What could be better than a trip to the forest to pick mushrooms? In terms of excitement, collecting them is akin to fishing and hunting. How much joy each mushroom found brings. Mushroom after mushroom, and now there is a whole basket and the anticipation of a delicious homemade mushroom dish. But not everyone shares this hobby. People suffering from mycophobia - the fear of being poisoned by mushrooms - are terrified of even touching them, not to mention eating them.
Mycophobia is an acquired phobia. Here are her reasons.
1. Direct encounter with mushroom poisoning.
2. Mushrooms can be both edible and poisonous. One of these is enough to cause poisoning. They are very toxic. Therefore there is a risk.
3. Pollution of the environment with hazardous waste to humans increases every year. chemical production and other harmful substances, and the mushroom itself is an absorbent natural sponge. The edible mushroom can become deadly, especially in industrial and roadside areas.
4.In the spring and autumn, there are often media reports about mushroom poisoning.
For these reasons, many impressionable, suspicious people develop mycophobia - the fear of mushrooms. They are terrified and categorically refuse to eat them, regardless of where they are grown. If such a person accidentally eats a fungus and finds out about it, he will begin to panic, and he will immediately feel all the symptoms of poisoning, and his limbs will cramp from fear.
Due to the deterioration of the environmental situation, the risk of poisoning from mushrooms grown in natural conditions, so mycophobia sufferers probably win more than they lose. As they say, God protects those who take care!
Mycophobia is the fear of mushroom poisoning. If mycophobia occurs in mild form, then the patient finds the strength to politely refuse the mushroom dish and tries to come up with convincing reasons. In more severe cases, a person’s mood immediately deteriorates, he looks depressed, and mentally withdraws into himself, as if trying to focus on a specific problem. He begins to feel sick and often vomits.
Symptoms of mycophobia
A clear sign of mycophobia is fear at the sight of mushrooms.
In addition, the phobia has physical manifestations of the following nature:
- a sharp increase or decrease in blood pressure;
- cardiopalmus;
- dilated pupils;
- tremor in the limbs;
- increased sweating;
- change in skin color
- and etc.
Cause of mycophobia
Fear is a basic reaction that is designed to protect a person, in dangerous situation. It does not matter whether the situation carries real threat life or imaginary, fear always works the same way.
The causes of mycophobia can be very diverse. Psychologists associate the development of a phobia with the influence of one of the following factors:
- The genetic aspect, mycophobia, could arise as a result of related transmission. Perhaps in your generation, someone experienced the same fear and now you have inherited it.
- Traumatic event in childhood- in most cases, the source of the development of fears is a traumatic event that occurred in childhood. Due to the fact that the event was of a long-standing nature, it was forgotten in the conscious mind and deposited in the subconscious.
- Bad experience - if a person performed an action and it brought a result that was not expected, then fear may arise as a result.
- Imposed fear - as a person relates to social view, then he is accordingly subject to the influence of his fellows. Fear is a contagious phenomenon, so mycophobia could arise as a result of information received from friends, the media, books, films and other sources.
- Depression - mental disorders, stress greatly exhausts the body. As a result, the resources to maintain an active state are becoming less and less. Which leads to the appearance of various phobias and fears.
How to get rid of mycophobia?
The simplest and most famous way to get rid of mycophobia is to overcome this fear through willpower. However, in practice, not everyone is capable of this. Therefore, in psychological practice, she uses slightly different approaches.
Pharmacological approach
For the treatment of fears, as well as others psychological disorders use drugs from different groups.
- Tranquilizers: Afobazol, Phenazepam, Tenoten, Trioxazin;
- Antidepressants: “Amizol”, “Reboxetine”, “Autorix”;
- Hypnotics: Zopiclone, Relaxone, Zolpidem;
- Neuroleptics: Aminazine, Clopixol, Eglonil.
Please note that self-treatment, can lead to unpredictable consequences. Since many of the drugs listed here have a large amount side effects. Only the attending physician can determine the dosage and duration of the course.
Psychological approach
Most often, I use a psychological approach to treat fears and phobias. Its use is justified because it allows you to achieve quick and sustainable results. The most common practices among psychologists are the following:
- Psychotherapy - the root cause of fear is determined with the patient. After which, it is worked on at a deep level of the subconscious.
- Psycho-correction - the essence is to simulate special situations, having coped with which, a person gets rid of fear.
- Hypnosis - a specialist takes a person into a trance state in which he imposes the correct reaction to a stimulus.
- Autogenic training - as a result of regular autogenic training, a person’s stress level decreases. Which accordingly makes his condition easier.
In medical psychology, complex methods and approaches are mainly used to overcome fears and phobias. Of all their diversity, . With its help, you can overcome fear in just 14 days. The effectiveness of the technique used has already been recognized by many practicing psychologists.
Man's fears are countless. The most remarkable thing is that with the passage of time and the development of society, the number of phobias in Homo sapiens only growing.
So, to the standard fear of spiders and the dark modern man a couple of hundred sophisticated phobias have been added that surprise, make you laugh and even shock.
