Bibliophobia (fear of books): causes and symptoms

Phobias are a fairly common type of anxiety disorder.. Human beings can be afraid of many stimuli and it can be normal; However, the phobic disorders They are characterized because the fear they cause is irrational.

Virtually everyone would be afraid of being alone with a lion, but not a clown. There are individuals who feel terrified when they are close to these funny characters, which is known as coulrophobia.

Phobias create discomfort and anxiety for the person who suffers from it, who tends to avoid the phobic stimulus that produces this unpleasant feeling. There are different types of phobias, one of them is bibliophobia or fear of books and reading. In this article we will talk about this phobia and explain its causes, symptoms and consequences.

What is bibliophobia

Bibliophobia is a phobia and, therefore, an irrational fear of a phobic stimulus, in this case of books and reading.. It usually starts at an early age, for example, at school when children may have some unpleasant experience with reading. Imagine a child who has reading difficulties and has to read a text aloud because the teacher asks him to do so.

In front of the class, the boy begins to read, but he does it very slowly and the words get stuck because of his nerves. The child becomes more and more nervous, and the laughter of his classmates makes him feel so bad that this experience is not forgotten. As the years go by, he keeps remembering this situation every time he has to read a text. This unpleasant experience marks him, and he feels great discomfort when he sees a book or has to read it to him. In fact, he avoids at all costs having books in his hands because they cause great anxiety.

Causes

As you can see, one of the origins of this phobia can be a traumatic experience, and as in the previous example, it usually starts at an early age. Learning this irrational fear can occur by a type of associative learning called classical conditioning, and the reasons for these experiences unpleasant can be the lack of comprehension of the text and low self-esteem, different learning disorders or bullying and ridicule for not reading correctly.

One of the most important characteristics of this type of learning is that it involves reflex or automatic responses., not voluntary behaviors. Classical conditioning is the connection between a new stimulus and an already existing reflex, therefore, it is a type of learning according to which a stimulus originally neutral, which does not provoke a response, it ends up causing an associative connection of this stimulus with the stimulus that normally provokes said response. answer.

Characteristics of classical conditioning

One of the great classical conditioning theorists was Ivan Pavlov, who devoted part of his life to studying it, and is famous for his experiments with dogs.

Ivan Pavlov he was not a psychologist but a physiologist who wanted to investigate the salivation process in dogs. His experiment consisted of measuring the saliva of the dogs when he presented them with food. Now, this intelligent character noticed that, after repeatedly showing them food, the animals salivated even when it was eaten. food was not present, simply in the presence of Pavlov, because the dogs knew that when he appeared at the door they were going to receive the delicacy. This happened because the dogs had learned that the presence of Pavlov was equal to the presence of food.

Undoubtedly, Pavlov was important for providing knowledge and data on this phenomenon, but the first scientist to investigate conditioning with humans was john watson. He is known for one of the most famous experiments in history and at the same time controversial, but which served to understand what happens in our body when we have a phobia. In the following video you can find Watson's experiment explained.

Other causes of fear of books

The learning of phobias by classical conditioning refers to the fact that the environment plays a determining role for a person to be phobic. However, other theorists have affirmed throughout history that this disorder could have an origin genetic, that is, that some people could be more likely to suffer from this pathology thanks to the inheritance.

In addition, there is another theory called Seligman's "priming theory," which states that the response Fear is key to the survival of the human being, since it activates the fight-flight response in situations of danger. For this reason, we are biologically programmed to be afraid of certain stimuli more easily. This type of associations are called primitive and non-cognitive, which are not easily modifiable by logical arguments.

Symptoms of this phobic disorder

Although there are different types of phobias, they all share the same symptoms, the only thing that varies is the phobic stimulus that causes them. Phobias are characterized by the discomfort and anxiety they generate and by the avoidance behaviors they cause.

When a person feels an irrational fear of books or reading, tends to avoid those situations in which they may be in contact with this stimulus that causes an unpleasant sensation.

In summary, the symptoms of phobias are:

• Extreme anxiety and fear in the presence or imagination of the phobic stimulus.
• Accelerated heartbeat.
• Tremors.
• Avoidance behaviors.
• Thoughts that the person is going to run out of air.
• Thoughts of great discomfort.
• hyperventilation
• Lightheadedness, nausea, dizziness and headaches.
• Hypersweating.
• Pain or tightness in the chest.

treatment and therapy

Like the vast majority of phobias, the treatment with the greatest scientific support is cognitive behavioral therapy., which consists of correcting and modifying those thoughts or behaviors that cause discomfort in the patient. There are several techniques that are used, including relaxation techniques or exposure techniques.

The latter is the treatment par excellence, and more specifically the expository technique of systematic desensitization, which consists of gradually exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus while learning coping tools effective.

However, other types of psychological therapy have also shown their effectiveness in different studies, for example, the mindfulness wave Acceptance and commitment therapy.

In severe cases, drug treatment can also work, as long as it is not the only therapeutic option and is combined with psychotherapy.