Water is an amazing element, it attracts and fascinates some, and repels others. There are people who experience panic in the face of water. Hydrophobia is considered a fairly common type of pathological fears.
Description and varieties
Hydrophobia or aquaphobia (both names are equally valid) - this is a mental disorder manifested in an irrational fear of water. Doctors of antiquity drew attention to the fact that people and animals sick with rabies show signs of fear of water, because of this the fear of water has been called for a long time rabies.
Later, a deadly infectious disease caused by a virus of the genus Rabies was nevertheless proposed to be separated, and the name "rabies" was retained by him. A mental disorder associated with hydrophobia became known as hydrophobia.
Fear of large water is, in general, peculiar to mankind, because water not only makes it possible to survive in the physiological sense, but is also able to take a person’s life. therefore this phobia is usually attributed to the ancients, directly related to the work of the deepest parts of the brain that have been preserved since the dawn of mankind - the limbic system.
Since the sources of water and its type can be different, then There are quite a few types of fear. These include the fear of drowning, the fear of the bathing process. Some are afraid to just go into the water or swim, but can calmly contemplate water bodies and seas.
Some cannot even stare at the pond without a shudder. A hydrophobic can be afraid of large water - seas, lakes, rivers (most often people do not know how to swim), and can be horrified by the sight of water in a bathtub or glass. Sometimes fear suggests the need to swallow water and drink. Some are afraid of clear water, while others are afraid of muddy water. Some are terrified of cold water, others are hot. There are aquafobes who are afraid of everything at once.
Some are afraid only in situations where they are in the vicinity of water or in water, others are constantly worried, because water surrounds us everywhere - at home, on the street, on vacation and at work.
Psychiatrists have long doubted whether this fear should be considered a disease, and therefore in 1940, when they compiled the Psychiatric Dictionary, hydrophobia was not included in it. But the omission was corrected in 2004, when lists of mental illnesses for the eighth edition were revised. And today such a diagnosis exists, it is listed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) under the code F-40 (phobic mental disorders).
Mental disorder is characteristic uncontrolled fear that is not subject to the arguments of common sense and human willpower. Hydrophobic understands that his fear is absurd, unjustified (what's so bad in a glass of water?), But he cannot control himself as soon as he gets into circumstances or a situation that seems dangerous to him (even if it's just a need to drink a glass of water )
Do not confuse hydrophobia with a panic fear of depth. Fear of deep water is called bathophobia, and it is more widespread (up to 50% of people on the planet are more or less afraid of depth). However, bathophobes are afraid only of depth (this is a kind of spatial phobia), you won’t scare them with water in a glass or basin.
A true aquafob often does not remember when he first had fears associated with water. Some are sure that they were born with this feature. Often the fear of water or the circumstances and actions associated with it is accompanied by obsessive thoughts (obsessions), and sometimes by a compulsive disorder (the need to perform certain ritual actions).
Hydrophobia is an independent ailment, and sometimes it is only one among the other symptoms of a mental illness, for example, with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
History knows many famous hydrophobes. This fear suffered an American actress Natalie Wood All her life she was afraid of open natural reservoirs and eventually drowned near the island of Santa Catalina in California.
Afraid of water hollywood diva Michelle Pfeiffer, singer and model Carmen Electra. In ancient times, the Byzantine emperor suffered hydrophobia Heraclius the First. As a result, he became a hostage to his fear and received several crushing defeats from the Arabs only because he could not decide during the tactical retreat to cross the Bosphorus.
Afraid of water and Woody Allen. The American actor and film director in his fear went to the extreme limit - he has several phobias at the same time, obsessive-compulsive syndrome.
Reasons for the appearance
Fear phobia may appear and develop both in childhood and in adulthood. In children, the cause may be a negative experience, for example, getting water in the ears and eyes, if the child fell in the bathtub, choked on water. Subsequent bathing may already be accompanied by protests, which parents often take for pampering and the usual whims, without giving it due importance. Not being resolved, the baby's problem is exacerbated, persistent hydrophobia is formed.
At the heart of any type of hydrophobia is a natural component - the instinct of self-preservation. Reasonably afraid of water is normal. This does not allow us to dive thoughtlessly anywhere, which means it increases survival. But hydrophobia is abnormal because the manifestations of fear are hypertrophied, a person cannot control them.
Most often, according to psychiatrists, the basis is a certain situation that turned out to be traumatic for the psyche, for example, unsuccessful bathing, awkward and incorrect attempts to learn how to swim, getting into a zone of natural disaster (floods), seen a film about such situations, which left an indelible mark in the psyche.
If this happens in childhood, then the likelihood that fear will gain a foothold and become habitual is higher. The psyche of an adult is more resistant to such events.
It is not necessary that the person himself saw or became a participant in stressful events associated with water. Perhaps he heard about something that left a mark in his subconscious, for example, he learned that someone he knew had drowned. Also, the child can copy the behavior model of parents - if mom or dad is afraid of water, then the likelihood that the child will suffer the exact same phobia will increase significantly.
