The fear of being lonely or alone is called autophobia or monophobia. It could be caused due to excess anxiety, depression, or going through a paranormal activity or even loving loved ones. An abnormal and persistent fear of the loneliness of being alone. They may worry about impostors, weird noises, or the possibility of developing a medical problem.
Symptoms of Autophobia-
When a person gets into a condition in which they could end up alone. Symptoms of autophobia include:
- Worrying about being alone.
- Facing worries about what could happen while being alone.
- The sensation of numbness.
- Experiencing chest pain, dizziness, heart palpitations, hyperventilation, and nausea when alone.
- A feeling of life-threatening terror when alone or in a situation where you could soon become alone.
- An irresistible want to escape when you’re alone.
- Nervousness from anticipating loneliness.
Causes of autophobia?
Autophobia is an illogical anxiety/nervousness that develops when an individual fears they may end up alone. Even though there might not be a reliable threat of being alone, an individual will still be unable of controlling their symptoms.
The person may be unable to function normally until they no longer sense loneliness. When they are alone, they may feel a despairing need to end their isolation as soon as they can.
Autophobia treatments-
People with phobias like autophobia are often treated with psychotherapy but the common forms are exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy.
1. Exposure therapy :
Exposure therapy treats an avoidance behaviour that has established over time. The goal of this treatment is to improve your quality of life so that your phobia no longer limits, what you’re capable of doing in your daily life.
Your therapist will re-expose you to the cause of your phobia over and over again. They will do this first in a manner where you feel safe, and slowly will move to a real-life situation.
2. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) :
In cognitive behavioural therapy, your psychotherapist will expose you to your phobia. They’ll also practice other methods that will help you learn how to confront and deal with being alone in a more productive way. They will work with you to observe your pattern of thinking around your phobia.
CBT can give you a wisdom of self-confidence when confronting your autophobia. This will help you feel less overwhelmed the next time you have to challenge it.
Medications for autophobia-
In most cases, psychotherapy alone is effective in treating autophobia. But occasionally medication can be suitable in helping to lessen a person’s symptoms so that they can recover through psychotherapy. Your healthcare professional may recommend medications at the beginning of your treatment. They may also instruct you to use it in specific situations.
Some frequently used medicines for people with autophobia include:
- Beta blockers: Drugs that block stimulation produced by adrenaline in the body. This is a chemical that becomes existing when a person is anxious.
- Sedatives: Benzodiazepine sedatives can aid you to relax by minimalizing the amount of anxiety you feel. These medications should be used carefully because they can be addictive. This is particularly true in people with a history of drug or alcohol.
So here is all the information regarding Autophobia. Hope you find it informative. Please do comment down below if you want to ask or share anything regarding this or any other phobia. If you are feeling a bit alone please do feel free to ping us in our Instagram Handle or in our mail. We will do our best to help you out 🙂
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