Dinophobia: symptoms, causes and treatment

The phobias considered rare are those infrequent phobias, or of which we have never heard of... Maybe this happens to you with dinophobia, which consists of the phobia of the sensation of vertigo and/or dizziness (we should not confuse it, but with the phobia of heights).

In this article we will see what exactly this phobia consists of, as well as its associated symptoms, some of its possible causes and treatments that can be applied.

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

Dinophobia: what is it?

Dinophobia is the phobia of vertigo and/or dizziness. We must not confuse this phobia with the fear of heights (acrophobia), since in dinophobia the phobic object is vertigo, not heights (which would be one of the causes of vertigo).

It is, thus, a specific phobia (a type of anxiety disorder), listed as such in the current DSM-5 (Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Thus, in dinophobia there is a disproportionate, intense and irrational fear of feeling dizzy or dizzy. What is also feared are the sensations associated with this physiological state; for example, feeling that the body goes one way and the head goes the other, feeling short of breath, feeling that everything around is moving/wobbles, losing balance, lack of stability...

Dinophobia is actually a rare phobia; that is, it is a rare phobia. It is much more frequent, for example, the acrophobia (phobia of heights).

vertigo

Vertigo consists of an objective sensation of movement, of rotation of the environment or of oneself. It is also related to a feeling of "falling into a vacuum" (although this does not really exist). The feeling of vertigo not only appears when we are in high places, but it can also appear in a panic disorder, for example.

This altered psychophysiological state is related to an alteration in the vestibular system (related to balance, posture, and spatial control), and found in the ear. In addition, the sensation of vertigo is very unpleasant and can cause intense fear, so it is logical that this sensation could end up causing a phobia such as dinophobia.

On the other hand, vertigo can be accompanied by other symptoms, such as a feeling of imminent fainting, loss of balance and/or nausea.

How long can the feeling of vertigo last? It depends on its trigger, etiology... but, generally, from minutes to days. Vertigo can affect anyone (we must differentiate it, but from dinophobia itself said), although the most frequent ages of onset are between 40-50 years and from 70.

Relationship with other phobias

As a curiosity, Dinophobia has been related to other types of phobia, in this case phobias of more abstract objects, such as eternity or infinity (apeirophobia).

An evolutionary sense???

Like many other phobias, dinophobia could also have, etiologically, an evolutionary sense. That is, our ancestors might have feared this feeling of vertigo by relating it to possible damage or traumatic events.

As a result, we may have "inherited", to a certain extent, this type of phobia. The same happens with phobias of a more biological type, such as the phobia of heights (acrophobia), of snakes (ophidiophobia), of spiders (arachnophobia), etc.

Symptoms

The symptoms associated with dinophobia are the following.

1. Intense fear of vertigo

The main symptom of dinophobia, like that of any specific phobia, is an intense, irrational and disproportionate fear of a specific phobic object (in this case, vertigo and/or dizziness). This fear can be triggered by stimuli that recall said sensation of vertigo., or simply appear without a triggering stimulus.

2. physiological symptoms

Remember that specific phobias are anxiety disorders. All of them imply physiological symptoms such as: dizziness, vertigo, feeling of shortness of breath, tachycardia, sweating, tremors...

In the case of dinophobia, these are the same symptoms (causally, one of them is the dizziness / vertigo itself).

3. Interference

In order to diagnose a phobia as such, the symptoms must cause interference in the person's daily life.to. Although it is true that there are some phobias that do not interfere with daily functioning, because the phobic stimulus is not found in everyday life (think, for example, of snakes, living in a city…). So the same thing can happen with dinophobia (although, remember, a triggering stimulus isn't always necessary for dinophobia symptoms to occur).

4. Discomfort

Another important symptom of dinophobia is the discomfort that the phobia itself causes, since the person may be limited in their day to day, due to that constant fear of suffering from vertigo.

• You may be interested in: "What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do"

Causes

Phobias can have many causes, though the most common cause is a traumatic event. In the case of dinophobia, it may be that the person has experienced a traumatic situation related to these bodily sensations (vertigo or dizziness), as well as bridges, heights, planes…

Thus, the fact of experiencing a situation of these characteristics (with a great emotional charge associated), may be enough to develop dinophobia. This also includes cases where you do not directly experience such a situation, but you do hear about it, see it in other people (vicarious conditioning), etc.

In addition, once the symptoms of dinophobia are experienced, the following often occurs: the appearance of a terrible fear of experiencing these symptoms again, which turns the disorder into a vicious circle difficult to get out without treatment.

Treatment

The treatment of dinophobia, at a psychological level, includes two major options: exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (They can be used together, although exposure therapy usually already includes cognitive-behavioral techniques).

Let us remember that the exposure therapy It consists of the most effective treatment for specific phobias, as demonstrated by various studies. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also offers very good results.

For its part, exposure therapy includes exposure to the phobic stimulus, gradually (through a hierarchy of items). The objective is that the patient go "overcoming" increasingly difficult items until he manages to face the phobic situation no need to run away from it.

For this, the patient is often trained in coping strategies that he can use when feel high levels of anxiety, such as breathing, relaxation, or imagery positive. On the other hand, cognitive-behavioral therapy essentially includes cognitive restructuring, which has the objective of "restructuring" the catastrophic thoughts of the patient in relation to vertigo and its associated symptoms, in order to replace them with other more functional, realistic and adaptive.

That is, with phobias, cognitive distortions and irrational thoughts often appear that should be combated; This is also the case with dinophobia. For this reason, cognitive behavioral therapy has the mission of offering the patient tools to be able to detect such thoughts, in order to later modify them.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association –APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Madrid: Pan American.
• Horse (2002). Manual for the cognitive-behavioral treatment of psychological disorders. Vol. 1 and 2. Madrid. 21st century (Chapters 1-8, 16-18).
• Derebery, M.J. (2000). Diagnosis and treatment of vertigo. Cuban Journal of Medicine, 39(4): 238-53.
• Lopez, a. (2005). Specific phobias. Faculty of Psychology. Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment.