Enochlophobia (A complete guide)

This article will give a brief idea about Enochlophobia. Then it will focus on the causes and symptoms of Enochlophobia.

Then it will highlight the treatment of Enochlophobia, both psychotherapies, and medications.

ENOCHLOPHOBIA:

Enochlophobia refers to the irrational fear of crowds and the gathering of people. It is also known as ochophobia or demophobia.

It seems similar to Agoraphobia, but it is not, as in agoraphobia there is a fear of being in crowded places because of the fear judgments, humiliation, etc but Enochlophobia refers to the fear of crowds, where there are more than 2 people, the fear starts popping up.

Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that can disturb a person’s life miserably.

It includes panic like condition in which people suffering from this disorder experience a high amount of anxiety or panic-like condition from the mere thought of crowds.

People suffering from Enochlophobia make conscious efforts in order to stay away from crowded places like theatres, supermarkets, outdoor markets, restaurants, etc.

People who just try to avoid crowded places are not said to have Enochlophobia but people who fear crowds and face panic when in the crowd then it is called Enochlophobia.

CAUSES OF ENOCHLOPHOBIA:

There is no particular cause that has been found so far for Enochlophobia, but environmental factors and genetic factors are responsible for it as it is for almost all other phobias. 

If a person’s family history has had some anxiety or phobic disorder or as a matter of fact any mental disorder, it is more likely for the individual to develop Enochlophobia.

Environmental factors might include childhood experiences and trauma where the child either had some incidents like lost in the crowd or had lost someone dear to him lost in the crowd.

There are chances that the person suffering from Enochlophobia also suffers from GAD, OCD or Depression.

Or that person might develop any of these disorders as a comorbid disorder.

SYMPTOMS OF Enochlophobia:

The symptoms depend on the severity of the phobia and the most common symptom would be panic attacks. 

Some of the common symptoms are:

• Severe anxiety with a mere thought of crowds 
• Muscle tension, body aches
• Breathlessness, choking sensations
• High blood pressure
• Sweating, nausea, fainting
• Dizziness, restlessness, nervousness
• Lack of concentration
• Avoidance of places where there are chances of the crowd 

There are chances that a person suffering from Enochlophobia makes a conscious choice of where to go and where not to go.

These individuals have high chances of developing OCD as well.

TREATMENT FOR Enochlophobia:

There is no particular treatment that has been found for this phobia but a mixture of treatments that have been found helpful for the people suffering from phobia and anxiety can be helpful for Enochlophobia as well.

Psychotherapies:

• Talk Therapy:

Talk therapy seems very simple and easy but it’s quite opposite. A person is about to talk about his weaknesses, it’s not easy at all.

But it sure does wonders to the client as once he lets out all the emotions, it becomes easy for him to focus on the bright side of life.

• Exposure Therapy:

Although exposure therapy is one of the best therapy for anxiety and phobias it’s a bit tricky in this case.

In this case, the therapist might start with the imagination of places with a high crowd, then try to show pictures and videos of the crowded places and then try to take the person in between the crowd until his anxiety provokes.

This way the individual slowly desensitizes with the fear.

• Relaxation Therapy:

Relaxation Therapy, on the other hand, can be very helpful with these patients as it helps in calming down the racing of thoughts.

JPMR helps a person in focusing on his breathing and his one muscle at a time, which helps the client in letting go of the negative thoughts of being forgotten and the focus stays on himself only.

This helps in the long run with acceptance.

• Mindfulness:

Mindfulness might be a good choice for the patients with the fear of crowds, as the main purpose of mindfulness is to accept everything and being in the present. It makes sure that a person’s senses are widened and opened.

This will again help the client with acceptance.

• CBT:

CBT is one of the best Therapy which focuses and challenges the negative automatic thoughts and it has proven to be helpful with all kinds of anxiety and phobias and it can be helpful with Enochlophobia as well. 

Medications:

• Antidepressants:

These medicines are not only used for the patients suffering from depression or have a comorbidity of depression, but it also helps with the patients suffering from anxiety and phobias as well.

• Anti-anxiety medicines:

These medicines help the client in controlling the symptoms of anxiety but it cannot cure the phobia. To get a cure from phobia one has to mix the treatment of medications with psychotherapy.

Although one must not take any medication without consulting with the Doctor.

CONCLUSION:

Some people like being in the crowd and some avoid the crowd. And some are those people who cannot stand being in the crowd and Enochlophobia is a phobia where people can’t stand being in a crowd or near sight of crowd.

This blog has briefly been described Enochlophobia. Then it has focused on the causes and symptoms of Enochlophobia.

Then it has highlighted the treatment of Enochlophobia, both psychotherapies, and medications.

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CITATIONS:

e-counseling.com

verywellmind.com