Hydrophobia contributes to the characteristics of character and personality, for example, most often this phobia develops in people who are suspicious and anxious, experiencing for any reason, impressionable, not able to withstand stress. For such people, not only personal or alien experience, but also mystical experience may well become the starting mechanism for the development of mental disorder - the fortuneteller predicted death from water, the horoscope does not recommend contact with the water element, etc.
Symptoms
Symptoms that are characteristic of hydrophobia are also characteristic of most other phobic disorders. They can be divided into two groups - psychological and autonomic.
Psychological. Before a certain event related to water should take place, a hydrophobic person may experience a feeling of anxiety, which gradually builds up, develops and can disrupt sleep and appetite. Obsessive negative thoughts appear that spin in the head, anxiety increases. At the moment of sudden falling into a frightening situation (for example, a hydrophobic was pushed into water or doused with water), a panic attack is possible.
With her, the patient completely loses the ability to control his behavior, the situation around. It is for this reason that many aquafobes drown, even if they can swim, suddenly finding themselves in the water.
- Vegetative. If the situation is recognized by the brain as dangerous, there is a sharp surge of adrenaline. Physical symptoms are associated with this: dizziness, weakness in the legs, jumps in blood pressure, a sharp appearance of cold sweat, discomfort in the stomach, sometimes nausea and vomiting. The breathing becomes shallow, shallow, the pupils dilate, tremors appear. Possible loss of consciousness, balance.
After a panic attack, a person feels tired, exhausted. He is very afraid of becoming an object of public condemnation if the attack repeats in public. Therefore, aquafobes begin to avoid situations in which this can happen.
And here it all depends on the type of phobia. If a person is afraid of water, you are unlikely to persuade him to go to the river or spend a day off at the beach. If there is a fear of water in general, the hydrophobic can refuse to wash, replacing it with dry wipes or completely neglecting hygiene.
The most dangerous condition is a condition in which a person can not drink water - when trying to swallow a spasm of the larynx occurs. In this case, he may die of thirst if he is not treated on time.
What is the connection with rabies?
As already mentioned, hydrophobia is characteristic of people infected with rabies, but it acts as a separate symptom. Independent hydrophobia is not fatal, it is in no way interconnected with a dangerous viral disease.
With rabies, a person is thirsty, but he cannot take a sip of water because of the spasm that appears in the throat and larynx at the sight of water, at the sound of the sound of water. From the moment of the appearance of hydrophobia after the bite of an animal until the end of the disease, one to three days pass; rarely, patients with rabies live more than 5-6 days.After the active phase, a coma occurs and death from paralysis of the heart muscle or bulbar centers. To date, there is no data on the successful recovery of at least one patient with advanced rabies.
With the usual phobia associated with water, a person is not aggressive, nothing threatens his life as a whole. With isolated hydrophobia, you can live your whole life, however, the quality of life will not be the highest.
Treatment methods
Hydrophobia should be treated psychiatrists and psychotherapists. The main method today is considered to be psychotherapy. But in some cases, medications are prescribed as additional treatment - mainly antidepressantsif anxiety is increased, there are signs of depression. On their own, any medicine brings only temporary relief, the root cause remains, fear does not go away.
To overcome the fear of water, get rid of it, going to the doctor is required. Independent attempts, under the strict guidance of instructions from the Internet, to overcome fear can drive fear even deeper, as well as cause other mental disorders. Do not be afraid that the patient will be hospitalized. In most cases, outpatient treatment, visiting a therapist is enough.
The doctor identifies the causes of fear and if they are deep, childish, then sometimes it requires several sessions of hypnosis. After that, the old patient settings regarding fluids are gradually replaced by new ones. The decisive stage is immersion in the medium, that is, the resumption of contact with water, dosed, under the supervision of a specialist. The prognosis of therapy is positive - this fear can be overcome.
After a course of treatment, many even manage to learn how to swim.
Hydrophobia in children
Experts believe that the critical age at which children begin to fear water under traumatic circumstances is a period of 3 to 5 years. It is at this age that parents should more closely monitor so that the child does not watch the Titanic or flood movies.
It is important to pay particular attention to the prevention of water accidents. Well, if the child learned to swim before the age of 3, if this did not happen, you should not push him from the pier into the water and wait until he comes up. It’s better to take the kid to a good coach in the pool.
If the child already shows hydrophobia, do not disregard this. Silence of a problem does not solve it. It is necessary to show the baby to a child psychologist. At an early stage, many phobias are subject to correction by ordinary conversations, clarification, and game therapy.
The alarming symptoms in children include a refusal to swim in the river, the sea, a refusal to wash in whole or in part (for example, a fear of washing your hair), a refusal to learn swimming. If a home conversation does not help, you need to contact a specialist.
