Depressive state, fear of cancer, treatment. How can you get rid of cancerophobia? Causes of cancer phobia

The article will help people suffering from cancerophobia to identify the causes of their fear and overcome it.

Any person who finds himself at an oncologist's appointment is most afraid of hearing from the doctor terrible diagnosis"cancer".

Sometimes this healthy and understandable fear of cancer crosses a certain line, becomes obsessive, haunts a person and forces him to look for non-existent symptoms of the disease. Psychologists call this condition cancerophobia (cancer phobia), and people suffering from fear of cancer - carcinophobes.

Cancerophobia - obsessive fear of getting cancer

Cancerophobia - fear of cancer: causes, symptoms

The frighteningly growing statistics of cancer incidence makes every person think about their own health from time to time. People take tests, undergo examinations and, having found no signs of developing cancer, they forget about their fear.

However, for some, the fear of getting cancer becomes a constant companion. They fall asleep and wake up thinking about terrible disease, imagine how they will behave and how they will feel when they are diagnosed with cancer. Why are people so afraid of finding out they have cancer?

Causes of cancerophobia:

• Death of a close friend or relative from cancer.
• Intrusive advertising of cancer “prevention” products.
• Recent surgery to remove cysts and benign tumors.
• Unstable psyche, panic attacks, mental illness.
• Large family predisposition to cancer.
• Unspecified, questionable diagnoses, mistrust of attending physicians.
• The presence of cervical erosion (in women), as well as other “precancerous” diseases.
• Hormonal imbalances leading to sudden changes in figure and appearance.
• Constant pain in any part of the body.
• Age over 40 – 45 years.

Symptoms of cancerophobia:

• A person acquires many various means for the treatment and prevention of cancer, reads literature on a topic of interest, looks for new ways to treat cancer, reads medical reference books and collects folk recipes against cancer.
• Unfair treatment of loved ones: pickiness, unfounded complaints about life and health, demands for help, resentment, tearfulness, aggression.
• Cancerophobes completely refuse medical examinations, explaining this by saying that in this way they will immediately be diagnosed with cancer, or, on the contrary, they are overly concerned about their health and regularly undergo thorough examinations.
• They make their own “diagnosis”. They try to monitor changes in the functioning of the “sick” organ and always note “deterioration”.
• results good tests Oncophobes interpret in their own way.
• They are sure that doctors are hiding the truth from them.
• They withdraw into themselves, lose interest in everything, are reluctant to communicate with people, and stop enjoying life.
• They see “prophetic” dreams in which they necessarily have cancer or are undergoing unsuccessful treatment.
• Cancerophobes are prone to philosophical reasoning. They try to find a “higher meaning” in their “illness”, considering their condition as retribution for some actions in the past.

All symptoms of cancerophobia can be divided into 3 groups:

1. Thinking– obsessive reproduction in thoughts of images and situations related to oncology, inability to switch to something else.
2. Sensual– irritability, fear of getting cancer, discovering symptoms of the disease.
3. Corporeal– thoughts about cancer cause increased heart rate, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, weakness, dry mouth.

Attempts to “cure cancer” are one of the symptoms of cancerophobia

IMPORTANT: Anyone who has discovered signs of cancerophobia in their loved ones should seek advice from a psychotherapist, because uncontrolled attacks of this condition can ruin a person’s life and cause rash actions.

Cancerophobia in cancer patients

Oncology detected on early stages, in 90% of cases it is successfully cured. At the same time, the correct positive attitude of the patient and his desire to live increase the chances of recovery.

But in addition to oncology itself, patients are often severely exhausted by attacks of cancerophobia.

IMPORTANT: In cancer patients, cancerophobia is manifested by demonstrative helplessness, reluctance to fight cancer, and a depressed state.

Cancer patients suffering from cancerophobia feel sorry for themselves, complain about the injustice of fate, and experience severe stress from their changed condition.

When treating oncology, the patient’s positive attitude and desire to live are important.

How to get rid of cancerophobia yourself?

Get rid of cancerophobia on your own is possible only if if fear has not managed to climb into the depths of the subconscious. They will help walks on fresh air, relaxation, new hobbies, sports, and reception sedatives . Regular exercise will help you feel more confident examinations by specialists.

