Although it seems like a somewhat unusual or unusual phobia, the truth is that many people, especially students, develop it. Next, we will tell you what it consists of and how deep all this can be.
What is scriptophobia?
scriptophobia is fear of writing in public either by hand or on a computer (from the Latin “scripto”, “to write” and “phobos”, “fear, dread”). And, if we look carefully, it has all the characteristics so that it can be considered as another form of social anxiety.
Related news
Like the rest of irrational fears or phobias, this one causes anxiety, stress and suffering in those who suffer from it.
Although it may seem like a very rare specific phobia, it actually affects thousands of people worldwide, even without those who have it being aware that it is a problem that has a name and that it affects them when it comes to leading a normal life.
In the case of those who are aware that they have a problem, they recognize that their fear is irrational, but they still have serious difficulties in coping with this fear and have a hard time adapting to situations in which they have to write in front of other people.
Particularly complex activities for this type of person are: taking notes in classes, having a job such as teacher, exhibitor, notary, etc. in which you have to write in front of other people; give a phone number on paper, sign a contract, etc.
The graphophobia It is also closely related to scriptophobia, with a similar definition, although it is more specific. In this case, it would be an extreme and irrational fear of write manually.
symptomatology
The symptoms are very similar to those of other phobias, but they emerge when a situation occurs in which the person must write in front of others. That is, if you do it in private there is no problem. this fear appears automatically and becomes uncontrollableand it is more distressing the more one thinks of solutions to save the situation and none is found.
In some cases the pathology is so severe that those who suffer from it they only dare to write at nightwithout anyone else being awake nor can the situation occur that they can find her writing.
If the person who suffers from it is in an academic situation, It is possible that they stop attending classes to avoid this happening at all costs or, they usually carry recorders.
Among the physiological symptoms that most characterize it are:
- are dry mouth
- palpitations
- dizziness
- Feeling of needles in the skin
- Headaches and pain in the rest of the body
- excessive sweating
- Nausea
- shortness of breath
- Fatigue.
Regarding the more behavioral and humorous aspect, we have:
- trouble relaxing
- Humor changes
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Think you’re going to make a fool of yourself
- Thinking that you will not be able to get out of the situation without feeling humiliation.
Possible causes
Normally, this fear has its origin in a previous experience of a negative event that was related to this.
Scriptophobes express a deep fear of making a fool of themselves or of people thinking their handwriting is ugly.
It is common for those who suffer from this phobia to have had an episode of teasing for their way of writing or for having made spelling mistakes. This could be perceived so intensely that it caused the trauma that later manifested in the form of panic attacks. (This is more common in people whose teachers made them go to the blackboard and were humiliated for not knowing the subject matter, for not being able to solve a mathematical exercise, etc. And who in turn were teased by their peers. Not all people are prepared to deal with that level of violence that used to be so common in schools and that, fortunately, has changed somewhat).
There are those who see in the exercise of writing such a personal dedication and in which one is left so vulnerable that they even equate it with an act similar to that of one who undresses.
That is to say, there are those who have the feeling that it is a way of expressing their intimacy, they take it as something so personal that, if another person sees or observes in an intrusive way, it is as if they were looking inside, and they deeply like it.
Treatment
As in the case of other phobias, the treatments are mostly of the cognitive-behavioral and often share features with other treatments in which Anxiety disorders are addressed.
Systematic exposure to the phobic situation is usually the main method to work on the phobia, although always progressively and always with the security provided by professional consultation.
Cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure
In the case of cognitive-behavioral therapies, the idea has been postulated that many phobias, especially those that are contextual (depending on the context), are produced by a style of thinking that harms the person. Thinking that you are going to make a fool of yourself makes people who suffer from this type of phobia imagine the worst case scenario, which causes feelings of anxiety.
In therapy, what you try to do is make the person explain exactly why you think you will make a fool of yourself or why you think others might laugh at you. Is about address the type of thinking and change it so that the anxious feelings are not so heightened.
Also in this type of therapy, the person tries to get used to writing in front of other people. Always progressively, with great respect, taking into account the patient’s tolerance and in a highly controlled environment by a professional who has the skills to contain the patient, in the hypothetical case that something gets out of control.
Psychoanalysis
In this type of therapy, those events and influences throughout the patient’s life that have contributed to the development of this condition are taken into account, in addition to taking into account the personality traits of the scriptophobic person and seeing to what extent both factors have contributed to the occurrence of this anxiety disorder.
The main objective of psychoanalytic therapy is to help the person to explore, understand and resolve the causes of their phobia.
People who have this type of phobia are usually avoidant and develop strategies to lessen the effects in daily life that anxiety disorders can cause. In this case, people write on their cell phones or on a computer, or they carry recorders or write by voice. However, sometimes this goes further, displacing the fact of writing also to the content. That is why it is important that you visit a doctor if you find yourself in this situation and that you pay attention to your children if you see that they are developing this problem.