Pyrexiophobia: symptoms, causes and treatment

We know that phobias exist for any stimulus we can imagine. Many of them are considered "rare" phobias, due to their low frequency of appearance and/or the characteristics of the phobic stimulus.

This is the case of pyrexiophobia, which is the intense, irrational and disproportionate fear of fever hallucinations. In this article we will learn what this peculiar phobia consists of, and we will review what fever is and what hallucinations are. Finally, we will know the symptoms, causes and treatments of pyrexiophobia.

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

Pyrexiophobia: what is it?

Pyrexiophobia is the phobia of fever hallucinations. That is, it appears an intense fear of hallucinations in feverish states. It is a specific phobia (anxiety disorder), classified as "another type of phobia" according to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders).

When you have a very high fever, sometimes one of the symptoms that can arise is hallucinations. Hallucinations are "objectless perceptions", that is to say, it implies, for example, seeing something that does not really exist, or hearing it, noticing it, feeling it, etc.

So, hallucinations can be of different types: auditory, visual, tactile… Normally they appear associated with delusions (in psychotic disorders), although in the case of fever this is not the case.

hallucinations

Hallucinations also appear in other pathologies, this time more serious, since they are mental disorders and not a simple fever. This way, appear especially in psychotic disorders (for example schizophrenia). They can also appear in mood disorders (bipolar disorder and depressive disorder) or in a disorder of cognitive impairment (dementias).

In the population without mental pathology, although it is less common, hallucinations may also appear under highly stressful situations. Normally it is a more “physiological” type of hallucination; Specifically, we talk about the hypnagogic hallucinations and hypnopompic. The first appear when we are entering a dream state, and the second, when we wake up.

However, in pyrexiophobia, fear appears only in the face of hallucinations caused by fever.

• You may be interested in: "Hallucinations: Definition, Causes, and Symptoms"

Fever

The fever consists of an increase in body temperature. This increase is usually temporary, and responds to a specific disease, infection or discomfort. In most cases, fever is a response to infection.

Fever is caused by a group of substances (endogenous and exogenous) called "pyrogens." But how exactly does a fever occur? As we said, pyrogens are the agents that cause fever. These substances act on centers of the hypothalamus (specifically, on centers called "thermoregulators"), increasing its temperature.

When can you say you have a fever? In the case of children, a fever is considered to exist when the temperature is equal to (or higher than) the following:

38 degrees Celsius (38 ºC): if measured on the buttocks. 37.5 ºC: if measured in the mouth. 37.2 ºC: if measured under the arm (axilla)

In the case of adults, a fever is considered when the body temperature is between 37.2 ºC and 37.5 ºC.

Very high fevers: hallucinations

As we said, hallucinations appear when fevers are very high. We are talking about temperatures that can exceed 41ºC. This type of fever is usually not caused by an infection, but rather by a central nervous system (CNS) disorder.

When the body temperature is so high, the body can suffer damage. In addition to hallucinations, other symptoms appear such as confusion and drowsiness. The hallucinations that appear can be of different types and intensity.

On the other hand, if the body temperature continues to rise, the damage that the body can suffer is irreversible; in these cases, the proteins end up losing their structure. Finally, when a temperature of 42ºC is reached, he falls into a coma, and with 43ºC comes death.

differential diagnosis

We know that high fever can cause hallucinations to appear. However, there are other medical conditions that cause high fever and hallucinations, and that we must take into account so as not to confuse the symptoms:

Encephalitis

Encephalitis consists of an inflammation of the brain, which can cause irritation and swelling. Its cause is usually a virus. Symptoms of encephalitis include hallucinations and high fever. However, we insist that in pyrexiophobia the phobia occurs only to hallucinations caused by fever.

Symptoms

The symptoms of pyrexiophobia, as the specific phobia that it is, consist mainly of an intense, persistent and disproportionate fear of hallucinations caused by high fever.

Another of the symptoms of pyrexiophobia is the avoidance of the phobic stimulus; in this case, the person would avoid having a fever at all costs (although this is a difficult situation to control). This avoidance of fever would logically imply the avoidance of hallucinations.

In addition, as in all phobias, there is a discomfort associated with the symptoms, which affects the overall functioning of the person. This discomfort is clinically significant and interferes with the daily life of the individual with pyrexiophobia.

• You may be interested in: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

Causes

The causes of pyrexiophobia are related to previous experiences, related to hallucinations caused by the fever itself. That is, it is likely that the person has experienced these hallucinations in a situation of very high fever, and that they have experienced the situation as very unpleasant.

The hallucinations probably caused you fear, anguish, anxiety or such a degree of perplexity that the experience ended up being traumatic and causing pyrexiophobia.

Other possible causes of pyrexiophobia are related to more temperamental or personality aspects; There is a type of people who is more predisposed to suffering from anxiety disorders. These are people with a more insecure, unstable or “fragile” temperament. If, in addition, the person already suffers from another previous anxiety disorder, the risk may also increase.

Treatment

Pyrexiophobia is treated as the specific phobia that it is. The main psychological treatment (and the most effective) indicated for specific phobias is exposure therapy.. Through it, we can expose the patient to increasingly anxious situations and closer to the phobic stimulus.

In the case of pyrexiophobia, as it would not be ethical to induce a state of fever or induce hallucinations through drugs or drugs, one can choose to expose it to symptoms similar to these states. It can also be done through virtual reality exposure or through symbolic exposure (through videos).

The objective is for the patient, as far as possible in this case, to experience/feel the symptoms that cause so much anxiety (hallucinations) and that the associated intense fear ends up disappearing them.

Cognitive techniques can also be used that allow the patient to have a more realistic vision of the stimuli that he fears so much, understanding that these do not have to cause him harm. It is important that you understand that high fevers only appear in extreme and infrequent cases, that many times this does not can be controlled or predicted, and that in the case of appearing, the hallucinations that he can experience will not cause him damage.

In the end, fever is an adaptive response of the body that is warning us that "something is not right" (together with hallucinations, which can hardly be avoided) and this must be transmitted to the patient, to reduce catastrophic and pessimistic thoughts associated with the pyrexiophobia.