Those who know about cancerophobia firsthand recommend keep a personal diary in which you write down your thoughts in detail every day. By re-reading these notes, a person is able to look at the situation from the outside. In some cases, this is enough to realize the absurdity of the situation and throw terrible thoughts out of your head forever.

IMPORTANT: If you cannot overcome fear on your own and cancerophobia continues to poison your life, you need to consult a psychotherapist.

Cancerophobia - treatment: psychiatrist

A qualified professional can help you cope with your fear of getting cancer. psychotherapist. His work with a carcinophobe is aimed at overcoming fears by experiencing and carefully analyzing all exciting moments.

During psychotherapy sessions, the doctor conducts a conversation with the patient, during which he finds out exactly when and under what circumstances the fear arose, what measures were taken independently to get rid of cancer phobia, and whether the patient had any tests. It is important to exclude the presence of diseases such as schizophrenia in the patient, neurotic disorder, psychopathy.

IMPORTANT: Since complex cases Cancerophobia requires serious correction of established mental disorders; you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to visit a psychotherapist for a long time.

When working with oncophobes, psychotherapists use techniques classical psychoanalysis, Jungian depth psychotherapy and family therapy.

Treatment of cancerophobia by a psychotherapist

Cancerophobia: reviews

Yulia, 30 years old: “Cancerophobia has filled my life. I am afraid to tell anyone about my fears because it seems to me that this will “attract” cancer to me. Any pain, be it a migraine or a regular bruise, makes me afraid. From the thought that I am beginning to develop symptoms of cancer, I can even lose consciousness. When I think about the future, the thought immediately arises: “Will I live to see it?”

Dmitry, 48 years old:“My father died of cancer. Moreover, he was diagnosed with cancer when nothing could be done. Nothing bothered my father, only last month his condition deteriorated sharply, pain appeared, which intensified every day. I couldn't believe this was happening to my dad. Before my eyes, cancer was slowly taking the life of the person closest to me. Dad was dying in terrible pain, and I could do nothing to help him. With his passing, my life changed. Right away I also wanted to die, and then, on the contrary, I began to be afraid of dying from cancer. I passed everything necessary tests, visited the doctors, and, despite the fact that they convinced me that I was healthy, I continued to look for symptoms of cancer. This went on for several years. Cancer phobia intensified. I spent all my time waiting for the symptoms of the disease to appear. A psychotherapist helped me start my life again. After the first sessions, my fears began to recede little by little, and over time they disappeared completely.”

Christina, 39 years old:“I have been working in the oncology department as a nurse for 10 years. Every day I meet many people who have to struggle with the most terrible disease. Among them there are very young people. When I come home, I begin to remember our patients and involuntarily “try on” their stories. Over all these years, my fear of getting cancer has increased many times over. Even on vacation, I can’t stop thinking that at any moment I can turn from an employee into a patient of our department, because no one is immune from cancer.”

Every person is afraid to hear a diagnosis of cancer. Sometimes such fear is so strong that it develops into a phobia, which is called “cancerophobia.”

What is cancerophobia in more detail

Despite the fact that many oncological diseases are successfully treated today, the fear of getting cancer can become pathological, and then it must be treated. Pathological fear of getting cancer often develops against the background of other mental disorders: obsessive-compulsive disorder, hypochondria, panic attacks, increased anxiety. But this phobia can be observed in the absence of other mental disorders.

According to statistics, cancerophobia leads among nosophobias (obsessive fear of getting sick). The high percentage of the prevalence of the disease is due, first of all, to the fact that cancer is presented as an incurable disease, necessarily with long suffering for the dying patient and definitely with a fatal outcome.

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Need to know! Cancerophobia is associated with the fear of death. People over 40 years of age should have “oncological alertness,” but at times it goes beyond the boundaries of common sense and acquires an obsessive state in the form of a phobia.

Causes of the disease

WHO studies say that death from cancer is in the top ten causes of death. Many people have directly or indirectly encountered this disease. Cancerophobia is a reaction to stress caused by the threat of death - real or exaggerated. Pathological fear cancer can be caused by close proximity to the event pathological process(illness of someone close, his death). A significant role plays and hereditary factor– the awareness that you are at risk also serves as an impetus for the development of a phobia.

