related to the microphobia they suffer from.

It is important to note that the symptoms of microphobia could develop in a comorbid way with those of other phobias.

• Related article: "What is fear? Characteristics of this emotion"

Causes

On the other hand, microphobia is the result of a combination of causes, among which it is worth highlighting a genetic predisposition to anxiety problems and, above all, the fact of having gone through certain anxiogenic experiences, so that this state of discomfort is associated with the concept of "microbes" or "bacteria", etc.

Classification of microphobia in the diagnostic manuals of mental disorders

In the main diagnostic manuals on mental disorders, such as the DSM-5 of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the ICD-11 of the World Health Organization (WHO), we could classify microphobia within the category of specific phobias, which is one of the most common types of anxiety disorders.

Below we will see the main characteristics of specific phobias in each of the manuals that we have just mentioned and adapted in this case to the possible symptoms of a person with microphobia.

1. Specific phobia in DSM-5

Characteristics that would allow a clinician to diagnose microphobia, being a type of specific phobia, according to the DSM-5 are the ones that we are going to list below:

• Intense anxiety or fear in the presence of tiny organisms, things, or objects.
• Fear or anxiety usually arise immediately before tiny organisms or objects.
• Such a person tends to actively avoid any kind of situation where there might be tiny things.
• The person usually experiences clinically significant discomfort that interferes with their daily life.
• This condition cannot be explained by another disease (eg. g., due to panic disorder).
• Symptoms of fear of tiny objects, things, and organisms must last for at least 6 months.

• You may be interested: "Mental health: definition and characteristics according to psychology"

2. Specific phobia in ICD-11

The main characteristics of microphobia, being a type of specific phobia according to ICD-11, would be the following:

• Excessive fear or anxiety that occurs when a person is exposed to tiny organisms or things.
• Those symptoms of fear or anxiety are totally out of proportion to the actual danger.
• These tiny objects or organisms are often avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety.
• The symptoms of microphobia just mentioned should last for several months.
• Furthermore, said symptoms have to be severe enough to cause discomfort and/or impairment.

Treatment of microphobia

When a person is experiencing considerable difficulties in their daily life due to a possible microphobia or any other type of phobia, such as the phobia of certain animals, the phobia of fly... so that avoids being present in certain places or in a wide variety of situations in which exposure to the feared stimulus could occur, it would be advisable that you seek help from a mental health professional so that she can help you progressively face your fear and lead a full life again.

That is why below we will see some psychological treatments that have proven effective against various types of specific phobias, among which microphobia can be found.

1. cognitive therapy

One of the most widely used psychological treatments to address cases of microphobia is cognitive therapy., because these patients usually present a series of cognitive symptoms related to this excessive fear of objects or tiny organisms, so in this type of case the therapist will be in charge of identifying what those thoughts would be. distorted in order to analyze them jointly with the patient so that he can be aware that they are not rational.

Once those irrational thoughts related to microphobia have been identified and analyzed, the therapist will help the patient to replace them with other types of thoughts and ideas that are more in line with reality and thus be able to help you on the way to exposure to feared stimuli without suffering excessive fear or anxiety.

Within this type of therapy, it is worth highlighting a technique widely used to help identify these irrational thoughts and beliefs (in this case related to microphobia) in order to modify them through its rational questioning with a Socratic dialogue or debate, and this technique has been commonly called "cognitive restructuring".

• You may be interested: "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: what is it and what principles is it based on?"

2. behavioral therapy

Another psychological therapy that has also proven effective against specific phobias such as microphobia is behavioral therapy, being a therapeutic modality that may increase benefits when combined with cognitive therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy).

In behavioral therapy, which is based on behavioral learning theories against microphobia or any other type of phobia, you can start with a relaxation training technique, which is made up of progressive muscle relaxation exercises or autogenic training, focused breathing exercises and also exercises aimed at managing your attention.

Another widely used technique for the treatment of microphobia is the exposure technique against the feared stimulus (tiny objects or organisms), so that the patient should gradually be exposed to these tiny objects or organisms and, so that he can do so with a more effectively, he should have learned during therapy sessions to control his thoughts and emotions while carrying out those exposure to the stimulus that fear.