But no matter what types of phobias we hear about, the fear of flowers or the sun seems absolutely absurd and unfounded. Next, you will find 14 phobias “gifted” to man by nature.
Fear of clouds - nephophobia
It is unlikely that those suffering from nephophobia were so happy about the “white-maned horses” from the cartoon “Shake!” Hello!”, because the sight of clouds evokes sovereign horror in them. Rather, instead of animal figures made of white air flakes, they represent monsters ready to attack them at any moment.
It is not difficult to identify a person with nephophobia - he basically always looks at his feet when the sky is clear, he can admire it, but when there is at least one cloud on it, he is afraid to raise his head. If he sees a cloud during a movie, in pictures or anywhere else, then he will begin, if not panic, then at least an unpleasant state with a rapid pulse and trembling palms.
Fear of cold, ice and frost - cryophobia (Cryophobia)
Many of us are afraid of winter, cold, being left without food, freezing to death, all kinds of horrors associated with cold. But almost everyone understands that this is just a fiction, and the chance of the above is incredibly small. However, those who suffer from cryophobia do not think so. They are horrified by everything connected with the cold, they hate winter and are afraid of it.
Oddly enough, it is not the inhabitants of northern latitudes who suffer from this disease - they live in the cold and are not afraid of it at all, they know how to not only survive in such an environment, but also live with pleasure. Residents of southern latitudes do not suffer either - they simply do not know what to be afraid of. But in the middle latitudes, where there is a really harsh winter (or a week of really severe frosts), people sometimes get sick.
Fear of the day - Eosophobia
“We are getting closer to death every day.” For some, this quote means almost nothing, but for patients with eosophobia, it completely characterizes their condition. Fear of a new day - this is exactly what it means this pathology. What will happen tomorrow? How might the next day end? To some extent, this is a fear of the unknown. Patients fear what the next dawn will bring.
Fear sunlight- Phengophobia
The disease of vampires is fengophobia. Afraid of sunlight, which causes them physical pain, vampires in both books and films could not stay in it for long, although ordinary light did not cause any reactions in them. IN real life patients with phengophobia experience mental suffering from sunlight, which they developed as a result of some long-term illness, for example, eye disease (bright light hurts and causes pain).
Fear of the moon - Selenophobia
Wolves, werewolves, UFOs - anyone who suffers from selenophobia can imagine. Fear of the moon is common and has been common in areas with nearby forests. The full moon has always been associated with an awakening beast wanting to eat human flesh. Moreover, these howls of dogs and wolves during full moon- all this undoubtedly evokes horror.
Fear of northern lights - Auroraphobia
A very rare pathology and one of the most “painless”. Causes a sharp feeling of fear and panic at the sight of the northern lights.
Auroraphobia occurs infrequently due to the great distance of the object itself, which causes negative emotions. As you know, the northern lights can be seen only over the polar parts of the Earth and only in the northern hemisphere, especially often in the northern parts of Alaska, Finland, Siberia, the USA, Canada and Scandinavia. And even then, only during certain periods of time, most often in winter between 10 and 12 o’clock at night. In addition, the sky must be cloudless. So the chance of seeing the northern lights is not that great.
Fear of the sun - heliophobia
The pathology is associated with a fear of the sun and its rays. Usually a consequence of fear of other diseases, such as skin cancer. Sometimes pathology occurs after eye diseases, which, in turn, react very sharply to bright light. Heliophobia often leads to agoraphobia (fear of open spaces).
Fear of rain - Ombrophobia
There is one very interesting disease– ombrophobia. It lies in the fear of getting caught in the rain. It is to get under it, because the sight of rain, its image, or he himself, walking next to the patient but not falling on him, does not cause absolutely any negative emotions. However, as soon as one drop falls on a person suffering from this pathology, he goes into panic and experiences terrible fear.
Fear of the forest - Hylophobia
“If you're afraid of wolves, don't go into the forest” is an ideal saying to describe hylophobia, the fear of the forest. Only hylophobes are afraid not only of wolves, but also of maniacs, wild animals, murderers, even monsters, that is, anyone who can hide in the forest and harm them. A progressive disease can cause fear in a patient who is even in a small position.
Fear of mushrooms - mycophobia
Nowadays, with such an abundance of different phobias, people are afraid of literally everything. Some fears have some basis, and some have no basis in reality. Mycophobia is a fear of mushroom poisoning, which appears under the influence of numerous factors and torments great amount of people.
Fear of flowers - anthrophobia
The causes of antophobia can be different, ranging from a specific situation in a person’s life (for example, a child was picking flowers, a bee flew out of a bouquet and bit the baby, a fear of bouquets of flowers was deposited in the child’s subconscious) and ending with heredity. It is heredity that most antiphobes have to thank. After all, as you know, genes are responsible not only for a person’s appearance, but also for his emotional characteristics.
Fear of smells - olfactophobia (Offactophobia)
Most people live and don't pay special attention to the smells around them. But there are also people for whom smells play a rather serious role. Olfactophobes are people who are afraid of smells. As a rule, they are afraid of certain aromas that evoke unpleasant associations or memories in them (usually pungent, spicy odors, or sweat odors). The consequences of this seemingly funny phobia can be very serious; in some cases, olfactophobia can drive the patient to insanity.