Often in the background chronic stress appearance may deteriorate and sudden weight loss may occur, which can also be an impetus for the development of cancerophobia.

Predisposing factors include a lack of internal reserves during mental (physical) exhaustion, certain mental disorders and borderline states:

• neurosis obsessive states;
• hypochondria;
• psychopathy;
• panic attacks;
• generalized anxiety disorder.

Sometimes the fear of getting cancer is part of delusional states in schizophrenia. The risk of developing this pathology increases with age. In women, cancerophobia is more likely to occur during menopause.

This obsessive fear may appear in patients who have undergone surgery to remove a benign tumor (cyst). A phobia can be caused even by a carelessly thrown word from a doctor when examining a patient (iatrogenic). The patient's presence cancer diseases: stomach ulcers, cervical erosion, benign thyroid nodules - all this can be an impetus for the development of cancerophobia.

Chronic pain, such as migraine, can also contribute to the idea of ​​a disease. Constant viewing of advertisements medicines from cancer for treatment and simply for prevention may cause a person to fear that he himself has such a disease.

First symptoms of the disease

The first signs of cancerophobia may appear against the background of tragic events, one way or another causing associations with cancer, death loved one etc. In particularly impressionable individuals, the first signs of a phobia may appear even after someone makes a comment about their health or appearance. The first symptoms are expressed in a change in the patient’s character and behavior - he becomes whiny, begins to constantly complain about his health. Or, on the contrary, he becomes more aggressive and overly picky towards the people around him.

Everything related to the imaginary presence of cancer becomes a favorite topic for the patient; all his attention is directed to studying the signs, methods of treatment and prevention of cancer. Other interests fade into the background. Patients begin to buy popular literature on this topic and search for various information about cancer on the Internet. Some patients suffering from cancerophobia avoid communicating with people diagnosed with cancer for fear that such a disease could be transmitted to them through personal contact.

Symptoms of the disease in various patients

Manifestations of phobia may differ from patient to patient - some begin to constantly consult doctors and undergo all kinds of examinations. Often they come to see a doctor with a self-made diagnosis or present a large number of various complaints. The other category, on the contrary, tries in every way to avoid visiting doctors, even if they have diseases, explaining that the first visit to the doctor will confirm the presence of cancer in the last stage, and ignorance is better than firm confidence in the disease.

The degree of frankness of patients in communicating with people around them also varies. Persons suffering from hysteria will in every possible way focus attention on their painful condition, reduce all conversations to this topic, and demonstrate their suffering.

Anxious individuals (or those with obsessive-compulsive disorder), on the contrary, will experience their condition alone, without communicating their suspicions to anyone. In such cases, relatives guess about the patient’s condition only by indirect signs– transformation of behavior, study specialized literature, emotions spilling out at the mention of cancer.

The slightest mention of cancer spoils the mood of a patient with cancer phobia for a long time. There is excitement, concern or, conversely, internal numbness and inhibition. In especially severe cases - confusion, racing thinking. Attempts to convince the patient and explain the groundlessness of fears cause violent protest and objections; the patient tries to quickly end the unpleasant conversation.

Other manifestations of the disease

Due to the constant feeling of anxiety, the patient’s face becomes amicable – mask-like, and muscle tone increases. Anxiety changes the patient not only externally, but also on the emotional and intellectual levels - those suffering from a phobia begin to behave illogically and stupidly, thinking slows down, and pseudodementia may develop. Manifestations of depression and subdepression, with severe anxiety symptoms, are possible.

Patients with cancerophobia become more withdrawn, more passive, find it more difficult to fulfill their professional duties, and stop caring for loved ones. There may be dissatisfaction with doctors in particular and medicine in general. Those suffering from cancerophobia become dissatisfied with the “incorrect” diagnosis and lack of proper attention from doctors. As a result, patients begin to self-medicate, often using untested, or even dangerous, methods. Attempts to self-medicate using dietary supplements and medications traditional medicine, various diets, etc. can lead to real health problems for the patient.

Fear of getting cancer can occur in patients in the form of attacks; at the time of an attack of phobia, somatovegetative manifestations can be observed:

• tachycardia;
• tremor;
• high blood pressure;
• diarrhea;
• vomiting, nausea;
• Strong headache;
• feeling of suffocation, lump in throat.

