Generality
Rupophobia is a psychological disorder characterized by a fear of dirt .
This phobia leads the subject who suffers to reiterate obsessive cleaning behaviors and rituals on himself or on the environment that surrounds him. Rupophobia, for example, causes people to wash their hands continuously or devote themselves to housework in a deep and more often than necessary way.
If this impulse is not satisfied, the rupophobic subject can manifest a sense of general dissatisfaction that can develop into an anxiety disorder . As with other phobias, rupophobia often involves somatic symptoms, including profuse sweating, accelerated heartbeats, nausea and a lack of oxygen.
Rupophobia can have negative repercussions in a person's daily life, in terms of limitations in social and working life. Fortunately, this disorder can be tackled and overcome with an appropriate psychotherapy course.
What's this
Rupophobia: definition
Rupophobia is the pathological and irrational fear of dirt and, more generally, of anything that is not hygienic or a potential source of contamination .
From this condition, often comes the obsession to clean oneself and the environments in which one resides. It should be noted that the phobic situation can vary from person to person: usually, those suffering from rupophobia fear some situations more than others.
Rupophobia: terminology and synonyms
- The word " rupophobia " comes from the Greek "rùpos" which means " sudiciume " and " phóbos ", that is " fear ".
- To indicate rupophobia, sometimes the term " misophobia " (from the Greek "mysos", dirty) is used, which more precisely indicates a pathological fear of contact with dirt, to avoid any kind of contamination or infection.
- Another synonym of rupophobia is " Pilate syndrome ", referring to the obsession with washing hands.
- Less often, the term is used interchangeably with germophobia, which literally means "phobia of germs".
Causes and Risk Factors
Rupophobia is a disorder in which the phobic stimulus is represented by contact with objects, people or animals considered "not clean". For those suffering from this disorder, "dirt" is interpreted as an indefinable element capable of infecting or contaminating.
Why do you suffer from Rupophobia?
As with other phobias, the causes of rupophobia are not always easily identifiable. Several factors can contribute to the disorder, including environmental and character traits.
Often, rupophobia is triggered an unconscious moral conflict, induced by dramatic episodes of life, painful memories, too high expectations of parents or other events so negative that they are impossible to accept and rationalize. Usually, these experiences increase insecurity, making the subject feel inadequate and deeply dissatisfied with one or more central aspects of his life.
Symptoms and Complications
Rupophobia: what are the symptoms?
Rupophobia is mainly expressed with discomfort and a sense of repulsion towards the phobic stimulus, represented mainly by the idea or exposure to dirt, inter-human contact and the potential transmission of germs . This condition puts the sufferer in a state of perennial alert: the hygienic deficiencies and the potential sources of contamination can be almost everywhere.
In the most severe cases, the fear of not being able to clean oneself or the place where one lives results in a serious anxiety, which can lead to anxiety and / or panic attacks in full force, with cold sweat, increase heart rate (tachycardia), nausea, shortness of breath and feeling of suffocation.
Note
Rupophobia is not to be confused with the excessive scruples that some people show during the daily cleaning of their home. It is, in fact, a real pathology: at the mere thought of coming into contact with something dirty, the people who suffer from it experience anxiety and discomfort, so as to put in place a series of obsessive rituals . The patient adopts these behaviors to keep away the situations that can make him sick ( avoidance strategies ).
Rupophobia: how to recognize it?
Rupophobia can occur very differently from subject to subject.
In the milder forms, the person can be very attentive to all the rules of cleanliness and need to always feel in order. In this case, rupophobia manifests itself more as a nuisance, a discomfort, a bad mood and an inability to relax.
In the more serious forms, on the other hand, the need for cleanliness is enriched with ritual and obsessive behaviors, designed to avoid potentially dangerous contacts.
In most cases, the strategies adopted by rupophobic include:
- Wash your hands continuously and spend a lot of time on personal hygiene in general;
- Wear gloves, masks and other devices to avoid contact with dirt;
- Scrupulously wash objects, furniture, clothes and more, using detergents and disinfectants.
These habits allow the person suffering from rupophobia to calm down: the goal is to feel physically and morally "clean". However, this series of behaviors affects daily and working life. In addition to occupying a considerable part of free time, rupophobia greatly limits its activities and conditions choices (for example: houses to attend, the possibility of hosting, etc.).
If left untreated, rupophobia leads to the development of obsessions and ideas of contamination, such as to manifest hypochondriac concerns. The latter can induce, in particular, the person to undergo invasive and expensive clinical examinations.
Somatic symptoms of Rupophobia
Rupophobia does not stop at the simple gesture of cleaning. In fact, as in other phobias, any stressful or distressing situation triggers a fear that leads to a definite " fight or flight " behavior: the body is responding to the phobic stimulus with an extreme expression of the survival instinct, which results in an abnormal response to an emotional level, evident due to the appearance of somatic symptoms. In other words, the mind interprets the thought of being exposed to dirt as a threat, thus automatically preparing the body to move away from this potential danger. This excessive reaction is one of the clearest signs that a person is a victim of a phobic disorder.
The physical symptoms that rupophobia may involve include:
- Cry;
- Tremors;
- Accelerated beats;
- Chills and goose bumps;
- Cold sweat or, on the contrary, hot flushes;
- Tingling and itching;
- Nausea and / or vomiting;
- Headache;
- Wheezing and feeling of suffocation;
- Numbness;
- Sense of fainting or dizziness;
- Confusion and feeling of "empty head";
- Sense of oppression or chest pain;
- Increased muscle tension;
- Dry mouth;
- Constant anxiety;
- Increased need to go to the bathroom (diarrhea, urinary urgency, etc.).
Rupophobia: possible consequences
Rupophobia can greatly limit the life of sufferers, as it can affect multiple activities and contexts, such as work or relationships, as well as causing significant distress in everyday life. People with rupophobia spend more time at home than usual, as they have to respond to the need to clean more thoroughly (for example, with disinfectants) and more often than necessary. This habit often results in irritative dermatitis due to recurrent contact with the chemicals contained in detergents.
Over time, anxiety symptoms are also activated just thinking about situations that typically trigger the disorder and, in extreme cases, can lead to depression or schizophrenia .
Diagnosis
If the symptoms of rupophobia significantly limit normal daily life and persist for over six months, it is advisable to consult a doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist to identify and define the problem.
The initial evaluation of rupophobia is fundamental to understand the reasons behind the discomfort, identifying its meaning and quantifying its extent, then establishing the correct therapeutic procedure.
Therefore, the doctor:
- He asks the patient for a description of the symptoms and what triggers them;
- Try to establish how severe the symptoms are;
- Excludes other types of anxiety disorders or general pathology.
Treatment and Remedies
How can Rupophobia be overcome?
The treatment of rupophobia includes a path aimed at the management of anxiety stimuli and the resulting events. The choice between the different interventions or the combination of these depends on the person and the severity of the clinical picture.
One of the most effective strategies for dealing with and overcoming rupophobia consists of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy . This intervention aims to induce the patient to rationalize his fear and helps the patient to focus on the possibility of reacting to anxious thoughts and modifying the vicious circle, addressing the negative beliefs associated with rupophobia, resizing them.
In combination with psychological treatment, the psychiatrist can prescribe, for short periods, a drug therapy to control the anxiety symptoms associated with rupophobia. The medicines that are usually indicated are benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). It should be emphasized that the use of drugs can temporarily calm the problem, but it does not resolve it definitively.
