When you suffer from phobia, one of the most obvious consequences is that of avoidance. Avoiding the situation that causes you anxiety is a natural reaction and depending on what the phobia is about, you can carry it out or not. There are things that cannot be avoided on a day-to-day basis, while other phobias do not seem to be too worrying in that sense. In our dictionary of phobias we talk about hoplophobia or the fear of weapons.
What is hoplophobia?
Hoplophobia is the fear of weapons, especially when it comes to firearms. To some extent it Isa, because weapons are dangerous by themselves so where is the problem? The problem is that it is an excessive fear that conditions your life and that reveals an emotional disorder.
With hoplophobia it is not just about having when you see a weapon or the inability to wield a weapon. After all, most of us don’t have to touch a gun in life. But if you have this phobia, you will also suffer its consequences if, for example, you see a police officer.
Know the symptoms of fear of weapons
Once again, phobias stand out as disabling or limiting. The symptoms that occur the moment you see a gun are the same symptoms of anxiety. Dizziness, unreality, sweating, suffocation, tingling in the extremities and the panic that can be the culmination of all these symptoms.
As disasters as the physical ones, are the psychic symptoms. Obsessive and irrational thoughts focus on the fact that the weapon can act autonomously and independently of the person who uses it or that it can come to life at any moment. A whole surreal that is as inevitable as it is frustrating.
Causes of hoplophobia
Most phobias find their development in an anxiety disorder. Anxiety calls for fear and can direct it towards the most unexpected objects, situations, animals or sensations. In the case of hoplophobia, this fear of weapons does not stop making a certain sense, but it loses it when it becomes excessive and obsessive.
There is another more obvious cause for hoplophobia to develop and it is due to conditioning. If you have suffered a traumatic experience related to weapons, it is easier for you not to be able to control your anxiety when a weapon reminds you of that moment. Without a doubt, living through a shooting or witnessing a crime is not something that can be easily forgotten.
Treatment of a phobia like this
Perhaps you are thinking that hoplophobia is not a, since what are the chances that you will have to face the situation that you fear? For most people it is true that it is not common to see weapons in their day to day, not even exceptionally, but imagine that the person suffering from the phobia is a military or police officer.
In that case, the search for an adequate treatment to overcome the phobia is better understood, right? In the case of phobias and, whether you need it or not for your daily life, it is best to seek psychological help. Cognitive together with relaxation techniques will considerably improve the physical, social and emotional quality of life of the person suffering from this phobia.