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*Only upon receipt of data on the patient’s disease, a representative of the clinic will be able to calculate an accurate estimate for treatment.

Symptoms of the disease in hypochondriacs

Cancerophobia is especially difficult in hypochondriacs. Such patients tend to dramatize the situation especially strongly; they are absorbed in their illness, constantly finding more and more new signs of cancer. At the same time, they are very active in taking care of their health: they constantly measure their blood pressure, undergo various examinations, do X-rays, colonoscopy, fibrogastroscopy, etc.

Need to know! Convincing a hypochondriac that he does not have cancer is almost impossible. Any discomfort is perceived by him as a sign of cancer. Symptoms of the disease may also depend on the “diagnosis” you make yourself.

A patient prone to hypochondria remembers the past, evaluates this or that disease in the light of emerging cancer. Hypochondriacs withdraw from society, believing that no one can understand their terrible condition.

Diagnosis of cancerophobia

Patients with suspected cancerophobia are sent for examination to rule out cancer and identify other diseases that caused the symptoms. The diagnosis of “cancerophobia” is made based on the results of a conversation, which helps the psychologist find out exactly when the patient was suspected of cancer, whether there were any traumatic situations before this, where the patient was examined, what the patient did on his own, etc. In progress differential diagnosis schizophrenia, neurosis, psychopathy, and depression are excluded.

How to get rid of cancer phobia

Treatment of the disease is carried out by psychotherapists and clinical psychologists. Patients with cancerophobia are prescribed tranquilizers, anxiolytics, and antidepressants. For panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder and other mental disorders, therapy for the underlying disease is carried out. If there is chronic pain syndrome, then analgesics and antispasmodics are prescribed.

In case of somatic pathology, the patient is referred to a therapist, cardiologist, neurologist, etc.

The main method of combating cancerophobia is psychotherapy. Most often, long-term work is required to correct the identified psychological disorders. Behind the fear of illness lies horror own death, but the reasons for this horror are quite difficult to discover due to the fact that they are hidden in unconscious patient. This horror, as a rule, has nothing to do with the fear of death. The basis of fear is old psychological trauma, children's fears, etc.

When working through such problems, the best effect is achieved using classical psychoanalysis, Jung's methods and other similar techniques. Some patients are prescribed a consultation with an oncologist to confirm the absence of cancer. The psychiatrist working with the patient must set the patient up optimistically, give recommendations for the prevention of cancer - maintain a healthy lifestyle.

There is an opinion that you can get rid of cancer phobia with the help of hypnosis.

To finally defeat cancerophobia, long-term and scrupulous work with the patient must be carried out.

The number of cancer pathologies is growing at an ever increasing rate every year. This is due environmental factors, improper diet, occupational hazards, late diagnosis of precancerous diseases, late application patients for help from doctors, etc. In addition to somatic diseases, in some cases it can be diagnosed cancerophobia.

It refers to pathology nervous system, occurs against the background of an altered psycho-emotional state in people prone to depression and hypochondria. Sometimes the fear is so pronounced that it is due to distrust of doctors. Thus, the patient cannot be helped, which leads to serious mental and somatic disorders.

What is cancerophobia?

Cancerophobia is mental disorder, which is based on fear of oncological diseases. The basis for the development of pathology is depression, panic, anxiety disorders, however, sometimes pathology develops against the background of well-being.

If a person is suspicious and often complains about deteriorating health, the appearance of cancer, he can, on a subconscious level, invent a disease for himself from which he will suffer. The fear of malignant pathology is so strong that even medical personnel It is not possible to convince a person of the absence of illness and change a person’s opinion.

Among obsessive fears modern diseases, cancerophobia occupies a leading position. Widespread due to:

• the general opinion that cancer is incurable;
• the idea of ​​suffering late stages malignant disease;
• high prevalence;
• information base, because with the help of the media questions are raised about the incurability of cancer, etc.

To cope with pathology, it is necessary not only drug treatment, but also consultations with a psychologist and psychiatrist.

Who may experience cancerophobia?

People most susceptible to developing carcinophobia are those who:

• mental disorder;
• neurological diseases;
• hormonal disorders (menopause);
• have relatives (acquaintances) suffering from cancer;
• suspicious acquaintances who regularly scare themselves and those around them with terrible illnesses.

