phobophobia

Phobophobia is a phobia defined as the fear of phobias, or the fear of fear, including intense anxiety and unrealistic and persistent fear of the somatic sensations and the feared phobia ensuing. Phobophobia can also be defined as the fear of phobias or fear of developing a phobia. Phobophobia is related to anxiety disorders and panic attacks directly linked to other types of phobias, such as agoraphobia. When a patient has developed phobophobia, their condition must be diagnosed and treated as part of anxiety disorders.

Phobophobia is the fear of fear itself: the internal sensations associated with another phobia and anxiety. This binds it closely to other anxiety disorders, especially generalized anxiety disorders and panic attacks. It is a condition in which anxiety disorders are maintained in an extended way, which, combined with the psychological fear generated by phobophobia of encountering the feared phobia, would ultimately lead to the intensifying of the effects of said phobia that the patient might have developed, such as agoraphobia, and specially with it, and making them susceptible to having an extreme fear of panicking. Phobophobia comes in between the stress the patient might be experiencing and the phobia that the patient has developed as well as the effects on their life, or in other words, it is a bridge between anxiety/panic the patient might be experiencing and the type of phobia they fear, creating an intense and extreme predisposition to the feared phobia. Nevertheless, phobophobia is not necessarily developed as part of other phobias, but can be an important factor for maintaining them.