Water is one of the few substances necessary for all life forms on the planet. For a person, water is important for hundreds of different reasons, especially for lifestyle. Drink water to survive; prepare food to eat; to wash, to observe hygiene - it is difficult to imagine a person without water. He himself is 70% water. But the fear of water does exist and it has a medical name.
What is hydrophobia?
Rabies, or hydrophobia - is an intense, reckless fear of water. The term comes from the Greek hydro and phobos, that is, the fear of water in direct translation. Rabies is one of the synonyms of rabies. With rabies, there is a panic fear of spasms in the throat when swallowing. Both animals and people infected with rabies experience such excruciating pains in the throat musculature that they can not drink. They will rather suffer from thirst and dehydration than decide to take a sip. Not always hydrophobia is a symptom of the disease, it is also a separate mental disorder .
Fear of water is good and bad
Like every fear, the fear of water is a negative emotion before a real or imagined dangerous situation. In the course of evolution, this psychic reaction was formed as a protective mechanism necessary for the survival of the species. Moderate fear helps to avoid danger, gather at a critical moment and act correctly.
The Benefits of Fear of Water
While the fear of water is moderate, it benefits. For example:
- Fear of deep water in a poorly floating person is a healthy phenomenon. It is associated with the potential danger of drowning.
- Fear of the dark water . Ignorance of what lies beneath the dark surface of the water causes fears quite justifiably. Whether it is not enough, that there can be - splinters, a silty bottom or at all a predator.
Harm of fear of water
As soon as the fear of water goes beyond, she begins to poison life. Excessive and unhealthy fear is a mental disorder, and there is no use waiting for it.
- Fear of drinking water, reckless fear of choking with water without awareness, understanding of any real danger, harm both emotional and physical health.
- Fear of washing hands or taking a shower gradually leads to the fact that a person suffering from hydrophobia becomes antisocial.
Hydrophobia - causes
The answer to the question, what is the fear of water, psychiatrists have long been found. This is a mental disorder, a phobia. This is not a healthy fear of the danger associated with water, but of pathology. Various factors can provoke its development:
- Classical : lived through traumas, unpleasant and dangerous situations.
- Mediated : not only direct experience, but also observation of certain scenes and events contribute to the development of phobia.
- Verbal : stories about dangerous water entail the development of fear, children are especially vulnerable, and early education, focused on the fact that water is dangerous, can be detrimental to the psyche.
Hydrophobia - symptoms
Water is the natural "ingredient" of living organisms on Earth. However, not everyone likes water. There are people who like to relax on the shore of the lake, but there are those who do not like it. A person who does not know how to swim will feel uneasy and uncomfortable near an open water body. Although this does not necessarily mean that he suffers from hydrophobia.
To understand whether a person has hydrophobia or not, you need to analyze his fear. Fear related to phobia is always:
- Excessive : a person with frustration is afraid even in safe situations - in the bathroom, in the shower.
- Irrational : a person suffering from hydrophobia is unable to explain the reasons why he is afraid of water, and how dangerous it is.
- Uncontrollable : the thoughts and actions of the hydrophobic are completely at the mercy of fear. He is inevitable for him.
- "Avoiding" : the fear of water during hydrophobia is so intense that a person tries to avoid any contact with water. Even if this behavior adversely affects the quality of life.
- Permanent : fear of water does not appear in certain situations, it accompanies any contact with water.
Symptoms of hydrophobia can be divided into three types:
1. Physical , in contact with water:
- palpitation and breathing;
- straining muscles;
- pain and dizziness;
- I have a stomachache;
- there is a sense of detachment;
- pupils dilate;
- toshnit.
2. Cognitive : the fear of water is accompanied by bad obsessions.
3. Behavioral : the desire to avoid contact with water reaches extreme limits and adversely affects the condition, both appearance and health in general.
How to overcome the fear of water?
Psychotherapists know how to overcome the fear of water. They use cognitive behavioral therapy. The principles of its operation consist in gradually "accustoming" a person to water, showing her safety, creating conditions for positive emotions. In the presence of controlled fear, a healthy person himself is capable of exposing himself to such "treatment": if something causes fear, the situation of a collision is modeled, and knowledge appears - what was a threat is in fact harmless.