Athazagoraphobia is the fear of being forgotten, or forgetting something or someone.
Someone suffering from athazagoraphobia may experience very high levels of anxiety or even have panic attacks. Athazagoraphobia can be different from other phobias in that there is no way of dealing with it through avoidance. With other phobias people tend to simply avoid being around the thing that they have a phobia of, but when the phobia is a fear of being forgotten or ignored or forgetting someone then it can be quite difficult to avoid.
In this post we will look at what it is, what causes it and different ways to treat this phobia.
What Causes Athazagoraphobia?
While the exact cause of athazagoraphobia and other phobias is unknown, it is believed that there are both genetic and environmental factors which contribute to developing certain phobias.
You may be more susceptible to developing a certain phobia if you have been exposed to a family member or loved one who suffers from that phobia. An example of this may be a fear of getting Alzheimer’s disease or dementia after caring for a loved one who is suffering from the disease. You may also feel anxious or develop a fear of being forgotten by the person who is suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Other possible causes are having a traumatic experience related to that phobia. For example you are finding that you are becoming more forgetful and it makes you anxious that you may be developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Childhood trauma can also be a contributing factor to developing athazagoraphobia. You may have been left alone for too long or forgotten about as a child, and the trauma of that has led you to develop athazagoraphobia.
Symptoms Of Athazagoraphobia
There is a tendency for people with athazagoraphobia to have low self esteem and lack confidence in themselves. For this reason those people tend to be more introverted and shy.
Sometimes the person who suffers from athazagoraphobia will have a poor memory, and their fear of forgetting will be directly linked to their poor memory function.
As with all phobias, there is a possibility that it can lead to panic attacks. Some of the symptoms of a panic attack are:
Short and shallow breathing
Tightness in the chest and throat
Excessive sweating
Nausea
Dizziness
As with all other phobias, the symptoms of athazagoraphobia will vary from person to person. This phobia can also lead to depression and heightened anxiety.
How To Treat Athazagoraphobia
Many people with athazagoraphobia try to treat the phobia by boosting their memory. This is often done through vitamins and supplements, such as Ginseng and omega-3 fatty acids. These are supplements that have been proven to improve memory function for those that take them.
There are also psychotherapy options for the treatment of athazagoraphobia and other phobias. CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) is a commonly used treatment for phobias, depression and anxiety. It has been proven to be successful in many studies and is often one of the first therapies that medical professionals will turn to. CBT helps us to reframe our negative beliefs and thoughts into more helpful and healthy ways of thinking. It is not an overly complicated process, but it does require a little effort and some repetition to gain the full benefit of this therapy.
ACT (acceptance commitment therapy) is another psychology based therapy similar to CBT. As with CBT, it has many years of proven history behind it and is known as a very effective treatment for a variety of mental disorders. ACT will help you to be more mindful and live in the present, and let your worries and anxious thoughts pass through you without taking over you.
There are also other treatment options available such as hypnotherapy and NLP (neuro linguistic programming). Depending on the severity of your symptoms, your doctor may prescribe you anti-anxiety medication such as Valium or even anti-depressants if the phobia is having a major impact on your mental health.
An Alternative Way To Treat Athazagoraphobia And Other Phobias
I don’t suffer from athazagoraphobia myself, but I have been diagnosed with another phobia – agoraphobia. What I have learned is that all phobias are based around fear, whether that is rational or irrational fear. Once that fear kicks in, it tends to cause physical symptoms, and then our minds spend more time focusing on the fear and what it is doing to our bodies. This then leads to frequent panic attacks, all brought about by our initial fearful thought that entered our minds.
I took a course to treat my phobia, general anxiety and panic attacks and had great success with it. If your athazagoraphobia is leading to regular panic attacks then this course can definitely help you to get rid of those panic attacks, or keep them to a level where it doesn’t bother you at all.
The course also teaches us that all phobias and panic attacks are based around fear. If we can remove or reduce the severity of these fearful thoughts then we will no longer fear whatever phobia we have and we will no longer fear having another panic attack.
After I finished reading the course I had a far better understanding of how my mind worked and how my fear worsened my phobia and my anxiety related to my phobia. I became so confident in dealing with my phobia that I deliberately went and spent some time in a crowded shopping mall. In the past I avoided that situation as it only resulted in me having a panic attack, but armed with the knowledge I gained from reading the course I was able to successfully confront my fears and not let them rule me anymore.
The course I am talking about is called Panic Away. It comes with a 60 day money back guarantee so there really is no risk in trying it. I had enormous success with it, and there is no reason why you can’t have the same level of success that I did.
Click here to check out Panic Away
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