GERASCOPHOBIA: SYMPTOMS, CAUSES AND TREATMENTS - ARTE - 2024

The gerascofobia is irrational and excessive fear of growing old. It constitutes an anxiety disorder, so the fear experienced in this alteration is pathological. All people can have a certain fear of aging. However, it does not have to imply the presence of a psychopathological alteration or the development of gerascophobia.

Gerascophobia is a type of specific phobia that is rare in society. People who suffer from this disorder have very high anxiety responses and a notable alteration in their behavior due to their fear of getting old.

It is a psychological alteration that does not remit, so it is highly important to treat it properly in order to overcome it.

Characteristics of gerascophobia

Gerascophobia is one of the most particular types of specific phobias that exist today. Specific phobias, as is well known, constitute a type of anxiety disorder motivated by the presence of a specific phobic fear.

Each specific type of phobia differs mainly by the feared element. So gerascophobia differs from other specific phobias due to fear of aging.

Aging is a fact that everyone experiences at some point in their life. Which entails a series of circumstances such as deterioration of physical capacity, loss of functionality, change of lifestyle, etc.

This moment in life can affect each person differently. There are those who adapt perfectly and there are those who present a series of alterations related to the lack of adaptation to old age.

However, gerascophobia does not refer to the type of adaptation that the individual makes to old age, but rather defines the presence of an irrational fear of the presence of old age.

The person with gerascophobia develops an irrational fear of aging, which is why this fact becomes their greatest fear. Fear is so high that it can significantly affect the individual's behavior, functionality and quality of life.

Symptoms

The main symptomatology of gerascophobia is based on manifestations produced by anxiety. The fear of aging causes a high degree of nervousness that translates into significant alterations.

These alterations usually affect different components. In fact, the symptoms of gerascophobia are encompassed in three main areas: physical disorders, cognitive disorders and behavioral disorders.

Physical alterations

Anxiety disorders seriously affect the physical functioning of people, producing a series of alterations in the body.

In the case of gerascophobia, the physical symptoms are usually intense and severe, although on rare occasions they end up constituting a panic attack.

The manifestations of gerascophobia at the physical level respond to the increased activity of the central nervous system that is experienced.

This increased activity can cause quite varied symptoms, so the physical alterations of gerascophobia may be slightly different in each case.

Generally speaking, an individual suffering from this disorder will experience some of the following symptoms when exposed to its feared stimuli:

1. Increased heart rate.
2. Palpitations
3. Increased respiratory rate.
4. Feeling of suffocation
5. Tension in different muscles of the body.
6. Pupillary dilation.
7. Notable increase in sweating.
8. Shaking chills.
9. Pain in the head and / or stomach.
10. Feeling of unreality.

It is not usual for the individual with gerascophobia to experience all symptoms at the same time. However, it is common to experience a good part of them, with an increase in the heart and respiratory rate being the most common symptoms.

Cognitive disturbances

Cognitive alterations refer to the sequence of pathological thoughts that a person with gerascophobia develops. These cognitions are closely related to aging and motivate and increase the experimentation of fear towards it.

The negative thoughts that the person develops can be multiple and quite unspecific. However, in all of them there is a significant cognitive bias towards the negative consequences of aging.

Likewise, negative thoughts about personal capacities to cope with old age tend to appear. Normally, a negative assessment is made about the characteristics that oneself will have when they grow old.

Behavioral disturbances

The physical and cognitive symptoms caused by gerascophobia directly affect the behavior of the person. In fact, the behavioral alteration of gerascophobia can become serious and limit the quality of life and functionality of the person.

Behavioral symptoms have to do with the efforts individuals make to flee from their fears. That is, to avoid aging.

Today it is not well established what behavioral alterations gerascophobia entails. Mainly because these can be multiple and usually depend more on the personal characteristics of the individual than on the alteration itself.

However, constant reparative behaviors, initiation of anti-aging treatments, behaviors to avoid wear or physical deterioration, etc. are usually common.

At first glance these behaviors may seem healthy and healthy to a person. However, in gerascophobia they contain a high pathological component.

The person performs activities to avoid discomfort instead of to achieve well-being, a reason that very often translates them into behavioral alterations.

Causes

At present, it is postulated that the mechanism that best explains the acquisition of fear is classical conditioning. That is, the fact of being exposed to situations that convey the idea of ​​fear.

In this sense, living with people who have a high qualm towards aging, often comment on the dire consequences of getting older or give great importance to staying young, are factors that can contribute to the development of gerascophobia.

Classical conditioning seems to be especially important during childhood, as this is the time when most fears are developed. However, these factors can play a relatively important role at any age.

Vicar conditioning / information

Direct exposure is not the only mechanism by which fears can develop. In fact, the acquisition of information verbally or visually can also motivate the appearance of fears.

Being exposed to situations in which information is passed on about the negative consequences of old age and the importance of staying away from it can contribute to the development of gerascophobia.

Genetic factors

Although today there is not much data about the heritability of phobias, certain authors indicate a relative presence of genetic factors in their development.

Thus, people with family members with a history of specific phobias or other anxiety disorders may be more likely to develop gerascophobia.

Cognitive factors

Finally, certain elements of the way of thinking seem to play an important role not so much in the development but in the maintenance of phobias.

Unrealistic beliefs about the harm that can be received, attentional biases towards threats or low perceptions of self-efficacy would be the most important components.

Treatment

Psychological interventions are the most indicated than gerascophobia, presenting higher efficacy rates than pharmacological treatments.

Specifically, cognitive-behavioral treatment is the psychological intervention that shows the best results, since it allows to reverse the majority of cases of specific phobia.

In this treatment, exposure is mainly used, a technique that consists of exposing the phobic individual to their feared elements.

The exposure is usually carried out gradually since the objective is for the subject to remain in front of his phobic stimuli without being able to escape from them. Little by little the individual gets used to those elements that he fears so much, and learns to prevent his anxiety response.

Relaxation techniques are usually added to facilitate the process, as these allow the person to reduce anxiety and provide a state of serenity that helps them face their fears.

Finally, when cognitive distortions and inappropriate thoughts are connoted towards aging, cognitive therapies can also be performed to manage and replace them.

References

1. Barlow D. and Nathan, P. (2010) The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Psychology. Oxford University Press.
2. Caballo, V. (2011) Manual of psychopathology and psychological disorders. Madrid: Ed. Piramide.
3. DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2002). Barcelona: Masson.
4. Emmelkamp PMG, Wittchen HU. Specific phobias. In: Andrews G, Charney DS, Sirovatka PJ, Regier DA, editors. Stress-induced and fear circuitry disorders. Refining the research Agenda for DSM-V. Arlington, VA: APA, 2009: 77–101.
5. Muris P, Schmidt H, Merckelbach H. The structure of specific phobia symptoms among children and adolescents. Behav Res Ther 1999; 37: 863–868.
6. Wolitzky-Taylor K, Horowitz J, Powers M, Telch M. Psychological approaches in the treatment of specific phobias: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 2008; 28: 1021–1037.