Reasons for the development of cancerophobia

Considering the fact that cancer is one of the top ten causes of death, cancerophobia does exist, but it all depends on its degree and severity. Of course, you should be wary of cancer and adhere to preventive recommendations, which will significantly reduce the risk of their occurrence. But in some cases, this fear becomes so strong that panic develops.

Throughout life, a person has to deal with this illness, directly or indirectly, which can lead to the formation of a mental disorder. Especially if the disease affected him in the form benign neoplasm or a relative/friend/acquaintance died from it.

The reasons that lead to the emergence of fear of cancer include:

1. Genetic predisposition.
2. Mental disorders (hypochondria, panic attacks, anxiety, neurosis, psychopathy, schizophrenia).

Among the provoking factors, it is worth highlighting the identification of a precancerous pathology in a person, the death of a relative from cancer, the “impressiveness” of a person, as a result of which he is susceptible to information attack from the media. Also, the risk increases significantly in the presence of hormonal imbalance (menopause).

Signs of incipient cancerophobia

The first signs of illness often appear against the background of a previous situation that caused a strong emotional reaction. The person begins to complain about deteriorating health, the psycho-emotional state is disturbed (tearfulness, apathy, depression with an anxiety component).

In other cases, a person becomes aggressive and angry because his experiences are not shared. He starts collecting Additional information about oncological processes (books, the Internet, publications, stories from friends). Sometimes he can completely withdraw into himself.

Patients often go to the hospital on their own to undergo a full examination and complain of the appearance of various clinical symptoms, put it yourself preliminary diagnosis. In most cases, there is a lack of trust in doctors, since they cannot deal with it in a timely manner.

Over time, the symptoms become more obvious, irritability, aggression appear, there is no contact with others, since the person is not understood and does not share his experiences.

How is it common to treat cancerophobia today?

Treatment tactics for fear of getting cancer are: full examination patient in order to exclude somatic pathology, which refers to precancerous processes. For this purpose it is assigned laboratory test blood, urine, sputum (if any), instrumental diagnostics (ultrasound examination, radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, biopsy with histological, cytological analysis).

If necessary, a search analysis is assigned. The diagnosis of cancerophobia is established by a psychologist based on the results of an examination in which somatic pathology is not detected, as well as during a conversation with the patient.

The psychologist finds out when the complaints appeared, what caused them, what happened the day before, where the patient went, and whether he self-medicated. During the consultation, the psychiatrist excludes mental disorders (schizophrenia, psychopathy).

Treatment is provided by psychotherapists, which includes:

1. Medication correction using tranquilizers and other sedatives.
2. Therapy of the main neurological and mental pathology.
3. Psychotherapy.

Due to the fact that the cause of fear lies deep in a person’s subconscious, in order to influence the emerging psychological disorders, required a long period time. To influence the “subconscious”, psychoanalysis, depth, and family psychotherapy are used.

What complications can cancerophobia lead to?

Due to mistrust of doctors, a person makes attempts to self-medicate - taking dietary supplements, using traditional medicine techniques, fasting, “cleansing” the body by any means. Thus, the patient actually has health problems (dysfunction of the digestive tract, endocrine, cardiac systems), due to which cancerophobia progresses and actual precancerous conditions may develop.

Nowadays, you won’t surprise anyone with claustrophobia or aerophobia. People are afraid and at the same time laugh at their fears. However, society tends to screw itself up and create new and new fears. Thus, in last years Such a strange phobia as the fear of getting cancer or cancerophobia began to actively spread. A person suffering from this phobia sees in every illness he has, even common runny nose, symptoms of cancer of one or another organ and relentlessly do various tests, bringing yourself to the point of nervousness. So what should you do if the same phrase “I’m afraid of getting cancer” is pounding in your head? How to get rid of an obsession and overcome yourself?

Symptoms of cancerophobia

Of course, each specific case of cancer fear varies in symptoms, but general symptoms Every patient has this often groundless fear. Let's look at some of them.

