Bogiphobia (phobia of the supernatural): causes, symptoms and treatment

Probably, when you were little, your parents or other relatives told you stories about beings of another nature that appeared to scare or take children like you who behaved badly or did not want to sleep, in all the families in the same area there were the same characters who came to look for you; surely you remember the "bogeyman" and the "bogeyman". The only purpose of your parents with these stories was that you fell asleep or that you stopped doing something they did not like. This occurs thanks to the feeling of fear that most people have in the face of the unknown or the supernatural, a feeling that is normally accentuated when we are younger.

However, this natural and common feeling of fear that we all experience after watching a movie or hearing a horror story, It can manifest itself very intensely in some people, even becoming paralyzing and plunging them into an intense state of anxiety. This exacerbated panic of supernatural beings or invented characters, It is known as bogyphobia

. In this article we will explain in detail what this specific phobia is, including its origin and symptoms.

• Related article: "Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders"

What is bogiphobia?

Bogiphobia is defined as extremely intense and unfounded fear of beings of unknown origin and based on legends, whether they are supernatural (that is, they bear no resemblance to our world and are not governed by the laws of nature) or imaginary (these simply do not exist, they are fictions, but they can resemble the human or approach the world that we know). Within this list, if we are of Hispanic descent, the "bogeyman" and the "bogeyman" may sound familiar to us. Pathological fear of ghosts and monsters are also included in this type of disorder.

Although bogiphobia can be summed up as the fear of the supernatural, it is a specific phobia; therefore, the manifestations of this (as well as that of the other specific phobias, such as speaking in public) go beyond the natural fear and anxiety that occur when faced with unknown situations or disturbing.

Specific phobias are a type of disorders that are included in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and belong to the so-called anxiety disorders. Therefore, they are accompanied by a series of symptoms of psychophysiological origin that we will describe later. ahead, but among those that we can already highlight, for the presentation of the disorder, fear and anxiety intense.

The name of the disease, bogyphobia, derives from the Greek word φόβος (phobia) which means fear, and from the Anglo-Saxon word boogeyman. The boogeyman is a creature of mythological origin belonging to the Celtic culture, this imaginary being is the protagonist of a variety of legends and tales in the north of the United Kingdom; would be the Scottish equivalent of our "bogeyman". Moreover, curiously, like this one, he is also represented as an old man who goes looking for the children who misbehave and ignore their elders to put them in a big sack and keep them away from their houses.

Apparently there are copies of the boogeyman and the boogeyman in all countries, just change the name, in Germany is called "buztemann", which would be something like a buzzed man and in Italy it is known by the term of “Babau”. There are many other "scarers" typical of each culture and tradition, apart from those we have mentioned: Baba Yaga, Boogeyman, ChanchoGente, Coco, Guajona. Bloody Bones, Krampus, Lamia, the Big Bad Wolf...

People affected by bigophobia usually develop the disorder during early childhood.. This can start in a mild way; as a feeling of fear and fear of finding monsters in the room, usually under the bed or in the closet, especially at bedtime; Normally it is also accompanied by fear of the dark, these children prefer to sleep with a light on. In its mildest form or even without being a reason for diagnosis, bogiphobia is quite common and occurs especially in children who have high doses of imagination and are capable of fable great fantastic stories, this is usually overcome in adolescence with the acquisition of greater cognitive abilities that allow us to discern between reality and fiction.

Bogyphobia is usually seen worse, by most people, than other specific phobias such as the fear of flying, since you would have, although exaggerated, a well-founded or rational fear; the plane can indeed crash - although we know that it is something very unlikely to happen. However, the characters that bogiphobics are afraid of do not exist and, what is more, they usually belong to children's stories.

Therefore, the reactions of bogiphobes seem more irrational, for others, than those that occur in other types of pathological fears. This prejudice also occurs in those affected, who add to their condition the ridicule they feel for believing in monsters, ghosts or other types of invented creatures when we know, as rational beings, that these are not really exist.

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Causes

The origin of bogyphobia occurs in the first years of life through stories about mythological characters or supernatural beings that are counted in all families and places, among which are the "scarers of little boy".

The custom of using a "child scare" such as the "coconut" to instill fear in the little ones Its objective is that they comply with certain normally routine behaviors: take a bath, eat, go to sleep when at an hour early... They can also be used to make sure children don't go near dangerous places or use certain objects, including moving away from people.

For example, in the case of places, you can invent a story of a supernatural being that lives in the depths of a well and is able to extend its arms made of tree branches several meters to catch the children who roam the area and use them as food. If the children believe that a monster capable of harming them lives in the well, they will not look out and they will not fall.

The "scares-children" would come to be a kind of what is known in psychology as negative reinforcement, a stimulus is given (the story that is told) to avoid or encourage a behavior or attitude (go to bed, stay away from the well).

The extent of these characters are present in all countries, and the number of legends that circulate in which these “scare children” are protagonists gives us an idea of ​​how common the practice is in boys and girls from all places and times. Nevertheless, this threat is used less and less due to the risks that it can entail, such as the development of bogyphobia.

As we have explained, bogyphobia usually stems from this type of negative reinforcement that involves scaring children, but it can also stem from other causes. Viewing a horror film at too young an age, where fact cannot yet be separated from fiction, can make the boy or girl believe that the monster in the movie is real and is going after him.

This can also develop after some fright or joke in childhood, such as hiding in a part of the house and suddenly running out screaming. This scare can be punctual or repeated, the person does not remember having experienced the situation, but it is somehow registered in the unconscious. Bogyphobia can sometimes occur through a more complex mechanism: after suffering a childhood trauma, the child in this case is not able to process the traumatic situation and creates the image of an evil monster for protect yourself.

Bogiphobia is strongly linked to the pathological terror of the dark (ligophobia), since symptoms of fear of supernatural beings are intensified when the person is dark. This is logical, because being in the dark, we do not know exactly what is around us, nor what the noises and shadows we see are related to. People with bogyphobia turn all these stimuli into threatening ones.

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Symptoms of bogiphobia

According to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) specific phobias are part of anxiety disorders. These pathological conditions can become very serious and present a series of symptoms that disable the person for the correct development of their daily life.

Patients with bogiphobia present a series of common psychological symptoms, What:

• fear of dark places
• Fear to loneliness
• changes in behavior
• Intense anxiety and fear
• Panic attacks (occasional)

Like other specific phobias, there are a series of physiological reactions that can occur during exposure to the situation or before, by anticipation. Although there are differences, not all people have all the symptoms, nor do they occur with the same intensity. The following reactions commonly occur:

• Incrise of cardiac frecuency
• Xerostomia (dry mouth)
• Increased blood pressure
• sweats
• nausea and stomach pain

Physical symptoms can aggravate mental ones, since the person can relate, for example, the increase in heart rate with the risk of having a heart attack and dying.

In the case of bogyphobia, people normally choose to flee, and leave the place that produces them. panic and try to avoid exposing themselves in the future to the same situation that has caused the picture of anxiety. In the case of infants, the expression of anxiety and fear occurs through intense crying that takes the form of tantrums, young children may become paralyzed and hold on tight to their caregivers, without move.

Treatment

The psychological treatment of bogiphobia is based on the management of anxiety and irrational beliefs that maintain this dysfunctional reaction based on fear. To do this, these forms of psychotherapeutic information are used:

• psychoeducation
• controlled exposure
• Systematic desensitization
• cognitive restructuring