There are people who love winter and enjoy the snow, but there are other people who find the cold quite uncomfortable and reject them. And others directly suffer from Cryophobia or an irrational and excessive fear of cold. It is a disorder closely related to those phobias to meteorological phenomena that can greatly limit the life of the person who suffers from it.
What is Cryophobia?
Cryophobia is the of cold, of the sensation of cold that is felt in general in winter, of low temperatures or even of the ice of a cold drink. As you can see, it is a disorder that finds very varied stimuli but all of them with the same limiting consequences.
People who suffer from Cryophobia are afraid during the winter. It is, most of the time, a fear of getting, but also a fear of noticing in the hands that sensation of cold from an ice cream or a drink with ice. As with all phobias, the fear does not correspond to the level of real danger that the situation presents.
Symptoms of Cryophobia
Just thinking that winter is coming already shows that anticipatory anxiety. Seeing heavy snowfall on TV news, even in other places, or a beautiful Christmas card with snowy landscapes is enough to trigger all the symptoms in a person with Cryophobia.
Agitation, nervousness, a feeling of suffocation or even are the most revealing symptoms of this phobia of cold when the feared stimulus cannot be avoided. Seeing the snow fall through the window and knowing that you have to leave the house to go to work can be a real torture. But there is more, because the symptoms of Cryophobia can also develop in other more everyday situations that do not occur in winter, such as drinking an iced coffee, eating ice cream or bathing in the sea with the surprise that the water is colder. Than expected.
Causes of Cryophobia
It is convenient not to confuse Cryophobia with allergy, because the feared situations are the same. Many times it is the allergy itself that triggers the phobia, but this irrational fear of cold has other causes, such as suffering from a previous anxiety disorder that multiplies and intensifies the feeling of danger in everything that surrounds you.
Like many, Cryophobia can find its origin in a traumatic experience. If someone in your family, for example, suffered frostbite on their fingers on a high-mountain trip and you lived through it with a great emotional burden, it is reason enough to develop this fear of the cold.
Treatment of Cryophobia
Cryophobia is overcome with psychological help and sometimes additional drug treatment may be required. The solution is not to go live in a place with a warmer climate to avoid experiencing cold situations, but to face fear and overcome it. With help, yes.
Phobias are generally overcome more effectively with cognitive behavioral therapy, which works on both irrational thinking and avoidance behavior. The feeling of danger in the face of cold is exaggerated and you have to start there. Then together with the relaxation to reduce anxiety, the different behaviors that are adopted in feared situations can be modified.