• A person feels uncontrollable anxiety when actually encountering or even mentally imagining an image of something even remotely reminiscent of the existence of malignant tumors;
• A person loses the ability to live and work normally due to the fact that disturbing thoughts constantly burst into his brain that there is a possibility of cancer.
• The patient feels urgent need is to do everything to prevent cancer or at least detect it as early as possible: he undergoes endless tests and tests, undergoes constant examinations from doctors of different profiles.
• The person realizes the complete groundlessness of his dangers, but simply cannot cope with the nervousness that torments him.
• The patient instinctively tries to avoid any situations and locations where anything even remotely resembles cancer;
• A person feels constant irritation, is angry with himself, realizes his guilt towards doctors and relatives, whom he worries with groundless fears, but at the same time cannot get rid of the feeling of helplessness that eats him up from the inside.
• A person constantly cuts off oxygen, lacks air, and experiences shortness of breath, especially when thinking about illness;
• The heartbeat accelerates and occurs sharp pain in the chest area;
• Frequent dizziness and headache;
• Nausea and trembling in the knees and chest.

Symptoms of cancerophobia manifest themselves with varying intensity and are strictly individual.

As a rule, people who have developed a fear of getting cancer hope for special support from loved ones, but in response they receive the usual cold and indifferent cliched phrases of support: “don’t worry,” “breathe deeply,” “don’t pay attention, it’s nothing.” doesn’t mean”, “just relax.” The problem is deeper than these phrases can penetrate - at the level of consciousness and even the subconscious, which controls people's fears like puppets.

But the deeper the fear sits, the more anxiety goes off scale and the number of panic attacks and depression into which a patient with this phobia falls. Yes, cancerophobia can truly be called a disease, although not physical, but psychological. But the most terrible fact is that constant stress due to cancer can cause this same cancer. And we are not talking about the psychological law of “attraction”: the point is that brain cancer, for example, can develop as a result of severe stress, which will become a kind of trigger.

Causes of fear of cancer

Phobia occurrence cancerous tumor appears most often after close people of the person suffering from unconscious fear - relatives or friends - get cancer. In this article, we do not consider those heroic people who, after an oncological diagnosis, were able to recover, but are afraid that they will have a relapse and will have to look the disease in the eye again.

But many carcerophobes cannot even name the exact moment when and why they developed this fear. Only penetration into the subconscious can help here: for example, recalling memories by immersing the patient in an unconscious hypnotic state. The trigger can be any book, movie, or even an article on the Internet that impressed the patient and forced him to try the situation on himself.

It is very important to remember that carcerophobia cannot be congenital - no one is born with it, it is acquired ballast that has accumulated on the wrong side of consciousness like psycho-garbage and which simply needs to be discarded. In fact, carcerophobia is a subtype of ordinary fear of death, simply enclosed in a deeper and more prominent shell.

Drug treatment for phobias - myth or reality?

What to do if a person develops cancerophobia? In psychiatry, the treatment of phobias often occurs with the help of so-called “medication”. As medical supplies apply:

• Traditional anxiolytic drugs (benzodiazepines). This type The medication has an anti-anxiety, sedative and hypnotic effect, inhibits the activity of the central nervous system as a whole. However, long-term use of drugs is addictive, so you have to give them up fairly quickly.
• Beta blockers (anaprilin, etc.). The drugs actively reduce only the physical symptoms of the disease, namely, they reduce heartbeat and trembling of the body and hands. This happens due to the action of adrenaline contained in the medication. But on psychological condition the drug has no effect.
• Antidepressants. The drug treats not the symptoms, but the consequences of the disease, such as depression and panic attacks.

Unfortunately, the patient cannot be expected to recover from “drug treatment.” The drugs provide an almost instantaneous but fleeting effect, but they do not fully treat, do not destroy the root of the problem, but only temporarily alleviate the symptoms, avoiding the impact on cognitive and behavioral patterns. After taking medications, fear does not go away and returns to your life with renewed vigor. During the entire course of treatment, you expose your body to a chemical attack, which can cause addiction and various side effects.

How to get rid of cancer phobia yourself?

So how can you not be afraid of getting cancer and live a calm, ordinary life? Of course, for quality and quick disposal For cancerophobia, it is best to consult a specialist. However, if you do not trust psychotherapists and do not want someone to delve into your subconscious, use the technique for getting rid of phobias described below. Its operating principle is based on the mechanism of replacing an unpleasant emotion with a pleasant one and, as a consequence, substituting sensations.

