Cometophobia: symptoms, causes and treatment

Everyone knows the expression 'for tastes, colors', which can be extrapolated to a world as complex and, in turn, as limiting, such as phobias.

There are many phobias, but what is surprising is that there are even specific groups of phobias, such as phobias of animals, phobias of environmental phenomena, phobias related to the body...

A fairly unknown group of phobias are those that have to do with space phenomena, being cometophobia, fear of comets, the specific phobia that we are going to talk about here. Let's see this rare and, in turn, curious phobic disorder.

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What is cometophobia?

Cometophobia (from the Latin 'comet', in turn from the Greek 'kometes', 'hair, star with a ponytail' and from the Greek 'phobos' 'fear') is the fear of comets. Is about a specific phobia that shares a category with other phobias related to astronomical phenomena or objects, such as heliophobia (fear of the Sun), cosmicophobia (fear of cosmic phenomena), meterophobia (fears of meteorites), siderophobia (fear of stars) or spacephobia (fear of space abroad).

Those who suffer from this phobia feel an irrational fear of comets or phenomena that are related to them, and normally its appearance is related to superstitions or erroneous beliefs about outer space. Although, objectively, comets are just a mixture of rocks, ice and star dust, there are those who still believe that they are messages from the afterlife or signs that the end is near. There are also those who believe that they are interplanetary ships sent by aliens to invade Earth.

Whatever the cause behind this phobia, the truth is that cometophobes have serious problems witnessing the passage of a comet, talk about the last time one of them passed by, or see them in sci-fi movies and space documentaries abroad.

Possible causes of this psychological disorder

As with other phobias, it is accepted that the factors that cause cometophobia are a combination of external events, such as having experienced a traumatic event, and internal predispositions to the individualsuch as your genetics and personality.

In the past, this fear was quite common, since neither scientific explanations nor objective methods to study comets, what they were composed of and when their frequency was appearance. Because of this, in times like the Medieval Age, it was believed that the passing of a comet was a sign that Judgment Day was drawing near, or that the destruction of humanity was just around the corner. corner. These types of beliefs were closely associated with religion and related superstitions.

However, today there are still people who fear comets. One of the reasons is that, either by having seen comets in science fiction series or by having documented their potential destructive capacity, comets They are seen as something that could mean the end of humanity, if they hit the Earth. Another belief shared by cometophobes is that comets could be interplanetary ships of highly advanced alien civilizations that are planning to invade our planet.

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Symptoms

As with other phobias and, in turn, other anxiety disorders, cometophobia implies high levels of stress for those who suffer from it. The symptoms can vary depending on the level of fear in the face of the phobic stimulus and the degree of frequency with which contact is made. The symptoms and, especially, the anxiety, will appear when the person visualizes images of comets, although The phobic response can also occur simply by talking about or thinking about these cosmic phenomena..

Phobias are disorders that must be treated very seriously, since among the symptoms that can occur are panic attacks. When the person, whether he is a cometophobic or suffers from another phobia, manifests one of these attacks, they can present physical problems such as palpitations and acceleration of the heartbeat.

Other physical symptoms that patients with cometophobia may manifest, in addition to the panic attacks, are excessive sweating, tremors, chills, irregular breathing, choking sensation, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, feeling of butterflies in the stomach, nausea, headache, dizziness, feeling faint, numbness, sensation of needles in the skin, dry mouth, tinnitus, disorientation, increase in blood pressure, confusion and hyperventilation.

Regarding psychological symptoms, we are afraid of losing control, fear of fainting, fear of dying, fear of having a disease, guilt, shame, isolating ourselves. from others, depression, hopelessness, trouble concentrating, feeling disconnected, anger, irritability, mood swings, anxiety and fear widespread.

Treatment

Cometophobia is a very rare phobia, and since its phobic stimulus is comets, which in itself is rare, sufferers of this phobia rarely decide to seek therapy. Actually, unless they're working on something related to comets, like astronomy, people cometophobes do not see the need to undergo treatment, since they already have the subjective sensation of being in control his disorder. They believe that as long as they don't see a comet, they can live a normal life.

This fact It is striking when compared with other more common phobic disorders, associated with more everyday stimulisuch as blatophobia (fear of cockroaches), acrophobia (fear of heights) or aerophobia (fear of flying). All these phobias are usually seen in consultation because those who suffer from them suffer many limitations when avoiding cockroaches, heights and airplanes, respectively. In contrast, since comets are rare, there is not a high degree of meddling in cometophobia.

However, asking for help never hurts. Comets are something rare and, due to this, they are really beautiful natural phenomena that, when they occur, their observation is considered an authentic recreational activity and unique experience. The individual with cometophobia not only risks missing a historical event, but also deprives to have a good time with his friends and family, who may have decided to spend the night watching the passing of the kite.

Within psychotherapy, the patient is encouraged to recognize patterns of behavior and thought what got him into the situation he finds himself in, what his beliefs are about what a comet is, and does he really believe they are as dangerous as he thinks they are. At the consultation you can be taught strategies to deal with the anxiety associated with your specific form.

Within the pharmacological pathway, the most prescribed psychoactive drugs for phobias are antidepressants, anxiolytics and beta-blockers. These medicines do not cure phobias, but they do reduce their symptoms and give the patient a greater degree of well-being. However, to ensure that the person is not irrationally afraid of comets or that he may acquire effective strategies to deal with it, psychotherapy will be the best option to achieve this aim.

Apart from the classic psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments, there are other less empirically proven options that could have good results on the cometophobic person, such as neurolinguistic programming or hypnotherapy, although, to this day, Today, few investigations have found that these types of alternative treatments are effective in treating eating disorders. anxiety.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Association.
• Bados, A. (2009). Specific phobias: Nature, evaluation and treatment. Electronic publication.