Who among us does not fear and worry about having a disease? No one for sure, but that this fear prevents you from practicing your normal life, here you should know that you have a problem that you must overcome, find out the reasons Fear of disease And ways to treat it in this article.

What is the fear of disease?

Fear of disease Nosophobia It is a type of mental illness caused by an intense and irrational feeling of fear of any possibility of disease. In the past, it was believed that this phobia affects medical students only due to their many readings in pathology, but this belief is no longer common now because many people suffer from this phobia. For other reasons.

Symptoms of phobia Fear of diseases

There are several symptoms associated with this phobia, so they always appear with a sense of urgency that you need to go to the doctor for a medical examination, and at the same time you feel anxious and afraid that you may have a serious disease such as heart disease, cancer and AIDS, even after the doctor confirms that you do not suffer from any serious disease.

To you Physical symptoms of fear of illness Which includes:

• Feeling sick.
• excessive sweating
• Increased heart rate.
• feeling dizzy
• breathing fast.
• sleep disturbances

Nehemak Information: Symptoms of Physical and Psychological Anxiety and How to Treat Them

The difference between fear of disease and delusion of disease

The two cases are always confused, and although they are related, they are two different cases. delusional illness It refers to the fear of serious, life-threatening diseases, even if a person does not show any symptoms or with very normal symptoms such as a headache or a sore throat, he believes that he must have a serious disease.

As for the fear of diseases, it is the person’s complete conviction that he will contract a certain disease, although he does not feel any symptoms, but he is completely convinced that he will contract this disease and will certainly show symptoms.

Also, someone who suffers from a delusion of disease always seeks to confirm his illness by asking people close to him or going to the doctor. As for someone who suffers from a phobia of fear of diseases, he sometimes avoids talking about his feeling and tries to ignore it and not think about it, but he does not always succeed in that.

Reasons for fear of disease

There are several logical and possible reasons for this phobia, including:

• The death of a loved one due to an incurable disease.
• Infection of a close person with a certain disease and its complications, especially for those who closely care for this patient.
• Having a family history of a particular disease.
• It may be common in people with other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• The outbreak of a global epidemic like Covid-19 and the difficulty of controlling it, and everyone is talking about it everywhere.
• Read a lot of information about diseases and their symptoms, especially since they have become available to everyone through the Internet, especially serious diseases.

Treating and overcoming fear of disease

If you reach a state of anxiety about your health and life that prevents you from practicing your life normally, and affects your family and your ability to work or study, here you must seek to overcome this problem or at least try to live with it. There are two main methods of treatment:

Exposure Therapy

It is also called shock therapy, and this treatment depends on deliberately placing you in situations that stimulate this phobia, and the therapist teaches you the means that help you control your fears and confront them with certain techniques such as meditation and relaxation techniques.

For example, the therapist may make you watch news about an outbreak of a certain disease that has no cure, read about many diseases, meet people who actually suffer from diseases and spend time with them, during which you will use the methods you have learned to control the anxiety attack that will attack you, and with time and training it is possible It is very important to be cured of this phobia once and for all.

Read more about shock therapy, its types, results, and safety

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

And it depends on trying to change the way you think if you have thoughts about the disease, and training you to realize that what you think about the possibility of getting sick are irrational and unfounded thoughts. This therapy also focuses on teaching you ways to prevent yourself from seeking to confirm whether or not you are ill either.

Read more about cognitive behavioral therapy, its benefits and risks

Are there medications to treat fear of disease?

There are no medications designed to treat this type of phobia, but the doctor may prescribe some medications that relieve anxiety symptoms such as beta-blockers that control heartbeat and blood pressure or other psychological medications, but you should not take any medications on your own without Consult a doctor because these drugs may cause addiction and other problems.

Do medical tests relieve this condition?

Attempting to do medical examinations is not a cure for this phobia, as it may relieve anxiety if it is confirmed that the disease is not infected, but it is not always the best way to resort to it. It will prevent him from recovering from this condition.

However, despite the futility of this method of treatment, in the event that clear actual symptoms appear, the doctor will request medical examinations because they may actually cause the discovery of a specific disease, and the doctor here is the one who makes the decision after hearing the patient’s complaint, examining him physically and evaluating his complaint. .

Tips to reduce the fear of disease

• The realization that instilling fear in yourself may be completely intentional, as sometimes it is deliberately instilling fear in the hearts of people and exaggerating things through the media for commercial or political purposes.
• Your fear may be real, but you must ask yourself first, do you have risk factors for developing a certain disease, do you have healthy habits to be healthy?
• Take a break from watching the media and surfing the Internet to reduce your anxiety and give your mind a rest.
• Learn meditation and relaxation exercises and always practice them.
• Try to get out of your comfort zone, break the routine you always live in, and do things you have never done before.
• Surround yourself with positive people who don’t have big fears like you, learn from them and take confidence in their courage.

Finally, you must not give in to this situation and do not let Fear of disease It prevents you from having a normal life that you deserve, and you must seek help and seek to overcome your fears, and you must trust that you are able to do so, and if you have any questions, you can consult one of our doctors from here.