If some phobias focus on real and specific things, others focus on abstractions, feelings, or even imaginations. This is the case of hadephobia or fear of hell, a place that, until no one proves otherwise, is only in our imagination. In our dictionary of phobias we talk about the problems caused by hadephobia: what is it? What is its cause? And your treatment?
What is hadephobia?
Hadephobia is the fear of hell. Hell as a place where sinners arrive after death. It is thus a punishment, a dark place that is logical to be afraid of, especially if it were a real place. But it turns out that hell does not exist, at least no one has returned from it to tell us all the horrors that are suffered there.
This places hadephobia in a difficult disorder to treat because it is not about something specific. There is no real, palpable or physical stimulus that causes fear, but rather it is a belief and a rather abstract one at that. It is a phobia similar to apeirophobia or fear of infinity, but with connotations of guilt.
Symptoms of fear of hell
People who are afraid of hell experience the same symptoms of anxiety when they entertain the idea of going to hell. It is not something that is going to happen right now, but just the idea of imagining it causes tachycardia, dizziness, a feeling of suffocation and even a panic attack.
To these physical symptoms are added other psychological ones such as the feeling of guilt. Many times the phobia manifests itself when that person does something that they believe is wrong and that they should be punished for it. As you can see, it is a very complex phobia related to religious beliefs and the concepts.
The cause of hadephobia
We cannot look forth of hadephobia in a traumatic experience directly related to hell, since this situation is not possible. But it is a common fear in people who have been raised in a very restrictive and punitive religious environment. If a child grows up with the constant threat of hell, it is possible that he will reach adulthood with these types of disorders.
In addition to the cultural factors that promote the development of hadephobia, we must not rule out an anxiety disorder that favors the appearance of fears, concrete or abstract, but in any case irrational and excessive fears
How to overcome the phobia?
People who suffer from hadephobia have deep-rooted religious beliefs, so psychological help is needed to overcome this disorder. Cognitive can manage to transform distorted thinking, in this case the idea of hell. And the next step is to modify the behavior before the stimulus.
It is not about putting aside the beliefs of the person who suffers from hadephobia, but about transforming the negative way they have of relating to them. Hell can continue to be a valid symbol in the lives of these people, but the goal is not to condition their lives.