1. Choosing a strong positive memory. This event should be as pleasant as possible and not cause any associations with cancer and other manifestations of your phobia. Where to look for such an event? Yes, anywhere. Remember the last weekend you spent with your loved one, your first kiss, or, for example, look deep into your childhood and remember how happy you were with gifts on your birthday and New Year. Nice, isn't it?
2. Choosing a trigger or signal for your body to activate a positive memory. It could be a massage thumb or a pinch on the thigh - the choice is yours.
3. Recreating all the details of a positive memory: tactile, auditory, visual. Remember everything down to the smallest detail, try to recreate the smells, feel the same touches of the wind or the touch of another person’s fingers on your body.
4. Stabilization of sensations.
5. Bringing feelings to the maximum and pairing it with a trigger.
6. Return to normal state.
7. Repeat the above actions until the “trigger-memory” reflex is developed.
8. Creating a “collection” of pleasant memories with different triggers.

It will be more difficult to put this into practice, but if you strictly follow the instructions, you will succeed - you just need to practice a lot. Just remember that we create our own fears and it is in our hands to get rid of them.

Cancerophobia: how to get rid of the fear of cancer?

An illogical, uncontrollable, obsessive fear of cancer is called cancerophobia. This disorder is one of the most common phobias, requiring long-term and painstaking psychiatric treatment.

Cancerophobia very often accompanies a total fear of death and is adjacent to the fear of contracting an incurable disease. Very often, an obsessive fear of getting cancer is a symptom of hypochondriacal disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.

Danger of this disorder is that a person suffering from cancerophobia may develop symptoms that are clinically similar to oncological pathologies. Like the patient with malignant neoplasms, and a patient with cancerophobia can rapidly lose weight and refuse food. In both states similar symptoms The presence of asthenic status and a depressive state also appears. In cancerophobia, the subject may develop attacks of intense pain syndrome, which cannot be controlled with standard drug treatment. However, detailed medical examination excludes the presence of any symptoms of oncological pathologies.

Cancerophobia: causes

For most patients, symptoms of cancerophobia first appear after the untimely death of a loved one from cancer. In a subject who has become an involuntary witness to the rapid “burning out” and premature death of an apparently healthy relative, an attitude is formed in the subconscious: there is a serious threat of developing malignant tumors.

Very often, the symptoms of cancerophobia manifest after surgical procedures by removal benign formations or cystic formations. Removal of any element of the body or formations - appendix, adenoids, polyps, nodes - provokes the development of a stereotype in the subject, the essence of which is: any benign tumor will definitely turn into oncology.

Often the onset of cancerophobia is determined by medical rudeness and tactlessness. A person who, during a medical examination, hears an assumption about the likelihood of having cancer, firmly fixes the information received and begins to demonstrate symptoms of cancer.

In some people, an obsessive fear of getting cancer develops after protracted somatic illnesses, as a result of which the person has lost a lot of weight and is in an exhausted state. Exhausting healing procedures, stay in a hospital, asthenic status, lack of full social contacts acts as the strongest stress for the subject, against the background of which cancerophobia is formed.

In a separate group of patients with cancerophobia, pathological fear of cancer pathologies is associated with hormonal changes in the body. Women are at particular risk menopausal age, which funds mass media persistently “recommend” the use of various biological additives that prevent cancer.

The increase in the number of cases of cancerophobia in recent decades also explains the deterioration of the environmental situation on the planet, the massive use of all kinds of artificial stabilizers and preservatives in products, which causes an increase in the number of cancer patients. Viewing such depressing statistics by anxious and suspicious people is fertile ground for the start of cancerophobia.

Carcinophobia: symptoms

The form of manifestation and intensity of symptoms in cancerophobia depends on the severity of the disorder and the characteristics of the person’s personal constitution. Panic fear leads to constant negative experiences and deterioration of higher processes nervous activity. A person’s cognitive abilities and mnestic activity deteriorate. Possibilities for logical analysis and correct interpretation of events are reduced. The subject's range of interests is significantly narrowed.

As cancerophobia develops, symptoms are observed depressive disorders. The person is in a gloomy, melancholy mood. He sees the present in gloomy tones and assesses the prospects negatively. Habitual hobbies do not bring pleasure to the person. His oppressive preoccupation alternates with bouts of irritation. Conflict and aggressiveness develop when communicating with other people.

