About:
Latrophobia is the irrational fear of Doctors. The word is derived from Greek. 'Latros' means healer and 'phobos', means to dread or to fear. This sort of phobia makes visiting a doctor or a hospital almost impossible. Often a person with Latrophobia will have similar cross over fears like Nosocomephobia, the fear of hospitals, Trypanophobia, the fear of needles, Agliophobia, the fear of pain, Hemophobia, the fear of blood, Carcinophobia, the fear of cancer, Mysophobia, the fear of germs and Thanatophobia, the fear of death.
Interesting Fact:
Though associated with other medical phobias, Latrophobia is actually classified as a social phobia. Another name for this phobia is “white coat hypertension.”
Causes:
Latrophobia is usually developed in childhood. A traumatic experience like breaking a limb or being in an accident or a perceived traumatic experience such as getting a vaccine could create the phobia within a person's mind. The fear of being in pain could give someone a huge distrust and fear of doctors.
If a parent has Latrophobia and acts fearful around doctors in front of their children, the phobia can be learned and passed down. The fear of death could also play a big role. Doctors are the people who 'deliver the bad news' so an association with death and suffering can easily be linked with them. A person may have had to watch a family member or close relative die and was there when the doctor gave the news that there was no hope.
Interestingly, Latrophobia has been linked with individuals who struggle with listening to authority as doctors are authority within the medical field. This can cause Latrophobia as the person does not want to be told how to handle their health. This can also relate to alcoholics and substance abusers as they fear doctors will force them to confront how their addictions are putting their health at risk.
The overall trust in doctors is also declining with many people not believing that doctors really care or have their best interest in mind as they once did a few decades ago.
The media also plays a role in Latrophobia with its stories of botched operations, medical malpractices and miss diagnosis leading to death.
If a parent has Latrophobia and acts fearful around doctors in front of their children, the phobia can be learned and passed down. The fear of death could also play a big role. Doctors are the people who 'deliver the bad news' so an association with death and suffering can easily be linked with them. A person may have had to watch a family member or close relative die and was there when the doctor gave the news that there was no hope.
Interestingly, Latrophobia has been linked with individuals who struggle with listening to authority as doctors are authority within the medical field. This can cause Latrophobia as the person does not want to be told how to handle their health. This can also relate to alcoholics and substance abusers as they fear doctors will force them to confront how their addictions are putting their health at risk.
The overall trust in doctors is also declining with many people not believing that doctors really care or have their best interest in mind as they once did a few decades ago.
The media also plays a role in Latrophobia with its stories of botched operations, medical malpractices and miss diagnosis leading to death.
Symptoms:
Someone with Latrophobia will avoid going to the doctors or the hospital at all costs, even if it means risking their own health and in more serious cases, their own life. Even if they are in pain and suffering, their fear is so extreme, they would rather suffer. This could even be for very routine checkups that are not invasive or painful at all.
Symptoms can include:
People with Latrophobia might also excessively clean and be overly concerned with hygiene as seeing the hospital were doctors are usually seen as dirty places where sickness and disease could be contracted. Being socially isolated might be another sign of Latrophobia, as the fear of going out and getting ill could cause them to develop Agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces and leaving the house.
Symptoms can include:
- Rapid heart rate
- Dizziness
- Hot or cold flashes
- Hysteria
- Chest pain
- Feeling of choking
- Fainting
- Trembling and/or sweating
- Obsessive cleaning
- Nausea or other gastrointestinal distress
People with Latrophobia might also excessively clean and be overly concerned with hygiene as seeing the hospital were doctors are usually seen as dirty places where sickness and disease could be contracted. Being socially isolated might be another sign of Latrophobia, as the fear of going out and getting ill could cause them to develop Agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces and leaving the house.
Why Should I Get Treated:
This phobia is one of the most life threatening phobias to develop as it can risk a person's health and severely limit their quality of life. If a person has an underlying health issue that becomes worse and worse over time and is never treated, great suffering can occur and could limit where a person goes, eats and can lead to social isolation. This will make a person in physical pain potentially housebound. In the worse case scenario, it could even lead to death.
A person who is too afraid to go to the doctors might also have a health issue that is not obvious, such as some forms of cancer. It could develop beyond a stage of treatment if it is not caught early enough. A whole lifetime of opportunities and memories could be cut short due to not visiting the doctor and getting health checks, or keeping up to date with needed inoculations and treatment. A person could die with many regrets and leave dependents vulnerable and other family members distraught because of this phobia. So it is a very serious phobia to leave unaddressed.
A person who is too afraid to go to the doctors might also have a health issue that is not obvious, such as some forms of cancer. It could develop beyond a stage of treatment if it is not caught early enough. A whole lifetime of opportunities and memories could be cut short due to not visiting the doctor and getting health checks, or keeping up to date with needed inoculations and treatment. A person could die with many regrets and leave dependents vulnerable and other family members distraught because of this phobia. So it is a very serious phobia to leave unaddressed.
Why See The Phobia Guru For Treatment:
I am often able to help people break free of their phobia often in just one session, using the scientifically proven power of hypnotherapy combined with NLP and an immersive therapy option. My therapy skillfully combines these techniques uniquely to create the most powerful, effective and quickest way to beat a phobia. You will be in the hands of a trained phobia expert who will help you transform your mind and liberate yourself from even the most extreme fears.
Hypnotherapy is so effective with phobias because it tackles the underlying trigger of the phobia within the subconscious. Once a person has access to their subconscious they can eliminate their conditioned response to the stimulus. So instead of treating just the symptoms, hypnotherapy can heal the source for a lasting result. The best part about hypnotherapy and phobias is that often it only takes one session to completely get over the phobia so you do not have to spend a lot of money on continual treatment. The NHS also promotes hypnotherapy as an effective treatment for phobias.
Hypnotherapy is so effective with phobias because it tackles the underlying trigger of the phobia within the subconscious. Once a person has access to their subconscious they can eliminate their conditioned response to the stimulus. So instead of treating just the symptoms, hypnotherapy can heal the source for a lasting result. The best part about hypnotherapy and phobias is that often it only takes one session to completely get over the phobia so you do not have to spend a lot of money on continual treatment. The NHS also promotes hypnotherapy as an effective treatment for phobias.