Fear of animals - zoophobia
Not every person can be moved by the sight of a small puppy or kitten. There are people who can't stand animals. And this does not mean at all that such people are callous and evil; it is quite possible that they suffer from zoophobia, or, more simply put, are afraid of animals.
Zoophobia is a fairly common form of irrational fear. In addition, it can have many various forms(for example, fear of dogs, birds, reptiles, etc.). Typically, panic among zoophobes is caused by a specific type of animal, although in rare and particularly advanced cases such people may be afraid of animals in general.
Fear of insects - entomophobia
Among the various phobias, there are also fear of insects or entomophobia. People suffering from this phobia truly hate summer, because it is at this time that various beeches, midges and other spider bugs begin to live an active life.
It should be noted that arachnophobia (fear of spiders) is different. In the case of entomophobia, the patient absolutely does not care who is crawling in front of him; what is important is the fact that this creature moves, jumps, flies and, accordingly, scares the entomophobe.
It is common for every person to take care of their health, so we all approach the choice of food very carefully, and are wary of those dishes whose ingredients we are not sure are safe. But there are people who are very afraid of being poisoned by such, in general, a delicious product as mushrooms. This type fear is called mycophobia. Moreover, people are afraid of absolutely any mushrooms, regardless of whether they are collected in the forest or grown in special farms.
Of course, mycophobes because of their irrational fear they lose a lot, because going to the forest and picking mushrooms is an excellent walk, improves health, and improves body tone. Many people believe that picking mushrooms brings the same excitement as hunting or fishing.
And this is not surprising, a person receives great emotional pleasure and rejoices at every mushroom he finds. In addition, a walk through the forest to pick mushrooms can be compared to a good workout in the gym, because before you prepare a delicious homemade dish, you need to walk several kilometers and bend over a huge number of times. Of course, mycophobes do not reject healthy image life and trips to nature, but mushrooms, even one kind of them in the picture, causes severe anxiety and disgust. A person suffering from mycophobia will never touch mushrooms, even if he is assured that it is an edible specimen and does not pose any danger. And to eat a dish that contains mushrooms is out of the question!
If mycophobia is especially developed and occurs in a severe form, then the person refuses picnics in nature, inventing various reasons. Basically, patients who have this mental illness, are aware that in the eyes of others this looks strange. Every person will understand that one can be afraid of stinging insects, even frogs and snakes, but when a person suffering from mycophobia declares that he is afraid of mushrooms, and on the basis of this denies himself the pleasure of spending a weekend outside the city, then tactless interlocutors allow themselves to be ironic about this. Therefore, many mycophobes hide their fears from others, explaining their dislike of mushrooms by the fact that they are allergic to them.
Experts have conducted a lot of research, based on which it turned out that, like many other phobic fears, mycophobia is an acquired phobia. But how serious must the reasons be for a person to begin not only to avoid places where mushrooms grow, but to become terribly afraid of them! In the first place there is such a good reason as food poisoning mushrooms. Unfortunately, such cases occur especially often in the summer season, when inexperienced mushroom pickers cannot distinguish some poisonous types of mushrooms from edible specimens, mistakenly placing them in their basket. Many people do not know that just one poisoned mushroom is enough to endanger not only health, but also human life. In this regard, the risk always exists, especially since scientists claim that in Lately There are cases when, due to increased radiation, even edible mushrooms become poisonous.
Various information presented in the press and on television can have a huge impact on a person’s consciousness. We constantly hear that environment is becoming more and more polluted, there are chemical production wastes dangerous to people everywhere, and other harmful substances. And the mushroom is one of the best natural sponges, which absorbs all the negativity. If the mushroom grows in an industrial area, or near roads, then it can be deadly. An impressionable person constantly keeps in mind all the media reports that talk about serious mushroom poisoning. Of course, such information is simply necessary, and allows lovers of exquisite forest delicacies to be more careful, but people with weak psyches perceive this differently, and a phobia may well develop.
It happens that last summer a person happily wandered through the forest with a basket, cheerfully calling out to his companions, and the very next season it was as if he had been replaced, and under any pretext he turns away from his favorite activity. Mycophobe will not eat mushrooms, no matter where they grow. And if by chance, for example, while visiting or in a restaurant, he eats a salad to which mushrooms are added in small quantities, then the person suffering from mycophobia simply panics. In addition, he will convince the people next to him that he has already begun the process of poisoning. But it should be noted that every year the environmental situation really worsens, therefore, patients with this phobia do not lose so much if they prefer not to risk their health.
Having flatly refused to eat mushrooms and dishes containing them, an impressionable person will never change his decision, even if he is in an elite restaurant, and the chef personally assures him that the mushrooms have been tested and appropriate processing has been carried out. If mycophobia occurs in a mild form, then the patient finds the strength to politely refuse the mushroom dish and tries to come up with convincing reasons.