A person’s appetite worsens and the need for food decreases. He loses interest in the opposite sex and becomes incapable of full-fledged relationships. intimate relationships. The fear of getting cancer deprives a person good sleep, “giving” insomnia and nightmares.

In patients with cancerophobia, all attention is focused on topics related to cancer. They will not miss a single program on television regarding cancer prevention. Such people carefully study information on virtual Internet sites and compare the information they read with their own symptoms.

These people avoid contact with cancer patients. They are at the slightest symptoms ill health knocks on the thresholds of doctors' offices, demanding a thorough examination.

Often, a person suffering from cancerophobia independently prescribes a course of treatment for himself. He can go on a diet for months and engage in “therapeutic” fasting. He constantly measures his blood pressure, examines skin and feels the pulse. At the slightest deviation, an individual with cancerophobia begins to indiscriminately absorb medications from an impressively sized first aid kit. If such a subject believes that the tumor has affected the brain, then he begins to tirelessly perform mental exercises, hoping in this way to overcome the cancer.

During attacks of cancerophobia, symptoms of panic attacks develop: tachycardia and arrhythmia, racing blood pressure, dizziness and loss of balance. May be observed various symptoms dyspeptic disorders: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. The subject makes complaints about profuse sweating, debilitating chills and internal trembling. A common symptom of cancerophobia is the occurrence of phantom pain localized in the area that the individual has chosen for the location of his “tumor.”

Cancerophobia: treatment

How to get rid of cancerophobia? The first step in treating a disorder is to identify the underlying pathology at a neurotic or psychiatric level. When detected in a patient hypochondriacal neurosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depressive states, schizophrenia, drug treatment should be focused on eliminating or minimizing the symptoms of the underlying disease.

How to get rid of the illogical fear of getting cancer once and for all? Since in most patients carcinophobia is of psychogenic origin, the main task for complete freedom from obsessive fear- establish the root cause of the disease.

However, access to the depths of the human psyche is impossible in the waking state. How to get rid of excessive guardianship of consciousness? To open the way to the unconscious sphere of the individual, it is necessary to achieve a special state that ensures immersion in a hypnotic trance. Eliminating the censorship of consciousness in a trance state allows you to focus on problems that exist in a person’s personal history and are “erased” from memory. Identifying the culprit of the irrational fear of cancer allows us to work on transforming the destructive components of the subconscious program into a functional model of thinking.

How to get rid of the destructive elements of the subconscious program? After transforming the negative sources of cancerophobia, the hypnologist proceeds to the next manipulation: he carries out suggestion - a special positive attitude. Thanks to verbal suggestion, a person gets rid of psychogenic phantom pain syndrome and gains confidence in his own health and well-being.

A suggestible attitude creates ideal soil in a person’s subconscious for activating the body’s restorative resources. After hypnosis sessions, the client receives a surge of strength and energy, feels cheerful and fresh. A constructive thinking model motivates the subject to lead healthy image life, physical activity, compliance proper diet and diet.

How to get rid of irrational fears and find peace of mind? Hypnosis has a wide range of effects on the body. After a course of hypnosis, a person is freed from nervousness and irritability, receives inner harmony and psycho-emotional comfort. Psychosuggestive therapy sessions return the individual to sound and refreshing sleep. He is no longer overcome by obsessive, exhausting worries about his own ill health, he stops looking for symptoms of cancerophobia in his body, and is freed from bad premonitions.

Reviews of the work of psychologist, hypnotherapist Gennady Ivanov

The mechanism of formation of phobias is based on the idea of ​​the dual nature of the psyche, consisting of consciousness and subconsciousness. We will use the term “subconscious”, thereby emphasizing that this “internal knowledge” can be realized. The real problem is the irrational part of fear, which over time develops into a phobia - an inadequate reaction to the environment. The rational component of fear must remain, because this basic emotion mobilizes the body's forces in order to survive.

Treatment of phobias comes down to a conscious search for an associative connection of a particular symptom with a traumatic event of the past. Hypnotherapy techniques erase, “demagnetize” conditioned reflex, acting in many cases as a hypnotic suggestion.