WHAT IS DEMOPHOBIA OR ENOCLOPHOBIA? (PHOBIA OF CROWDS) - ARTE - 2024

The demofobia or enoclofobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by experiencing an irrational, excessive and uncontrollable crowds to fear. Those who suffer from this alteration unjustifiably fear crowded spaces.

This fear causes an anxiety response automatically, which causes high discomfort for the person. The anxiety experienced in enoclophobia is so high that it causes avoidance and escape behaviors in the individual.

This fact means that the person with this type of phobia will avoid being in situations where there are many people at all times to avoid the high discomfort that it causes.

The alterations caused by this disorder can seriously affect both the well-being and the functionality of the individual. Likewise, it can limit you from carrying out a large number of activities. However, the best news about this disorder is that it has interventions that allow optimal recovery.

Characteristics of demophobia

Demophobia is a fairly common type of the well-known specific phobias. These disorders are characterized by the presentation of an excessive, irrational and unjustifiable fear towards a specific element.

In the case of demophobia, the feared element is crowds, which is why the individual experiences high sensations of fear when exposed to situations with many people.

Considering the globalized world we live in today, crowds are a fairly common element. There are many spaces in which large numbers of people can gather. Likewise, in most events of interest it is practically impossible to attend without the company of many other people.

For all this, demophobia is a disorder that can seriously affect the life of the individual. In the first place, it can greatly limit its functionality, since the person may be unable to attend or travel through different places where large numbers of people are.

On the other hand, the individual with demophobia can often be unable to avoid crowds, a fact that causes an immediate response of anxiety and high discomfort.

Symptoms

The symptoms of demophobia appear in response to the intense fear that the person presents about crowds. When the individual is faced with his feared stimulus (the crowd of person) he experiences a series of manifestations.

The symptoms seen in this disorder refer to a clear increase in tension and nervousness in the subject. The person experiences a high fear that produces a clear anxious symptomatology.

Symptoms of anxiety can be of various severities. The intensity of the manifestations of demophobia can vary in each individual and, above all, depending on the situation in which they are.

In general, the larger the crowd, the fewer options the person has to escape the situation and the less support they have at the time, the more intense the symptoms.

Normally the manifestations of demophobia do not end up developing a panic attack, although the symptoms are often very intense.

The symptoms of demophobia are characterized by affecting three different levels: physical level, cognitive level and behavioral level.

Physical level

The first symptoms that a person with demophobia experiences when exposed to crowds are physical manifestations. These manifestations constitute a series of physiological changes that occur in response to an increased state of alertness and anxiety of the person.

In demophobia these manifestations can be variable, but all of them refer to an increase in the activity of the central nervous system.

Increased heart rate and respiratory rate are the most typical symptoms, and you may also experience tachycardia, palpitations or feelings of suffocation. Likewise, increased muscle tension, pupillary dilation and sweating are manifestations that can be experienced in many cases.

On the other hand, headaches and / or stomach aches can often be experienced in response to increased body tension. Likewise, in the most severe cases, sensations of depersonalization and intense dizziness may be experienced.

Cognitive level

The physical manifestations, which refer to a clear state of anxiety, are quickly interpreted and analyzed by the brain. In this sense, demophobia shows a series of thoughts about the fear of crowds.

Cognitions such as the danger posed by many people being agglomerated in a specific place, the negative consequences that this can entail and the need to escape to be safe are usually common.

Thoughts about the personal inability to survive in these situations also seem to play an important role in the pathology.

However, the cognitions that can appear in a person with demophobia are multiple and uncontrollable. Thought is governed by fear of the crowd so any negative cognition about this situation can develop.

Behavioral level

The fear that a person with demophobia presents directly affects their behavior and behaviors.

Obviously, the main behavioral symptom of this disorder is avoidance. That is, the individual with demophobia will try to avoid whenever possible that situation that he fears the most, the crowds.

Likewise, escape behaviors are usually the most common behavioral responses among individuals with demophobia when they are immersed in a crowd.

Demophobia vs Agoraphobia

Demophobia bears similarities to another anxiety disorder popularly known as agoraphobia. In fact, agoraphobia has a much higher prevalence (almost 3%) than demophobia (less than 0.3%) in global society.

Agoraphobia is a disorder that is defined by the appearance of anxiety when being in places or situations where escape can be difficult. Or in places where, in the event of an unexpected panic attack, help may not be available.

Crowds and crowded places are obviously a place where escape can be more difficult than usual. In this way, it is one of the most feared situations in agoraphobia.

However, despite the fact that both demophobia and agoraphobia may present an irrational and excessive fear of crowds, they are not the same disorder.

The difference between both pathologies lies in the dreaded element. While in demophobia only crowded places are feared, in agoraphobia situations are feared where escape is complicated.

In agoraphobia, then, the feared spaces are not limited to crowds. Being in a subway or on a bus (even if it is empty) can be a feared situation for someone with agoraphobia since escaping is difficult. However, it will not be for a person with demophobia, since they only fear crowds.

Causes

The development of fears is a normal process of all humans. In fact, all people have the ability to experience these types of emotions.

Research on the etiology of specific phobias shows that conditioning plays a fundamental role in their development. However, it has been shown that there is no single cause of demophobia, so different factors can play a relevant role.

Classical conditioning

Having experienced traumatic experiences related to crowds or crowded spaces can play a major role in the development of demophobia.

These experiences can develop a clear fear of those situations that can become pathological.

Vicarious conditioning

In the same way, visualizing major catastrophes in crowded places, or negative events related to crowds can condition the person's experience of fear and contribute to the development of the phobia.

Genetic factors

Although they are not very well studied, many authors defend the presence of genetic factors in specific phobias.

The heritability of these alterations is considered generalized in anxiety. So people with family members with anxiety disorders are more likely to develop anxiety disorders, including demophobia.

Cognitive factors

These elements seem to be especially related to the maintenance of the phobia and not so much in its genesis.

Unrealistic beliefs about the harm that could be received if exposed to the feared stimulus, attentional biases towards threats related to phobia, low perceptions of self-efficacy and exaggerated perception of danger seem to be key factors in the maintenance of demophobia.

Treatment

Fortunately, today there are interventions that allow the recovery of specific phobias, including demophobia.

The intervention that has been shown to be effective in achieving these objectives is cognitive behavioral treatment. It is a type of psychotherapy that intervenes both in the cognitive and behavioral components of the person.

In this treatment the subject is exposed to its feared elements. As in demophobia the feared element is the crowds, it is often difficult to make a live exhibition. For this reason, exposure in imagination and exposure through virtual reality are often used.

Through the exhibition, the person becomes accustomed to the crowds and overcomes their fear of them.

Likewise, relaxation techniques allow to reduce anxiety symptoms and cognitive tools modify negative thoughts towards crowds.

References

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3. Bateman, A.; Brown, D. and Pedder, J. (2005) Introduction to psychotherapy. Manual of psychodynamic theory and technique. Barcelona: Albesa. ((Pp. 27-30 and 31-37).
4. Belloch, A., Sandin, B., and Ramos, F. (1994). Manual of psychopathology. Vol I. Madrid: McGraw Hill. Interamerican.
5. Echeburúa, E. & de Corral, P. (2009). Anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence. Madrid: Pyramid.
6. Obiols, J. (Ed.) (2008). Manual of general psychopathology. Madrid: New Library.